Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 17 › Conversation 017-110

Nixon phone call with Schreiber on New Year's Eve and Dan Rather

Friday, December 31, 1971 · 7:47 PM–7:49 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Schreiber, TaftConversation017-110 on Tape 17 (tape position 03:47:14–03:48:54)StartFriday, December 31, 1971 at 7:47 PMEndFriday, December 31, 1971 at 7:49 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 017-110 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Taft Schreiber exchanged New Year's greetings and expressed mutual optimism for the country in 1972. Nixon noted that he was spending the evening at the White House preparing for an upcoming televised interview with Dan Rather. Schreiber shared his own plans to visit mutual friend Theodore E. Cummings, prompting Nixon to send his regards to Cummings and his wife.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello.
I have Mr. Tash Schreiber returning.
Okay.
Thank you.
There you are.
Hello.
Hello, Mr. President.
Just called to wish you a happy new year, nothing else.
You're very sweet, and I...
I hope everything's going well.
Yes, very well.
Sure, and I just want to wish you and your wonderful family a great year, and I hope that...
72 is all we do hope for, and I really believe that our country is very fortunate today.
Let's just hope it's a good year for the country, and then however it comes out, we'll all accept it.
Well, that's true, and I do believe that it bears repeating that you've just been the greatest, and we're just all fortunate.
Well, I know what you've been doing, and I don't call you very often, but I do know and I do appreciate it very, very much.
We appreciate that you're doing this.
because let's have a great New Year.
Right, right.
Well, what are you going to do tonight?
I'm here in the White House and sitting in the Lincoln Room studying for a program I'm going to do with Dan Rather Sunday night.
And so that's my New Year's Eve.
What are you going to do?
I'm going down to the Music Center and I'm going to one of your old friends down here, Ted Cummings.
Great.
Give him my best.
He's a wonderful guy and he's got the marvelous collection of art in his house.
Yes, I know.
Well, we've been just taking it easy these last two days.
All right.
We're going to work.
We've been working, but we're going to give it all we've got.
Right.
Well, we do appreciate good friends at a time like this, believe me.
And tell Ted and his wife that I sent my best to my old neighbors.
I will tell them.
Okay.
Thank you, sir.
Bye.

NARA Description

On December 31, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Taft Schreiber talked on the telephone from 7:47 pm to 7:49 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 017-110 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 17-110

Date: December 31, 1971
Time: 7:47 pm - 7:49 pm
Location: White House Telephone

Taft Schreiber talked with the President.

     New Year greetings
         -1972
         -Optimism for upcoming year

     The President's schedule
          -Interview with Dan Rather
                -Timing

     Schreiber's schedule
          -Theodore E. Cummings
                -Art

Also recorded on January 1, 1972

  • 017-109 7:40 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 7:40 pm to 7:46 pm.
  • 017-111 7:49 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:49 pm and 7:55 pm.
  • 017-112 7:55 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and C. Arnholt Smith talked on the telephone from 7:55 pm to 7:59 pm.
  • 017-113 7:59 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:59 pm and 8:14 pm.
  • 017-114 7:59 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:59 pm and 8:14 pm.
  • 017-115 8:14 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Paul W. Keyes talked on the telephone from 8:14 pm to 8:16 pm.
  • 311-001 9:05 PM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:05 pm and 9:08 pm.
  • 017-116 9:08 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Elmer H. Bobst talked on the telephone from 9:08 pm to 9:11 pm.

All 58 conversations from January 1, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 017-110, January 1, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/017-110 (accessed October 12, 2026).