Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 17 › Conversation 017-165
Nixon phone call with Woods on Dan Rather and Media relations
Sunday, January 2, 1972 · 11:44 PM–11:45 PM ET · White House Telephone · 24 sec
AI Summary
President Nixon and his personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, held a brief late-night telephone call to coordinate the President's sleep schedule and discuss his recent interview with CBS journalist Dan Rather. Woods provided her personal assessment of the interview's reception and updated the President regarding subsequent phone calls she had received concerning the broadcast. The conversation served primarily as a debriefing session to gauge public and media reaction before the President retired for the evening.
Audio
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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NARA Description
On January 2, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 11:44 pm to 11:45 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 017-165 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 17-165
Date: January 2, 1972
Time: 11:44 pm - 11:45 pm
Location: White House Telephone
The President talked with Rose Mary Woods.
**********************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 01/02/2018.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[017-165-w001]
[Duration: 19s]
The President’s schedule
-Bed time
The President’s interview with Dan Rather
-Rose Mary Woods’s phone calls
-Rose Mary Woods’s assessment of the interview
The President’s schedule
-Bed time
**********************************************************************Also recorded on January 3, 1972
- 017-158 11:23 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 11:23 pm to 11:28 pm.
- 017-159 11:28 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:28 pm and 11:30 pm.
- 017-160 11:30 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 11:30 pm to 11:35 pm.
- 017-161 11:35 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 11:35 pm.
- 017-162 11:36 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 11:36 pm to 11:42 pm.
- 017-163 11:42 PM · 2 sec — unknown person(s) and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:42 pm and 11:44 pm.
- 017-164 11:42 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:42 pm and 11:44 pm.
- 017-166 11:45 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone on an unknown date, sometime between 11:45 pm on January 2, 1972 and 12:29 am on January 3, 1972.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 017-165, January 3, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/017-165 (accessed October 9, 2026).