Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 18 › Conversation 018-006
Nixon phone call with an unidentified caller on State of the Union address
Monday, January 3, 1972 · 11:42 AM–12:05 PM ET · White House Telephone · 37 sec
AI Summary
In this extensive series of phone calls, President Nixon coordinates legislative and public relations strategy for the upcoming State of the Union address and the administration's Vietnam policy. He consults with key officials including Secretary of State William Rogers, Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, and Henry Kissinger to finalize the decision to announce a further troop reduction to 69,000. Additionally, the President manages personnel matters, such as selecting Kenneth Rush as a successor, while also directing staff to launch a public campaign framing Senator Edmund Muskie as a proponent of busing.
- State of the Union address
- Vietnam War
- troop withdrawal
- Edmund Muskie
- Kenneth Rush
- public relations strategy
- presidential staff
Audio
This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.
Listen to the full tape segment
Position in tape: 00:08:15 – 00:08:49
part A, 12:21
NARA Description
On January 3, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:42 am and 12:05 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 018-006 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
None
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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Also recorded on January 3, 1972
- 018-004 11:08 AM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:08 am and 11:09 am.
- 642-026 11:09 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:09 am to 11:15 am.
- 642-027 11:15 AM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Clark MacGregor, Jody Smith, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:15 am to 11:42 am.
- 018-005 11:20 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Jody Smith talked on the telephone from 11:20 am to 11:21 am.
- 642-029 11:42 AM · 23 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, Manolo Sanchez, and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:42 am to 12:05 pm.
- 642-030 12:07 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Clarence C. Hoffman, Mrs. Clarence C. Hoffman, Charles W. Colson, John P. McGill, unknown person(s), and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:07 pm to 12:13 pm.
- 018-008 12:13 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George E. Allen talked on the telephone from 12:13 pm to 12:15 pm.
- 642-031 12:13 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George E. Allen met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:13 pm to 12:15 pm.
Related conversations
- Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam War and Troop withdrawals January 1, 1972 · 13 min
- Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Bangladesh and Foreign Policy Report January 10, 1972 · 17 min
- Nixon, Laird & Haig on Vietnamization and Troop withdrawals January 13, 1972 · 30 min
- Nixon phone call with Connally on State of the Union address January 10, 1972 · 7 min
- Nixon phone call with Rockefeller on New Federalism and John V. Lindsay January 19, 1972 · 7 min
- Nixon, Finch & Butterfield on State of the Union address and Harry S. Truman January 20, 1972 · 1 min
Cite this conversation
Conversation 018-006, January 3, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417192109). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/018-006 (accessed November 4, 2026).