Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 18 › Conversation 018-031

Nixon phone call with Flanigan on Kenneth Rush and William P. Clements, Jr.

Monday, January 10, 1972 · 1:11 PM–1:12 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Flanigan, Peter M.Conversation018-031 on Tape 18 (tape position 01:05:26–01:07:09)StartMonday, January 10, 1972 at 1:11 PMEndMonday, January 10, 1972 at 1:12 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 018-031 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Peter M. Flanigan discussed the search for a successor to outgoing official Kenneth Rush. Nixon instructed Flanigan to meet with Rush to vet potential candidates, prioritizing William P. Clements, Jr. while acknowledging Robert S. Ingersoll's interest in Japan and the withdrawal of Robert W. Galvin. The President delegated the vetting process to Flanigan, aiming to finalize a recommendation without further direct involvement from the Oval Office.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Mr. President, Mr. Flanagan for you.
There you are.
Yes, sir.
I'm just finishing my talk with Ken Rush, and he's here.
And I've asked him to sit with you and discuss his successor thing.
He's going over to have a talk with Laird tomorrow.
So we're going to rule that along.
We've got to get the successor thing on the track, however, before an indication that he would be leaving, see?
Yes, sir.
So if you would talk with him about the candidates we have, assuming we have some.
people that we're considering, and we get a recommendation on the thing.
Yes, sir, I will.
How does it stand at the present time?
We're considering Clements, among others, I guess.
Clements is our first consideration.
Ingersoll has shown very real interest in Japan.
We got down on Wednesday to talk to Bill Rogers about that.
Right.
But other than Clements, we don't have anyone other than the list I showed you before.
Galvin has turned us down.
Yeah.
So maybe you ought to talk to him about that and see what can...
I would like to have it handled if possible.
Clements is fine with me, but I'd like to have it handled without my having to look into it anymore now.
Yes, sir.
The next thing we'll do is put a recommendation in.
And then get... Well, if it's Clements, it's okay.
But I would...
but you talk to him about it and see what he feels about it, okay?
Yes, sir, I will.
Nobody has talked to Clemens yet.
Nobody has talked to Clemens yet.
So we don't know.
Right.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On January 10, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Peter M. Flanigan talked on the telephone from 1:11 pm to 1:12 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 018-031 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 18-31

Date: January 10, 1972
Time: 1:11 pm - 1:12 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Peter M. Flanigan.

[See Conversation No. 644-14B]

     The President's talk with [David] Kenneth Rush
          -Successor to Rush
               -January 11, 1972 meeting with Melvin R. Laird
               -Instructions for Flanigan
                      -Candidates
                      -Recommendations
               -Candidates
                      -William P. Clements, Jr.
                      -Robert S. Ingersoll
                            -Interest
                                  -Japan
                                  -William P. Rogers
                      -Robert W. Galvin
                      -Instructions for Flanigan
                            -Clements

Also recorded on January 10, 1972

  • 018-030 12:58 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:58 pm and 1:11 pm.
  • 644-015 1:24 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:24 pm to 1:25 pm.
  • 644-016 1:25 PM · 4 min — United States Secret Service agents, President Richard M. Nixon, and Stephen Hess met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:25 pm and 1:34 pm.
  • 313-001 1:34 PM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:34 pm and 1:42 pm.
  • 313-002 1:34 PM · 7 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 1:34 pm and 1:42 pm.
  • 313-003 1:34 PM · 6 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 1:34 pm and 1:42 pm.
  • 018-032 1:42 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 1:42 pm.
  • 018-033 1:42 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:42 pm and 2:36 pm.

All 83 conversations from January 10, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 018-031, January 10, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/018-031 (accessed September 29, 2026).