Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 18 › Conversation 018-097

Nixon phone call with Rebozo on Super Bowl and Miami Dolphins

Monday, January 17, 1972 · 7:50 PM–7:53 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Rebozo, Charles G. ("Bebe")Conversation018-097 on Tape 18 (tape position 04:50:26–04:53:37)StartMonday, January 17, 1972 at 7:50 PMEndMonday, January 17, 1972 at 7:53 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 018-097 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417192287 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles "Bebe" Rebozo discussed the Miami Dolphins' Super Bowl loss, with Nixon lamenting a key fumble by Larry Csonka and Rebozo noting the Dallas Cowboys' strong performance. They also touched upon Nixon's upcoming trip to Florida, Robert Abplanalp's appearance on "American Sportsman," and the unfolding Florida presidential primary, where Rebozo described the Democratic candidates like Muskie and Humphrey as a "circus" and noted George Wallace's presence and crowd reception.

Audio

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NARA Description

On January 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo talked on the telephone from 7:50 pm to 7:53 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 018-097 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 18-97

Date: January 17, 1972
Time: 7:50 pm - 7:53 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Charles G. (“Bebe”) Rebozo.

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[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 01/04/2018.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[018-097-w001]
[Duration: 3m 10s]

     Greetings

     Super Bowl
          -Miami Dolphins vs. Dallas Cowboys

                -Fumbles by Larry Csonka
                -The Cowboys' record
                -Prospects for Miami next season

     Charles G. (“Bebe”) Rebozo's location

     The President's location
          -Trip to Florida

     American Sportsman
         -Robert H. Abplanalp
               -Tricia Nixon Cox, Julie Nixon Eisenhower

     Florida presidential primary
           -Democratic candidates
                      -Space shuttle
                            -Hubert H. Humphrey
                            -Edmund S. Muskie
                -George C. Wallace
                      -Effectiveness

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was made by an AI model listening to the recording (gemini-3.8-flash) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Speaker names are the model's inference from the voices and the participant list. Words and names can still be wrong — verify against the audio and the finding aid before citing.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

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RebozoHello, Mr. President.
NixonHi, Bebe.
RebozoHi, how are you sir?
NixonWell, sir, you're the Dolphins didn't quite make it, huh?
RebozoWell, gee, they're the Dallas was just a lot better football team, I guess, that day, you know?
NixonYeah. When they—when Csonka fumbled the ball, it broke their back, didn't it?
RebozoYeah, and they had three fumbles, wasn't it, in the first half?
NixonYeah, that was the thing, you know.
Rebozo[unintelligible]
NixonRemember Csonka hadn't fumbled in 400 and some rushes. He got a bad hand off from Griese and he lost it right in the Dallas [unintelligible]
RebozoWell, Dallas has won in 10 consecutive games, and they haven't had more than seven points scored against them. I don't know the exact figure, but they're—they're really a super team.
NixonSure they are. But Miami'll be better next year. They're a very young team.
RebozoThey are a young team, yeah. They're good, they have great, the, city really gave them a good welcome, too.
NixonOh, yes, I'm glad to hear that.
RebozoYeah. What are you doing?
NixonWhere are you? In Key Biscayne?
RebozoYeah.
NixonYeah. Well, good.
RebozoYou're coming down soon?
NixonYeah, we're planning to come Thursday night. Does that sound all right?
RebozoThat sounds great. Bob still here, you know.
NixonOh, he is? He's not going up?
RebozoNo, he's here. I'm having dinner with him tonight, and [unintelligible]
NixonWell, fine. Give him my regards. Julie and Tricia were so happy with the elephant, wait, the elephant, the elephant. Wait. [unintelligible] the leopard.
RebozoYeah.
NixonBob on television last night, on American Sportsman.
RebozoDid they see him?
NixonYeah.
RebozoYeah. He said he was going to be on. He looks pretty good, huh?
NixonYeah, he was very good. Tell him they saw him and were so excited about it. Did you see it?
RebozoNo, I missed it, darn it.
NixonJulie said it was great, absolutely great. Well, that's fine.
RebozoBoy, the temperature is 80 degrees today.
NixonReally?
RebozoYeah, it's really beautiful.
NixonHow's the primary look down there?
RebozoOh, it's a circus. It really is. Muskie—
NixonDid he come down?
RebozoHe came in. Hubert came in. Gosh, every Democrat has been around here. Muskie came out against the space shuttle, and of course he's running right around the Cape, you know, and that went over like a lead balloon.
NixonGood.
RebozoHubert came out for the space shuttle, which didn't do him any good because, you know, we had announced that before. You had.
NixonRight, yeah.
RebozoAnd, it's just—Wallace is down here now.
NixonIs he getting big crowds?
RebozoHe's down at the beach today, yeah. He got a pretty big crowd.
NixonYeah, he'll be an effect down there, too.
RebozoOh, they're going to tear themselves up, I think.
NixonYeah, well, in each of those states, let them do it. We've got work to do.
RebozoThat's right.
NixonYeah.
RebozoWhat time you planning on coming Thursday?
NixonProbably late in the afternoon, maybe leave here around 5:00 and be down about 7:00, something like that.
RebozoGreat.
NixonAlright, and tell, give, Bob our very best, and Julie says he was a hero.
RebozoI sure will. I'll see him about half an hour.
NixonOkay, boy.
RebozoThank you, sir.
NixonBye.
RebozoBye.

Also recorded on January 17, 1972

  • 315-021 3:44 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Roger Staubach met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:44 pm and 3:58 pm.
  • 649-001 3:46 PM · 2 hr 49 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, Manolo Sanchez, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, and John B. Connally met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:46 pm and 6:38 pm.
  • 315-023 3:58 PM · 37 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:58 pm to 3:59 pm.
  • 315-024 4:00 PM · 1 hr 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, John B. Connally, Marjorie P. Acker, unknown person(s), Raymond K. Price, Jr., Rose Mary Woods, and Walter R. Tkach met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:00 pm to 5:25 pm.
  • 649-002 6:33 PM · 46 sec — United States Secret Service agents and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:33 pm and 11:59 pm.
  • 018-094 6:38 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:38 pm and 7:37 pm.
  • 018-095 7:37 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 7:37 pm to 7:42 pm.
  • 018-096 7:42 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:42 pm and 7:50 pm.

All 42 conversations from January 17, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 018-097, January 17, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417192287). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/018-097 (accessed November 2, 2026).