Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 18 › Conversation 018-099

Nixon phone call with an unidentified caller on William Safire

Tuesday, January 18, 1972 · 10:23 AM–10:55 AM ET · White House Telephone · 5 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation018-099 on Tape 18 (tape position 04:53:45–04:53:51)StartTuesday, January 18, 1972 at 10:23 AMEndTuesday, January 18, 1972 at 10:55 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 018-099 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon initiated a telephone call through the White House operator to contact speechwriter William L. Safire. The conversation served as a brief administrative interaction to facilitate this connection. No substantive policy discussions occurred during this exchange.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Just a second.
Sound fire?
Yes, sir.

NARA Description

On January 18, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:23 am and 10:55 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 018-099 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 18-99

Date: January 18, 1972
Time: Unknown between 10:23 am and 10:55 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

[See Conversation No. 650-6A]

     Request for a call to William L. Safire

Also recorded on January 18, 1972

  • 650-002 9:48 AM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:48 am to 10:05 am.
  • 650-003 10:07 AM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:07 am to 10:09 am.
  • 650-004 10:09 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:09 am and 10:14 am.
  • 018-098 10:14 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 10:14 am.
  • 650-005 10:14 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 10:14 am.
  • 650-006 10:17 AM · 1 hr 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, Rose Mary Woods, unknown person(s), White House operator, and William L. Safire met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:17 am to 11:27 am.
  • 018-100 10:55 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire talked on the telephone from 10:55 am to 10:58 am.
  • 018-113 10:58 AM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:58 am and 12:33 pm.

All 30 conversations from January 18, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 018-099, January 18, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/018-099 (accessed September 29, 2026).