Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 18 › Conversation 018-100

Nixon phone call with Safire on Speechwriting and Secrecy

Tuesday, January 18, 1972 · 10:55 AM–10:58 AM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Safire, William L.Conversation018-100 on Tape 18 (tape position 04:53:51–04:56:49)StartTuesday, January 18, 1972 at 10:55 AMEndTuesday, January 18, 1972 at 10:58 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 018-100 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and William Safire discuss the drafting process for a high-stakes speech regarding secret foreign policy negotiations and the handling of POW issues. To maintain strict confidentiality, Nixon mandates that only Rose Mary Woods may type the draft, emphasizing the importance of themes centered on credibility and the strategic necessity of past official silence. The two finalize a schedule for Safire to deliver his work to the Executive Office Building so Nixon can review it around his other commitments, including the State of the Union preparations and a meeting on the dock strike.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Yeah.
Mitch Sapphire.
Yeah.
Hello.
Hello, sir.
Bill, I don't know whether Rose told you this, but be sure that on this that you do not have any typing done by anybody except her.
definitely that's the only thing you understand i know i know you do your own work and i don't need copies and so forth but you understand and i don't just you kissinger myself or and of course the typist rose okay i've only used rose so far now i will have a draft a lot earlier than three if you if you'd like to look at it well i'll tell you i've got arthur burns coming in at 11 30. so that and then i've got to go at the dock strike at 12 30.
Meet the sea here at 1230.
how about twos could you find two yeah that's that two okay bill all right do you want me to come by your office uh when i come by just drop it off and i'll let you why don't you do this drop it off you know i'll be at the eob drop it off and then i can read and then then i'll have you come by say at around three and we can chat about because you see then i got to get back to the state of the union ray's going to have another draft at four and i'm forgetting this damn thing until after the state of the union and
Finish it off next Monday.
Week for speeches.
Crap.
Okay, how's it coming?
You beginning to feel good about it?
Yeah.
You've got the feel, the theme, and so forth and so on.
Well, your direction was pretty clear.
I mean, I followed your outline and took a crack at the ending.
I'm sure Henry will have some ritualistic language.
We'll see about that.
But I meant the main point is more important than his ritualistic language is the direction.
and what we really say here, you know.
Well, I think believability and credibility is the theme.
It sure makes it.
Yeah.
Well, the point that I was going to make is that I think this idea of...
I think one of the most powerful points is this, that here we were basically in a bomb shelter, and this is when people were asking, why didn't we respond at some point?
Why didn't we agree for a deadline?
Why didn't we agree for...
to exchange POWs for and so forth.
I said I had to remain silent in order to, because the only hope of negotiations at the time that both sides were seriously negotiating secretly was to keep them secret.
I said now, however,
I think that's a powerful point, the fact that we took the goddamn heat when we could have blown them out of the water.
I'm leaning very hard on that.
Okay.
Maybe too hard.
Now, whom should I leave this with, too?
Just, you come over at the EOB.
Right.
You were there months and I'll be out there.
Manolo's not here today.
Just give it to him and he'll bring it in to me.
Right.

NARA Description

On January 18, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire talked on the telephone from 10:55 am to 10:58 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 018-100 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 18-100

Date: January 18, 1972
Time: 10:55 am - 10:58 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with William L. Safire.

[See Conversation No. 650-6B]

     Typing of draft
          -Rose Mary Woods
          -Henry A. Kissinger

     Draft for the President
           -Timing for submission
           -The President's schedule
                 -Arthur F. Burns
                 -Dock strike
                 -Executive Office Building [EOB]
                 -Safire’s forthcoming meeting with the President
                 -State of the Union speech
                       -Raymond K. Price, Jr.

     Safire's draft
           -Substance
                 -The President’s outline
                 -Kissinger
                 -Theme
                      -Credibility

          -Points of speech
               -Secrecy of negotiations
                      -Seven Points
                      -Deadline
                      -Prisoners of war [POWs]
          -Delivery to the President
               -EOB
                      -Zosimo T. Monzon

Also recorded on January 18, 1972

  • 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.
  • 018-099 10:23 AM · 5 sec — 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.
  • 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.
  • 650-007 11:27 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 11:27 am.
  • 650-008 11:27 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:27 am to 11:31 am.
  • 650-009 11:31 AM · 60 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Arthur F. Burns, John B. Connally, Rose Mary Woods, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:31 am to 12:31 pm.

All 30 conversations from January 18, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 018-100, 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/018-100 (accessed September 29, 2026).