Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 19 › Conversation 019-017

Nixon phone call with Price on State of the Union and Speechwriting

Wednesday, January 19, 1972 · 4:46 PM–4:49 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Price, Raymond K., Jr.Conversation019-017 on Tape 19StartWednesday, January 19, 1972 at 4:46 PMEndWednesday, January 19, 1972 at 4:49 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 019-017 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and speechwriter Raymond K. Price, Jr. confer regarding final revisions to the upcoming State of the Union address. The discussion focuses on refining specific phrasing to improve the tone and ensuring the inclusion of Canada alongside Japan in references to international trade and diplomatic relations. Nixon directs Price to finalize these technical edits and coordinates communication with staff members Marjorie Acker and John D. Ehrlichman to ensure the speech is ready for delivery.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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I'm trying to think.
I had one small thought on the first page.
I don't want to use the
or I say the majesty of the moment.
Can you think of another way to describe it?
I mean, I can say I shall never forget that moment, but I mean, can you think of something other than majesty?
Majesty isn't the right word.
That was an inaugural phrase.
That's right.
I used it before, see, and that's the reason.
It doesn't quite fit that.
It's really...
I mean, you know, it's a great moment and all that crap, but we can't think, or should we just say, I shall never forget that moment or that occasion, or I don't know.
It was my phrase.
I know I suggested it first, but I just don't feel comfortable with it at the moment.
I shall never forget that moment would not be bad.
I shall never forget that moment.
Maybe that's it.
What do you think?
I think perhaps it is.
It fits the sort of understated tone.
Sort of understated.
I shall never forget that moment.
Good.
Okay, you just call Marge.
She's over there.
I had a couple of other technical things that Connolly, we changed.
We had to put in Canada.
with Japan, and we had to change to the we're considering on the tax thing rather than have considered, and otherwise everything's fine.
In other words, I shall never forget that moment, so you just order to strike out the majesty of, please.
All right, I will.
and the uh the uh we uh uh are on the text thing they uh they are considering that uh i think that is in your reading copy isn't it uh excuse me what i think the uh that connolly thing on uh we have been considering rather than we that's already been changed i think yes yeah because but and the other one is the the only other thing that he had which which was important and and of course i had forgotten it was to insert the word canada you know where we talk about the europe
you have to put in Canada because they feel very hurt if they aren't included.
More chance of that, though?
Yeah, I've covered Canada, and I've covered changing the other one to the were, which Connolly had already passed to Ehrlichman.
But this one, this is the only one.
So you just say, I shall never forget that moment.
Okay?
Yes, sir.
All right, Ray.
Thank you very much.
And then ready to roll on it?
I'm through.
All right, fine.
I'm not going to do another thing to it.
Okay, good.

NARA Description

On January 19, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. talked on the telephone from 4:46 pm to 4:49 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 019-017 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 19-17

Date: January 19, 1972
Time: 4:46 pm - 4:49 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Raymond K. Price, Jr.

[See Conversation No. 315-24F]

     The President's forthcoming “State of the Union” speech
          -Phraseology
               -Price's forthcoming call to Marjorie P. Acker
               -The President's previous conversation with John B. Connally
                      -Canada, Japan
               -Taxes
               -Canada, Japan
                      -Acker
               -Taxes
                      -Connally
                            -John D. Ehrlichman

Also recorded on January 19, 1972

  • 019-012 3:43 PM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire talked on the telephone from 3:43 pm to 3:44 pm.
  • 019-013 3:58 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 3:58 pm to 3:59 pm.
  • 019-014 4:30 PM · 42 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 4:30 pm to 4:31 pm.
  • 019-015 4:39 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 4:39 pm to 4:42 pm.
  • 019-016 4:42 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:42 pm and 4:46 pm.
  • 019-018 5:06 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:06 pm and 5:17 pm.
  • 019-019 5:17 PM · 44 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Walter R. Tkach talked on the telephone from 5:17 pm to 5:18 pm.
  • 019-020 6:30 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:30 pm and 7:02 pm.

All 30 conversations from January 19, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 019-017, January 19, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/019-017 (accessed October 12, 2026).