Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 23 › Conversation 023-143

Nixon phone call with Burger on J. Edgar Hoover and eulogies

Wednesday, May 3, 1972 · 3:49 PM–3:53 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Burger, Warren E.Conversation023-143 on Tape 23StartWednesday, May 3, 1972 at 3:49 PMEndWednesday, May 3, 1972 at 3:53 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 023-143 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Chief Justice Warren E. Burger discuss their respective eulogies for the late J. Edgar Hoover ahead of an upcoming congressional memorial service. Burger emphasizes his intent to highlight Hoover’s commitment to the Bill of Rights, and the two coordinate the sharing of their speech drafts with White House staff to ensure thematic consistency. Additionally, the pair briefly touches upon Burger's ongoing health and his use of a whirlpool bath for physical therapy.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello, Mr. President.
I thought you'd be pleased to know I was just talking to John Connolly.
He said he'd been up to the memorial service and that you made a very eloquent tribute to
to Edgar Hoover, so I have to do one tomorrow.
So, boy, they're hard to work out, aren't they?
You know, without getting too muddled, you know what I mean?
And everything has been set.
They didn't call me until about 8.30 last night.
I know.
The chief merit of it, I think, was that it was about three and a half or four minutes long.
And the one point, Mr. President, that I wanted to make was that Edgar Hoover carried out the difficult task of law enforcement without impinging on the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, which
accused of doing, and I wanted the record to be clear, but I stopped that very strongly.
Well, I'm going to be there, of course, in the morning.
Right.
Well, I'll try to pick up a couple of different themes.
I won't do the same thing, because I've told our fellows to look at your thing, so that I should, you know, we'll all try to get a little bit of it.
Did they get a copy of it?
I'll tell you what you do, of course.
I'll get somebody down with it if you want.
Yes.
Send it.
Would you mind sending it to John Andrews in the EOB?
John Andrews.
He's working on the speech right now.
I just worked out the second copy.
All right.
And I'll tell him it's coming.
Good.
I'll send it down.
At least see where we're tracking.
It was a very nice ceremony in the sense that it was short.
Right.
Only about 12 minutes all told.
Great.
Well, I'm certainly nice of you to call.
Good.
How are you feeling?
How's your back?
Well, back's doing pretty well.
Yeah, am I?
I'm not so proud as to say I've got to skip Dr. Ryland.
Oh, that's too bad.
Too bad.
I'll catch him next week.
All right.
Good.
Well, he's always there for you whenever you want him.
Well, and it's a great help to me.
I try to get in at least every other week, and this fellow's the greatest I've ever met.
No question.
No question.
You know...
Well, it certainly does.
And then in between, almost every other day, I use the Whirlpool bath down there, which is a great, great relaxer.
Do you have a Whirlpool in your bedding?
I put in when I got up here.
They only cost about $500 to put in.
Good.
And it's the greatest relaxer.
Do any of the other judges use them or not?
Hugo Black used to use it once in a while, but nobody else uses it here.
That way it's nice and clean.
It is.
And it's always available.
Okay.
Good to talk to you.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On May 3, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Warren E. Burger talked on the telephone from 3:49 pm to 3:53 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 023-143 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 23-143

Date: May 3, 1972
Time: 3:49-3:53 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Warren E. Burger.

[See also Conversation No. 335-22]

     J. Edgar Hoover
           -President’s discussion with John B. Connally
           -Congressional memorial service
                 -Burger's tribute
           -The President's eulogy
           -Burger's eulogy
                 -Points made
                 -Respect for Bill of Rights
          -The President's eulogy
                 -Burger's attendance
                 -Copy of Burger's eulogy
                      -Delivery to John K. Andrews, Jr.
           -Congressional memorial
                 -Length

     Burgers' health
          -W. Kenneth Riland

*****************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 03/21/2019.
Segment will remain closed.]
[Personal Returnable]
[023-143-w002]
[Duration: 16s]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2

*****************************************************************

     Burger's health
          -Hugo Black

Also recorded on May 3, 1972

  • 023-140 3:43 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 3:43 pm to 3:46 pm.
  • 023-141 3:48 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 3:48 pm.
  • 023-142 3:48 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:48 pm and 3:49 pm.
  • 335-020 3:48 PM · 53 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 3:48 pm.
  • 335-021 3:48 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:48 pm and 3:49 pm.
  • 335-022 3:49 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Warren E. Burger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:49 pm and 3:53 pm.
  • 023-144 3:53 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:53 pm and 3:56 pm.
  • 335-023 3:53 PM · 41 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:53 pm and 4:34 pm.

All 63 conversations from May 3, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 023-143, May 3, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/023-143 (accessed October 10, 2026).