Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 27 › Conversation 027-011

Nixon phone call with Sinatra on Congressional committees

Wednesday, July 19, 1972 · 2:35 PM–2:40 PM ET · White House Telephone · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Sinatra, Francis A. ("Frank")Conversation027-011 on Tape 27StartWednesday, July 19, 1972 at 2:35 PMEndWednesday, July 19, 1972 at 2:40 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 027-011 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon initiated this call to commend Frank Sinatra for his effective handling of a recent congressional committee appearance and his management of press scrutiny. The two discussed potential arrangements for Sinatra to provide entertainment for an upcoming White House visit by Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. Nixon floated the possibility of hosting the performance at the John F. Kennedy Center to better accommodate a larger audience, and the pair briefly touched upon Sinatra's personal schedule and his recent travels.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 3 minutes of this recording (about 54% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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?
Yes.
Hello, Frank?
Well, I just called to tell you that I was in California yesterday, and I got back to Texas.
I read the morning news about me and I just thought you did a great job on that committee.
The way your counsel put the press on, the way you handled the committee, I thought was just a very good job.
And I think you came out very well.
Sometimes you have to go into another attack too.
What is the situation really is?
I think it's one of those ones that I've, I've talked to areas and they don't, you know, feel kind of guilt by it, they feel, you know, and, and so, but anyway, they go way back, back to you, you won't stop in front of a race track, somebody else will stop, and I'll say, well, please put down my idea, and, you know, whatever, and that's, that's really recent, you know, and I, I've, I've read it enough, and it's handled well, and so, and they'll, they're probably sorry they don't,
Are you in France?
I understand.
Yeah.
Oh, great, great, great.
Yes, sir.
You mean the cancer specialist?
The cancer specialist?
Heart, heart, heart.
Yes, sir.
.
.
.
Let me ask one other thing, and incidentally, I'll ask you because you're another one of our people.
As you probably know, there's a new current manager for the lake.
He's a very good man.
He's a very strong friend of mine.
I have not met him, and I've had some meetings with him before going to Rutgers.
He's a really nice person.
He's always very good.
.
.
.
i won't i'll have our people talk to your schedulers what we would do
Then, if the number of people that appears watching you is great, we might as well remind you to go down to the Kennedy Center and put it on where you've got a better stage.
I don't know that we, I don't know that we can arrange that in place with the rest, but as far as you're concerned, you can do either way.
What would you rather do with the force?
and give them more than they used to.
Right, always, if you can do that, too.
And they might have to eat, too.
And you're, uh, you're, uh, you've got to know that, you know, the thing I was thinking of, that farewell thing you did, if you could, uh, maybe give us some of those, uh, yeah, but I mean, you are.
But anyway, we won't bother you with it now, and, uh, we'll get to, uh, have our, we've got to, we've got to, we've got to, you know,
Yeah.
Well, great, and have a great time over there.
What do you do?
Do you fish or swim or ride?
Ah, you're a golfer.
That's right.
This has been my, I have not met him, but I have started to admire him and to tell him that my warmest, best wishes to him.
All right.
Goodbye and good luck to you.
Bye.

NARA Description

On July 19, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Francis A. ("Frank") Sinatra talked on the telephone from 2:35 pm to 2:40 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 027-011 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 27-11

Date: July 19, 1972
Time: 2:35 pm - 2:40 pm

Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Francis A. (“Frank”) Sinatra.

[See Conversation No. 348-8]

     Sinatra
          -Appearance before congressional committee
                 -The President’s schedule
                      -California
                      -News summary
                 -Sinatra's counsel
                      -Journalists
                 -The President's conversation with Frank L. Rizzo
                 -Allegations
                      -Racetrack
          -Location
                 -France
          -Houston heart specialist [Dr. Michael DeBakey]
                 -1972 election
                 -John B. Connally
          -Giulio Andreotti
                 -The President's schedule
                      -Trip to the Soviet Union May 1972
                           -Britain, France, West Germany
                      -Forthcoming visit by Andreotti
                           -White House dinner
                           -Entertainment by Sinatra
                                -White House, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
                                -Sinatra's farewell performance
          -Schedule
                -Golf
          -[Rainier, Prince of Monaco] Louis H.M.B. Rainier, III and [Grace, Princess of
                Monaco] Grace Patricia Kelly

Also recorded on July 19, 1972

  • 027-009 2:14 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 2:14 pm.
  • 027-010 2:25 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:25 pm and 2:35 pm.
  • 348-007 2:25 PM · 11 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 2:25 pm and 2:35 pm.
  • 348-008 2:35 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Francis A. ("Frank") Sinatra met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:35 pm to 2:40 pm.
  • 027-012 2:41 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Jesse M. Calhoon talked on the telephone from 2:41 pm to 2:42 pm.
  • 348-009 2:41 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Jesse M. Calhoon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:41 pm to 2:42 pm.
  • 027-013 2:42 PM · 14 sec — the recording device engaged at an unknown time between 2:42 pm and 9:00 pm, but the conversation appears to be blank.
  • 348-010 2:42 PM · 1 hr 28 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, Stephen B. Bull, unknown person(s), H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:42 pm to 5:53 pm.

All 39 conversations from July 19, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 027-011, July 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/027-011 (accessed October 2, 2026).