Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 27 › Conversation 027-044

Nixon phone call with Johnson on 1972 Campaign and John B. Connally

Monday, July 24, 1972 · 12:19 PM–12:37 PM ET · White House Telephone · 18 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Johnson, Lyndon B.Conversation027-044 on Tape 27StartMonday, July 24, 1972 at 12:19 PMEndMonday, July 24, 1972 at 12:37 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 027-044 ↗

AI Summary

President Richard M. Nixon and former President Lyndon B. Johnson engaged in a wide-ranging discussion concerning the 1972 presidential campaign, specifically focusing on John B. Connally’s efforts to organize the 'Democrats for Nixon' movement. The two leaders also discussed foreign policy, including perspectives on Vietnam and the role of former presidents in international affairs. Furthermore, the conversation touched upon logistical and security arrangements for upcoming travel and appointments involving prominent figures.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 6 minutes of this recording (about 36% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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?
Yeah.
Hello?
Well, how's the weather down there?
Yeah.
Well, I'll tell you, you're lucky you're not in Washington.
There's a track up to your face up in here.
There's a goat that can give you that much younger, you know.
I, uh, I start with a 60 barrier in January, but it's still in the day-to-day.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Tommy, uh, do you, do you just get in your car and drive, uh, to the barrier down the ranch that way, or, uh, do you really enjoy that, huh?
I know you have to, yeah.
Oh, yeah, he made a fine sermon on, uh, in what he, uh, defended against Vietnam about a month ago.
Really, he's got a, he's a very good man.
I'm going to go to his church one day and let him get away.
That's the Christian church, right?
Right?
Yeah, he attended, attended a Christian church in San Fernando.
It's a very small one, but I'll have it in mind, and I'll do it, and we'll try to
You know, the thing about it these days is that there's so many menacees, you know, sickly, and my place isn't the worst, but the officials today haven't seen a lot of captains, you know, going off to be there.
It's good to have someone to stand up to them, right?
Well, I tell you, fellows like Cook,
in Philadelphia, and they still stand out from up there.
But I guess some of these come up in the other direction.
Unbelievable.
Unbelievable.
What I wanted to tell you about is pretty much a critical matter.
But you know John Connolly is
Now, in setting this up,
We have a lot of people that are very, very good to you.
We are in the back.
The only purpose of my call is
They would not be able to do it on their own.
They would like to help John Connolly in this type of situation.
And an idea like yours is very different from anybody else's.
For example, you have a country, a pack of animals, and all of them are giving up the amount of debt.
And John Kennedy, he was doing a good job.
He was giving up the amount of debt all over the part of the world.
So, to deal with the fact that you're in a very different position, I just wanted to be sure that you knew that you weren't trying to, that you didn't want to do anything that would deter you.
You said it's really good people in the life of Jesus, and John, I don't know, was putting it very clearly, that you weren't trying to support the, support the Democrats at any level.
And, and frankly, it's mainly off, and I'm working on that security area that
That's right.
Oh, yeah.
We're gonna want to
that I totally respect.
As a matter of fact, as you may recall, before, I've been purchasing so much.
And, uh, whereas my views, as you know, on the Internet, are never closer to yours.
Well, let me say this.
One thing Henry would say, and we talked about this today, Henry would say, you know, he started going over it, and he and his other colleagues come out, and it's not that they agree, you know, which, of course, they do know better than anybody else, which is a joy, you know.
They cut off the good East oil, they cut off Asia, they put down the food and all that.
Henry would say, you know, the significant thing is that President Johnson all the time says this,
He's never said a word that he's heard of, and he certainly doesn't think why it would be so helpful.
And I think President Eisenhardt, his relationship with you, he never gets any of this from her.
And the same is true for the river, you know.
Right, right.
Well, I really appreciate it, Joe.
Yeah, they did, they did, they did it again.
Well, we got a lot of stuff.
Good.
If you, if you do this, at first, not only your schedule, but you also indicate which airlines you're driving on.
Because what I was thinking is that we know the airlines, you know, we can have, you know, if we can't put people on every flight that's there, if she's on an airline, I guess she's driving on a plane.
No, it'll be gone.
No.
Good.
Good.
So we'll do that.
As a matter of fact, I'll drop the motor to you.
If you have no objections, I'll help you.
I mean, I'll work out an objection for you.
Right.
All right.
Well, they've done a great job.
We can all be proud of our women for it.
Right, right.
And I'll say that they didn't say FBI or anything.
Also, I will say that some things that you and I didn't do, that's because you didn't want to do it.
I just, no point to be welcoming it to you.
Good.
I think God.
Right.
No, no, no, no, no.
We have a way to take care of him.
We want to be there for him.
Right.
and I will put it down in the follow-up.
Goodbye and thank you.
Take care of yourself.
Bye.

NARA Description

On July 24, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson talked on the telephone from 12:19 pm to 12:37 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 027-044 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 27-44

Date: July 24, 1972
Time: 12:19 pm - 12:37 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Lyndon B. Johnson.

[See Conversation No. 350-7A]

     Johnson's schedule
          -Weather
          -The President's age
          -Transportation around ranch

     Sermon on Vietnam
         -Unknown clergyman
               -Church
                    -San Clemente, California
         -Clergyman
               -Episcopalians, Roman Catholics
               -Terence Cardinal Cooke
               -John Cardinal Krol

     Campaign 1972
        -John B. Connally's position as head of Democrats for Nixon
               -Scope
                   -Presidential candidate level
                       -House and Senate candidates
               -George Christian's role
               -Marvin Watson
                   -The President’s meeting with Armand Hammer
               -Cyrus R. Smith
               -Dwayne O. Andreas

                -Johnson's position
                -Hubert H. Humphrey
                    -Max Kampelman
                -Henry M. (“Scoop”) Jackson
                    -John W. Kennan
                -Johnson's position
                -Democrat support at national level
                    -National security and national defense issues
                -Possible calls to Johnson

     Foreign policy issues
          -1964
                 -The President's views compared with Barry M. Goldwater's and Johnson's
          -Henry A. Kissinger
                 -George S. McGovern
                      -Aid to Greece
                          -North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO]
                          -Middle East
                               -Israel
          -Johnson
          -Dwight D. Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover
                 -Position as former Presidents

     Johnson’s schedule
          -Itinerary
                 -Airlines
                     -Security

Appointment
     -Unknown person
         -Unknown people
              -Women
               -Message from the President to Walter H. Annenberg
               -Germany
               -Arthur K. Watson
               -Arrangements
                   -Security
                       -Secret Service, Federal Bureau of Investigations [FBI]
                   -Kissinger

Also recorded on July 24, 1972

  • 027-041 11:56 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 11:56 am to 11:57 am.
  • 350-003 11:56 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 11:56 am to 11:57 am.
  • 027-042 12:08 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:08 pm.
  • 027-043 12:08 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:08 pm and 12:19 pm.
  • 350-004 12:08 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 12:08 pm.
  • 350-005 12:08 PM · 16 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 12:08 pm and 12:19 pm.
  • 350-006 12:08 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:08 pm and 12:19 pm.
  • 350-007 12:08 PM · 18 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Lyndon B. Johnson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:08 pm and 12:44 pm.

All 45 conversations from July 24, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 027-044, July 24, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/027-044 (accessed October 2, 2026).