Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 28 › Conversation 028-016

Nixon, Waggonner & Connally on Political outreach and Social commentary

Monday, July 31, 1972 · 5:44 PM–5:54 PM ET · White House Telephone · 42 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Waggonner, Joe D., Jr.; Connally, John B.Conversation028-016 on Tape 28StartMonday, July 31, 1972 at 5:44 PMEndMonday, July 31, 1972 at 5:54 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 028-016 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon facilitates a brief phone call between Congressman Joe D. Waggonner, Jr. and John B. Connally to foster communication between the two men. Following introductory pleasantries, the conversation transitions into a casual, lighthearted exchange regarding the perceived differences in manners between the wealthy and the poor. No substantive political developments or policy decisions are documented in this portion of the recording.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Hello.
Congressman Wagoner.
Hello.
Yes, sir, Mr. President.
Joe, if you've got a minute, I was just chatting with John here, and could he talk to you a minute?
Sure.
All right.
Joe.
Hey.
What are you doing?
Nothing, John.
I'm doing fine.
How are you doing?
Well, I just couldn't be better.
That's great.
I guess I'm fine unless I was rich.
You know, rich folk got mighty pretty ways.
Yeah, poor folk got damn boys.
That's right.

NARA Description

On July 31, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Joe D. Waggonner, Jr., and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 5:44 pm to 5:54 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 028-016 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 28-16

Date: July 31, 1972
Time: 5:44 pm - 5:54 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Joe D. Waggonner, Jr.

[See Conversation No. 757-6B]

     The President's meeting with John B. Connally

Connally talked with Waggonner.

     Greetings

     Rich people compared to poor people
          -Manners

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 9m 3s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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Also recorded on July 31, 1972

  • 028-013 4:06 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 4:06 pm.
  • 028-014 4:07 PM · 24 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 4:07 pm to 4:08 pm.
  • 757-003 4:07 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:07 pm to 4:08 pm.
  • 757-004 4:08 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:08 pm to 4:10 pm.
  • 757-005 4:10 PM · 59 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, George P. Shultz, Herbert Stein, and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:10 pm to 5:38 pm.
  • 028-015 5:32 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and John B. Connally talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:32 pm and 5:44 pm.
  • 757-006 5:38 PM · 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John B. Connally, Manolo Sanchez, White House operator, Joe D. Waggonner, Jr., and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:38 pm to 6:40 pm.
  • 028-017 5:54 PM · 10 sec — the recording device engaged at an unknown time between 5:54 pm and 8:44 pm, but the conversation appears to be blank.

All 11 conversations from July 31, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 028-016, July 31, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/028-016 (accessed October 12, 2026).