Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 29 › Conversation 029-031

Nixon phone call with an unidentified caller on White House telephone system

Friday, August 4, 1972 · 2:58 PM–4:42 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

Participants[Unknown person(s)]Conversation029-031 on Tape 29StartFriday, August 4, 1972 at 2:58 PMEndSunday, August 6, 1972 at 4:42 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 029-031 ↗

AI Summary

An unknown White House staffer calls the telephone repair desk to verify the clarity and functionality of a specific line. Beyond testing the equipment, the participants engage in casual conversation regarding weekend plans involving shooting sports and local Washington Redskins football. The caller also briefly comments on the aesthetic improvements made to the Oval Office since the Johnson administration, noting the removal of clutter and the addition of the Marine Corps flag.

  • White House telephone system
  • Equipment maintenance
  • Oval Office aesthetics
  • Recreational sports
  • Lyndon B. Johnson

Audio

Download MP3 · 4.9 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
repair desk.
Hello, repair desk.
Oh, Smokey.
If you don't mind, would you talk to me for a little while?
Sure, try to.
I want to make sure that this thing's in good condition.
Lenny told me what happened.
Seemed like they lifted something and then put it back.
Oh.
That's why I couldn't find it.
That certainly was a
Peculiar.
Well, is there a reason?
Apparently not.
Sounds alright.
You don't hear any hum or anything, do you?
No, sounds quite quiet.
Think it's going to rain this weekend?
I don't know.
I hope it does.
It's going to cool off some, huh?
Yeah.
We'll watch at risk because we win a game tonight and...
Y'all don't come on when we're in more trouble.
How soon?
Huh?
How soon do they come on?
You got 45 minutes?
I've got the weekend off, and I think it is, if it isn't pouring down rain, I'm going shooting.
All summer I've been... Hey, is there a shoot going on at that club out there, Road 50, like East Coast?
Because I see Michigan, all state things from all over the East Coast out there.
Trap shooting.
Could be.
I don't know.
That's not my thing.
Strangling pistols.
But all summer I've been trying.
It seems like the days I've been off it's been raining or else I've worked so many hours I've been tired.
And it seems a waste of ammunition to go out and shoot when you're bleary-eyed.
But then I'm going to go tomorrow and have to go in a raincoat and the whole number out.
I haven't heard at least a little squeak on this thing.
It certainly sounds quiet to me.
Could I have had something up to it?
Well, I think the problem probably disappeared while testing.
That might be a thing.
I only think we got in trouble to get on it.
Uh-huh.
Maybe best not to have one.
Well, I was told not to.
Uh-huh.
Not to know anything, so fine.
I'm talking to you from a pay station.
This office looks a lot better than it did when LBJ was here.
Yellow furniture and blue rug and there was a bank of four television receivers and then a bank of teletype machines.
And, you know, they weren't closed, but it looks a lot prettier now.
Stand here in front of the Marine Corps flag with all its streamers on it.
Very impressive.
I was going to say, that's one of your outfits on there.
Yeah, that's kind of like taking that home for a souvenir.
Well, I certainly thank you, Fritz.
Sounds good.
Okay, thanks again.
Right on.
Bye.

NARA Description

Unknown person(s) talked on the telephone on an unknown date, sometime between 2:58 pm on August 4, 1972 and 4:42 pm on August 6, 1972. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 029-031 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 29-31

Date: Unknown between August 4, 1972 and August 6, 1972
Time: Unknown between 2:58 pm, August 4, 1972 and 4:42 pm, August 6, 1972
Location: White House Telephone

An unknown man talked with an unknown person.

     Greetings

     Check of telephone lines
         -Quality of telephone connection

     Weather

     Washington Redskins
         -Start of game

     Weekend plans
         -Trap shooting tournament
         -Pistol shooting

     Telephone lines
          -Problems

     Oval Office
          -Appearance
               -Lyndon B. Johnson
                    -Furniture
                    -Rug
                    -Televisions
                    -Teletype machines
               -Marine Corps flag

Also recorded on August 4, 1972

  • 029-024 2:34 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan talked on the telephone from 2:34 pm to 2:35 pm.
  • 029-025 2:35 PM · 13 sec — Charles W. Colson and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:35 pm and 2:58 pm.
  • 029-026 2:35 PM · 28 sec — Charles W. Colson and Holly Holm talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:35 pm and 2:58 pm.
  • 029-027 2:35 PM · 22 sec — Patrick J. Buchanan and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:35 pm and 2:58 pm.
  • 029-028 2:35 PM · 1 min — Patrick J. Buchanan and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:35 pm and 2:58 pm.
  • 362-009 2:35 PM · 51 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and Patrick J. Buchanan met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:35 pm to 2:58 pm.
  • 029-029 2:58 PM · 44 sec — Unknown person(s) and the White House operator talked on the telephone on an unknown date, sometime between 2:58 pm on August 4, 1972 and 4:42 pm on August 6, 1972.
  • 029-030 2:58 PM · 26 sec — Unknown person(s) and the White House operator talked on the telephone on an unknown date, sometime between 2:58 pm on August 4, 1972 and 4:42 pm on August 6, 1972.

All 38 conversations from August 4, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 029-031, August 4, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/029-031 (accessed October 1, 2026).