Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 31 › Conversation 031-072

Nixon phone call with Townsley on White House tapes

Monday, October 16, 1972 · 4:52 PM–4:53 PM ET · White House Telephone · 21 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Townsley, JosephConversation031-072 on Tape 31StartMonday, October 16, 1972 at 4:52 PMEndMonday, October 16, 1972 at 4:53 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 031-072 ↗

A 21-second recording. What it contains is described by the archivists' log below; no AI summary is shown for recordings this short.

Audio

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NARA Description

On October 16, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Joseph Townsley talked on the telephone from 4:52 pm to 4:53 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 031-072 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 31-72

Date: October 16, 1972
Time: 4:52 pm - 4:53 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Joseph Townsley.

[See Conversation No. 799-33]

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 1m 4s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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).

You are?
Okay.
Hello?
Hello?
Yes, Miss...

Also recorded on October 16, 1972

  • 031-069 4:45 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 4:45 pm.
  • 799-031 4:46 PM · 32 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:46 pm and 4:49 pm.
  • 031-071 4:49 PM · 39 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and William M. Fast talked on the telephone from 4:49 pm to 4:51 pm.
  • 799-032 4:49 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William M. Fast met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:49 pm to 4:51 pm.
  • 799-033 4:52 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Joseph Townsley met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:52 pm to 4:53 pm.
  • 031-073 4:53 PM · 54 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:53 pm and 4:59 pm.
  • 799-034 4:53 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:53 pm and 5:01 pm.
  • 799-035 4:53 PM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:53 pm and 5:01 pm.

All 103 conversations from October 16, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 031-072, October 16, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/031-072 (accessed November 9, 2026).