Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 31 › Conversation 031-077

Nixon phone call with Galvin on Telecommunications and Executive privilege

Monday, October 16, 1972 · 5:14 PM–5:16 PM ET · White House Telephone · 23 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Galvin, Robert W.Conversation031-077 on Tape 31StartMonday, October 16, 1972 at 5:14 PMEndMonday, October 16, 1972 at 5:16 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 031-077 ↗

President Nixon initiated this brief telephone call to speak with Motorola executive Robert W. Galvin. The conversation was interrupted by technical difficulties, resulting in a disconnected line after less than a minute of usable audio. Due to the withdrawal of the substantive portion of the recording for personal privacy reasons, no policy matters or specific outcomes are discernible from the remaining transcript.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yeah.
Sorry, Mr. President, the line went out of order.
Have Mr. Galvin again.
Yeah, sorry.
Robert Galvin, sir.

On October 16, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Robert W. Galvin talked on the telephone from 5:14 pm to 5:16 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 031-077 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 31-77

Date: October 16, 1972
Time: 5:14 pm - 5:16 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Robert W. Galvin.

[See Conversation No. 800-2C]

*****************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1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

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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  • 031-074 5:01 PM · 42 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Paul Miller talked on the telephone from 5:01 pm to 5:03 pm.
  • 799-036 5:01 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Paul Miller met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:01 pm to 5:03 pm.
  • 800-002 5:03 PM · 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., William R. Hearst, White House operator, unknown person(s), Robert W. Galvin, and Martin S. Hayden met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:03 pm to 5:26 pm.
  • 031-075 5:04 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William R. Hearst talked on the telephone from 5:04 pm to 5:08 pm.
  • 031-076 5:08 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:08 pm and 5:14 pm.
  • 031-078 5:16 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Martin S. Hayden talked on the telephone from 5:16 pm to 5:21 pm.
  • 800-003 5:26 PM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:26 pm and 5:34 pm.
  • 800-004 5:26 PM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:26 pm and 5:34 pm.

Conversation 031-077, 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/031-077 (accessed September 25, 2026).