Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 31 › Conversation 031-133

Nixon phone call with an unidentified caller on Strom Thurmond

Wednesday, October 18, 1972 · 7:30 PM–7:55 PM ET · White House Telephone · 19 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation031-133 on Tape 31StartWednesday, October 18, 1972 at 7:30 PMEndWednesday, October 18, 1972 at 7:55 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 031-133 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon instructed the White House operator to place a telephone call to Senator Strom Thurmond. The operator informed the President that the Senator was likely located in South Carolina. The operator subsequently agreed to attempt to reach Thurmond at that location.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Try Senator Strom Thurmond.

I think he's in South Carolina, but they could reach him there.

All right, sir.

NARA Description

On October 18, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:30 pm and 7:55 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 031-133 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 31-133

Date: October 18, 1972
Time: Unknown between 7:30 pm and 7:55 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

[See Conversation No. 369-28]

        Request for a call to Strom Thurmond
           -Location

Also recorded on October 18, 1972

031-131 7:23 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:23 pm and 7:28 pm.
369-023 7:23 PM · 11 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 7:23 pm and 7:28 pm.
369-024 7:23 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:23 pm and 7:28 pm.
031-132 7:28 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ralph H. Cake talked on the telephone from 7:28 pm to 7:30 pm.
369-026 7:28 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ralph H. Cake met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 7:28 pm to 7:30 pm.
369-027 7:30 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:30 pm and 7:55 pm.
369-028 7:30 PM · 15 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 7:30 pm and 7:55 pm.
369-029 7:30 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:30 pm and 7:55 pm.

All 86 conversations from October 18, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 031-133, October 18, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/031-133 (accessed October 10, 2026).