Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 33 › Conversation 033-042

Nixon phone call with Eisenhower on 1972 election and Election returns

Tuesday, November 7, 1972 · 7:54 PM–7:57 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Eisenhower, [Dwight] David, IIConversation033-042 on Tape 33StartTuesday, November 7, 1972 at 7:54 PMEndTuesday, November 7, 1972 at 7:57 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 033-042 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417194305 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and David Eisenhower communicated via telephone on election night to review real-time projections and early returns from various states. They discussed specific outcomes for the presidential race, Senate contests, and state-level voter turnout metrics provided by news networks like CBS and NBC. The exchange focused on assessing the candidate's electoral strength in key regions, including Alabama, Illinois, and Ohio, while acknowledging the uncertainty of early returns in close races.

  • 1972 election
  • Election returns
  • Senate races
  • Presidential politics
  • Voter turnout

Audio

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NARA Description

On November 7, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and [Dwight] David Eisenhower, II talked on the telephone from 7:54 pm to 7:57 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 033-042 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 33-42

Date: November 7, 1972
Time: Between 7:54 - 7:57 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with [Dwight] David Eisenhower, II.

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

[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift during
chronological review 2007-2013]

       Greetings

       1972 election
            -Alabama
                   -The President
                   -Winton M. Blount
            -Connecticut
                   -Projections
                   -Waterbury
            -Alabama
                                         - 42 -

                         NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

                                                         Conversation No. 33-114 (cont’d)

                  -Projections
                         -Columbia Broadcasting Company [CBS]
                         -National Broadcasting Company [NBC]
           -Georgia
                  -Projections
                         -Democratic candidate Sam Nunn
           -Illinois
                  -Projections
                         -The President
                         -Charles H. Percy
                               -Compared to the President
                                     -Chicago
                                           -Cook County                  -CBS
                               -Percy
           -Indiana
           -Kentucky
                  -Louie B. Nunn
           -Senate races
           -Georgia
                  -S. Fletcher Thompson
                         -Projections
           -Ohio
                  -CBS projection
           -South Carolina
                  -J. Strom Thurmond
           -Tennessee
           -Texas
                  -Voter turnout
           -Vermont
           -Virginia
                  -William L. Scott

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

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

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David calling you, sir.
Oh, yeah.
Hi.
Hello?
Hi, David.
Yes, okay, well, we've got some word here.
Alabama's ours, and apparently Blount is going to lose.
Oh, he's out.
I thought he wouldn't be yet.
Right, about 56.44.
Connecticut is looking very good.
We've gotten some good news from Waterbury, but there are no firm.
What's Alabama?
What's the figure there?
Alabama is already given to us by CBS and NBC, but there's no margin on that right now.
Georgia is ours with 70% of the vote and none.
Democratic candidate is apparently going to win.
Illinois.
Oh, none's going to beat the damn.
Right.
Okay, Illinois is yours, 62-38.
That's their projection?
Well, one is 55-45 and the other is 62-38, but 62-38 is looking good right now.
Percy is an apparent winner at about 55-45.
We're doing a little better than he is?
Apparently, right now.
Yes, the projections varied on Percy between 53-47 and 55-45, but they don't...
They're basing this entirely on Chicago wards, I guess.
What are they basing us on then?
How do they get...
Same thing, Cook County.
Cook County, and so it's everywhere from 55 to what?
62.
So 62 could be.
But that's Cook County only or the whole state?
No, just Cook County is all we've heard from so far.
But the CBS projection is 62% in Illinois.
For the state?
Right, for the state.
And for Percy?
Apparently 50.
I'd like to see us beat him.
55, 53 to 55 right now.
That's the last I've got on it.
All right.
Indiana is ours.
None is falling behind and Kentucky is down 49-51 right now.
Well, that'll be a squeaker all time.
Looks like the Senate's tough though.
You mean, do they project Thompson lost yet or?
Yes, 62-38.
Oh boy.
So take that back 64-36, so it wasn't even really that close.
Ohio is holding at 58, and as a matter of fact, CBS has given us 61 now, 61.39.
So they've upped that.
South Carolina is ours.
Tennessee is holding.
What's the figure at Tennessee, at South Carolina?
No figure?
They've just based it on about 1%.
That's nothing.
They've projected Thurman at, what was Thurman's margin, about 62?
Thurman was in the mid-60s, about 65, 35.
So we're about the same place.
Right.
I assume.
I haven't got a hard figure on it.
And there's no word on the Texas race so far.
Apparently there's a very good turnout in Texas.
All right.
Whether that's good or bad, I'm not sure.
Vermont's ours, Virginia's ours, and Scott is leading right now in Virginia.
Good.
And that's all I've got right now.
Okay, good.
I'll let you know if we get anything else.
Bye.
Bye.

Also recorded on November 7, 1972

  • 033-039 7:41 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:41 pm and 7:50 pm.
  • 033-040 7:41 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:41 pm and 7:50 pm.
  • 033-041 7:50 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George H. Allen talked on the telephone from 7:50 pm to 7:52 pm.
  • 033-043 7:57 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:57 pm and 8:01 pm.
  • 033-044 8:01 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 8:01 pm to 8:02 pm.
  • 033-045 8:04 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:04 pm and 8:06 pm.
  • 033-046 8:04 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:04 pm and 8:06 pm.
  • 033-047 8:06 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:06 pm to 8:20 pm.

All 18 conversations from November 7, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 033-042, November 7, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417194305). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/033-042 (accessed November 15, 2026).