Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 35 › Conversation 035-026
Nixon phone call with Scouten on White House renovations and Bowling alley
Thursday, December 28, 1972 · 12:35 PM–12:39 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min
AI Summary
President Nixon consulted with Rex W. Scouten regarding proposed renovations to the White House bowling alley and the president's private living quarters. Nixon directed Scouten to scale back the bowling alley project by eliminating unnecessary plumbing and auxiliary facilities, opting instead to relocate a whirlpool installation to his master bathroom. Scouten was tasked with investigating the feasibility of this plan and providing a revised proposal for the upgrades.
- White House renovations
- Bowling alley
- Jacuzzi
- Master bedroom
- Rex W. Scouten
- Facilities management
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
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hello yeah this is rick scott hi rex yes sir uh you know i know you've been talking to bob about a plan down on the bowling alley and so forth and so on here's what i have in mind i uh the more i think about it the only thing i really need down there need in that area is the bowling alley itself because basically
far as anybody whoever uses it will have the upstairs you know what i mean they'll be dressing upstairs and showering and all that sort of thing that's particularly true i mean the sonoid we really don't need but it's particularly true if you can work out a plan to take the bathroom in the master bedroom there and put in one of those uh jacuzzi kind of things yeah you've been checking on that to see understand i don't want one of these you know these half-assed contraptions but
That's a very big room and a very big space, so I wouldn't think there'd be much problem on it.
No, I don't think so.
I think there's plenty of room where... Our mail problem, we're getting the information from California that put the...
The people that... Is it La Costa?
I don't know.
There's a big club out there, and they're the best in the country, and we talked to them on the phone, and they're sending us the information.
We should have had it by now.
I see.
They will have the information.
Well, my view is that rather than having...
putting in a damn big installation down below, which you have to go down and use and change your clothes and so forth.
We just limited to... Just have the alley.
And then upstairs, you could do one of two things.
You could either leave the bathroom that I presently have and put it on the third floor so that everybody could use it that way, see?
Third floor, just take one of the
the rooms up there and expand the bath and so forth and so on.
How would that be?
Sure, that can be done.
So you've got the water and so forth.
That would be much handier for you, though, if we could work it in.
If it can be done there, it could be done there.
And as a matter of fact, then...
If you don't use the tub, I don't think... No.
If you could put it in there, that would be handy.
Now, is this the whirlpool type?
Yeah.
Well, I think it's what it's called, yeah.
Yeah, I've talked to B.B.
about it.
Yeah, well, he has one in the swimming pool and...
You can put them, though, in smaller, you don't have to have an area as big as we have in our swimming pool.
I just wanted to say that in terms of what you do, what I think the one-string bowling, which I understand people will contribute.
Now, that wouldn't require, for example, all of the dam changes and air conditioning, all that sort of thing, would it?
No.
No, it would be not simple, but we can do it.
I know.
Well, we don't need to do it.
If you said we'd be more than happy to put it in.
I know, but I don't, you see,
Even when I use this bowling alley over here, I don't change and shower and all that sort of thing.
Well, of course, I wouldn't have the opportunity to if they don't have any.
If we had this down here, this is convenient enough.
You just take the elevator down, walk to it, right?
This would be a lot, you know, certainly it would simplify things a lot.
Yeah, and then you don't need a shower and rest.
You do all the showers and changing up above, see?
And all you need basically is the alley.
Just without a shower and without a bathroom, you don't need a bathroom or any of that sort of thing, see?
You don't need to put any plumbing in or any of that sort.
We'll just go ahead and advance with that.
And that would be a very good thing.
And you can check to see what you can do upstairs in my room if you can.
And give me a plan, okay?
Great.
Thank you so much.
NARA Description
On December 28, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Rex W. Scouten talked on the telephone from 12:35 pm to 12:39 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 035-026 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 35-26
Date: December 28, 1972
Time: 12:35 pm - 12:39 pm
Location: White House Telephone
-29-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 35-26 (cont’d)
The President talked with Rex W. Scouten.
[See Conversation No. 380-13]
Bowling alley
-Scouten’s conversation with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Further alterations
-The President’s instructions
-Facilities
-Sauna
-Bathroom in master bedroom
-Jacuzzi (whirlpool)
-Whirlpool
-La Costa Club of California
-Bathroom
-Whirlpool
-Scouten’s conversation with Charles G. (“Bebe”) Rebozo
-Plumbing, air conditioning
-Elevator
-Bathroom
-Plumbing
-Master bedroomAlso recorded on December 28, 1972
- 380-013 12:35 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rex W. Scouten met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:35 pm to 12:39 pm.
- 035-027 12:39 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 2:26 pm.
- 380-014 12:39 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 2:20 pm.
- 380-015 12:39 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 2:20 pm.
- 380-016 12:39 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 2:20 pm.
- 380-017 12:39 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 2:20 pm.
- 380-018 12:39 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 2:20 pm.
- 380-019 12:39 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 2:20 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 035-026, December 28, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/035-026 (accessed October 10, 2026).