Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 35 › Conversation 035-103

Nixon phone call with McFall on House Democratic Whip

Tuesday, January 9, 1973 · 10:02 AM–10:03 AM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); McFall, John J.Conversation035-103 on Tape 35StartTuesday, January 9, 1973 at 10:02 AMEndTuesday, January 9, 1973 at 10:03 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 035-103 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon telephoned Representative John J. McFall to offer congratulations on his selection as House Democratic Whip. The conversation served primarily as a professional courtesy, briefly bridging the two men's shared California backgrounds and humble upbringings in agriculture. Nixon concluded the brief exchange by expressing interest in meeting McFall again during a future congressional leadership session.

John J. McFall
House Democratic Whip
Congressional leadership
California politics
Political careers

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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please congressman thank you here you are sir there you are hello good morning mr president well as a fellow californian i want to congratulate you for for starting on the road to speaker well i don't know whether it's the road to speaker uh 10 or 15 years or i'll tell you well you're a young fellow you can well i was delighted to see it and uh you know we can uh

It's good to have our states recognized.

Did you ever expect this when you came to the House?

No, sir, I did not.

When I was throwing rocks at those cows out in California when I was about 14 years old and you told me I was going to be a congressman, I'd have said you were crazy.

I had exactly the same thing when I was used to hoe weeds around the tomato plants in Yerba Linda.

That's right.

I wanted to be a lawyer because I knew I couldn't make a living on the farm.

That's right.

Well, and making a living as a lawyer is almost as hard.

Well, anyway, good luck, and we'll see you at a leadership meeting one time.

All right.

Thank you, Mr. President.

NARA Description

On January 9, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and John J. McFall talked on the telephone from 10:02 am to 10:03 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 035-103 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 35-103

Date: January 9, 1973
Time: 10:02 am - 10:03 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with John J. McFall.

[See Conversations No. 836-6A]
                                               -96-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                            Conversation No. 35-103 (cont’d)

       Congratulations for McFall's selection as House Democratic Whip
            -California
            -Speaker of the House
            -Political ambitions
                   -McFall’s childhood
                   -Nixon’s experiences in Yorba Linda, California
            -McFall’s career
                   -Law
                         -Farming
            -Congressional leadership meeting

Also recorded on January 9, 1973

035-102 8:28 AM · 20 sec — the White House operator and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at 8:28 am.
836-002 8:28 AM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 8:28 am.
836-005 8:56 AM · 40 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, unknown person(s), and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:56 am to 9:37 am.
836-006 9:34 AM · 26 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Rose Mary Woods, Stephen B. Bull, and John J. McFall met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:34 am to 10:05 am.
035-104 10:03 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:03 am and 12:52 pm.
836-007 10:06 AM · 38 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, Herbert Stein, John D. Ehrlichman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:06 am and 10:45 am.
836-008 10:43 AM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Col. Richard T. Kennedy, Maurice J. Williams, Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:43 am and 11:09 am.
836-009 11:09 AM · 2 hr 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Frederic V. Malek, Stephen B. Bull, Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins, John D. Ehrlichman, Roy L. Ash, Col. Richard T. Kennedy, Albert L. Cole, unknown person(s), Manolo Sanchez, and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:09 am to 1:23 pm.

All 45 conversations from January 9, 1973 →

Nixon phone call with Call on 1972 election and California politics November 15, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Colson on 1972 Presidential Campaign and Social policy October 4, 1972 · 11 min
Nixon & Finch on Revenue sharing and Environmental policy September 12, 1971 · 5 min
Nixon & Haldeman on 1972 Presidential Campaign and Public Relations September 22, 1971 · 49 min
Nixon & Finch on California politics and Unemployment rate February 8, 1972 · 3 min
Nixon, Haldeman & Finch on 1972 Presidential Campaign and California Politics June 2, 1971 · 1 hr 39 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 035-103, January 9, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/035-103 (accessed October 27, 2026).