Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 35 › Conversation 035-145

Nixon phone call with Dent on Cabinet meeting and Confirmation hearings

Thursday, January 11, 1973 · 5:10 PM–5:11 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Dent, Frederick B.Conversation035-145 on Tape 35StartThursday, January 11, 1973 at 5:10 PMEndThursday, January 11, 1973 at 5:11 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 035-145 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon called Secretary-designate Frederick B. Dent to offer encouragement ahead of his upcoming confirmation hearings and to schedule a cabinet meeting following the inauguration. The two discussed the importance of Dent maintaining a firm yet professional demeanor during his questioning. Additionally, Dent reported positive feedback from the business community regarding George P. Shultz’s announcement of Phase III economic policies.

Cabinet meeting
Confirmation hearings
Phase III economic controls
Frederick B. Dent
George P. Shultz

Audio

Download MP3 · 1.4 MB

NARA Description

On January 11, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Frederick B. Dent talked on the telephone from 5:10 pm to 5:11 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 035-145 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 35-145

Date: January 11, 1973
Time: 5:10 pm - 5:11 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Frederick B. Dent.

[See Conversation No. 401-31/402-1G]

       The President’s schedule
            -Cabinet meeting
                  -Timing
                         -1973 Inauguration

       Dent's confirmation hearings
             -Timing
             -Tone

       George P. Shultz
            -Announcement of Phase III
                  -Response of business community

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Secretary Dent, sir.

Hello?

Hello.

Hello, Mr. President.

I have nothing to do, to tell you, except that we'll have a meeting, a cabinet meeting right after the inauguration that you will see at that time.

But while you're getting through your confirmations and the rest, I just want to wish you well and hope you're having a good time up here.

I certainly am, Mr. President.

The hearings are scheduled for tomorrow.

I hope to be able to do a job that will reflect credit on the administration.

I'm sure you will.

And just stand right up there and don't take any guff of them.

Just be very gentle.

I certainly shall.

Be gentle but firm.

I will.

Okay.

Thank you.

And, Mr. President, I just wanted to tell you I've had some very fine reaction from the business community today on George Schultz's announcement of Phase 3 on your behalf.

Great.

Well, I think he did a fine job.

Right.

Thank you, sir.

Also recorded on January 11, 1973

035-141 4:15 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Col. Richard T. Kennedy talked on the telephone from 4:15 pm to 4:17 pm.
035-142 4:35 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:35 pm and 5:02 pm.
402-001 4:35 PM · 41 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, William T. Kendall, White House operator, Manolo Sanchez, Claude S. Brinegar, Harry S. Dent, George P. Shultz, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:35 pm and 5:30 pm.
035-143 5:02 PM · 41 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Christopher S. Bond talked on the telephone from 5:02 pm to 5:03 pm.
035-144 5:03 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:03 pm and 5:10 pm.
035-146 5:11 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:11 pm and 5:12 pm.
035-147 5:12 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz talked on the telephone from 5:12 pm to 5:13 pm.
035-148 5:30 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:30 pm and 6:07 pm.

All 63 conversations from January 11, 1973 →

Nixon, Dent & Cox on Watergate and Cabinet meeting April 30, 1973 · 2 min
Nixon, Ehrlichman & Bull on Cabinet meeting and George P. Shultz March 19, 1973 · 1 min
Nixon, Yates & Bull on Cabinet meetings and George P. Shultz May 1, 1973 · 7 min
Nixon, Shultz & Ehrlichman on Tax reform and Fiscal policy April 26, 1973 · 56 min
Nixon & Haldeman on Richard Kleindienst and Confirmation hearings March 30, 1972 · 26 min
Nixon, Ehrlichman & Gray on FBI and Watergate February 16, 1973 · 30 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 035-145, January 11, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/035-145 (accessed November 15, 2026).