Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 36 › Conversation 036-014

Nixon phone call with Woods on 1973 Inaugural Address and Speechwriting

Friday, January 19, 1973 · 7:29 PM–7:30 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Woods, Rose MaryConversation036-014 on Tape 36StartFriday, January 19, 1973 at 7:29 PMEndFriday, January 19, 1973 at 7:30 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 036-014 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with his personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, to verify the text of his upcoming 1973 inaugural speech after noticing a potentially missing sentence regarding treaty commitments. The President expressed concern that the line, "We shall defend our interests," had been inadvertently or deliberately omitted from his current draft. To resolve the discrepancy, Nixon directed Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler to provide Woods with the official press copy for confirmation.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Yeah.
Hello.
Yeah, hello.
Hello.
Rose, I have just got this copy and was marking it up, and it may be that a sentence has been taken out that I wasn't sure about, but you don't happen to have anything there, do you?
No, I don't.
Where it says we shall respect your treaty commitments, I think the next sentence was
We shall defend our interests.
That is not here.
But the only problem, I can check it over.
I'm going to have Ziegler send over a copy of the press copy.
And then I can confirm it with this.
Those young girls proved it.
It should have been right.
Well, we'll see.
We'll see.
It may be that that one sentence was dropped out
by mistake or deliberately.
But don't worry about it.
I didn't know.
If you're home, it doesn't make any difference.
We'll work it out tomorrow.
Right.
Bye.

NARA Description

On January 19, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 7:29 pm to 7:30 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 036-014 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 36-14

Date: January 19, 1973
Time: 7:29 pm - 7:30 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Rose Mary Woods.

       The President’s 1973 Inaugural speech
                                             -7-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                                Conversation No. 36-14 (cont’d)

             -Draft
             -Ronald L. Ziegler

       Rose Mary Woods’ schedule

Also recorded on January 20, 1973

  • 036-141 7:30 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone on an unknown date, sometime between 7:30 pm on January 19, 1973 and 12:21 am on January 20, 1973.
  • 036-016 12:49 AM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:49 am and 1:03 am.
  • 036-017 1:03 AM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:03 am and 1:04 am.
  • 036-018 1:04 AM · 41 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 1:04 am to 1:46 am.
  • 036-019 1:46 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 1:46 am to 1:49 am.
  • 036-020 8:35 AM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:35 am and 9:32 am.
  • 036-021 9:32 AM · 27 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 9:32 am to 9:59 am.
  • 036-022 10:01 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 10:01 am.

All 16 conversations from January 20, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 036-014, January 20, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/036-014 (accessed October 11, 2026).