Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 37 › Conversation 037-075

Nixon phone call with Meskill on John T. Downey and People's Republic of China

Friday, March 9, 1973 · 3:00 PM–3:02 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Meskill, Thomas J.Conversation037-075 on Tape 37StartFriday, March 9, 1973 at 3:00 PMEndFriday, March 9, 1973 at 3:02 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 037-075 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417195291 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon calls Governor Thomas J. Meskill to share the positive news that his direct appeal to Chou En-Lai successfully secured the release of American prisoner John T. Downey. Nixon explains that the release was prompted by the poor health of Downey’s mother and notes that the People's Republic of China has also agreed to release two additional U.S. flyers the following Wednesday. Nixon instructs Meskill to inform his office immediately before the official White House announcement to prevent media leaks.

Audio

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NARA Description

On March 9, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Thomas J. Meskill talked on the telephone from 3:00 pm to 3:02 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 037-075 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 37-75

Date: March 9, 1973
Time: 3:00 pm and 3:02 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Thomas J. Meskill.

[See Conversation No. 418-5G]

       President's cable to Chou En-Lai
              -John T. Downey
              -Downey’s mother
              -Downey's release
                      -Call to William Downey (brother)
                      -Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
              -Further releases
                      -Lt. Cmdr. Robert J. Flynn
                                              - 49 -

                            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

                     -Maj. Philip E. Smith
              -People's Republic of China [PRC]
              -Meskill's schedule
                     -Canada
                             -Skiing
              -Mrs. Downey's condition

       President's appreciation for support
              -Announcement
                      -Release date
                              -Hong Kong

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).

Yeah.
Governor Meskel, sir.
Hello.
Hello, Mr. President.
Hi, Tom.
How are you?
I'm fine, thank you.
How are you, sir?
Thought you'd be pleased to know I sent a wire, a cable on my own to Joe and Lye Wednesday about Downey telling about the sickness of his mother and personally asking.
You're going to appreciate more what happened.
He responded in record time.
He's going to be released Monday.
Oh, thank God.
And I've called his brother and told him, and just a minute ago, and then I'm not calling Teddy Kennedy, if you don't mind.
I don't mind at all.
But I am calling you.
And then also, you'd be interested in that gentle thing.
They're going to release the two flyers they hold on Wednesday.
Oh, good.
So China's going through totally.
I haven't heard anything.
I'm up in Canada skiing with my two boys.
Yeah.
And I haven't heard anything today about Mrs. Tommy.
He's very, very ill.
Her brother said he didn't know whether he'd get there in time or not, but I said, well, we got him out anyway.
Well, that's wonderful.
God bless you.
Okay, well, have a good time up there.
Thank you so much for coming.
And we appreciate all your strong support.
I just hope it doesn't hurt you.
I said, we appreciate your strong support, and I just hope it doesn't hurt you.
If it does, it'll be worth it.
Okay.
And it won't, and do you mind if I let my office know about this?
Yes.
Now, understand, it'll be announced here.
You better call your office immediately, because it's going to be announced here this afternoon.
We don't want it to leak.
Right.
Released on Monday at around what time?
Well, just, they haven't said just, you can just say Monday, probably Monday morning.
Monday morning.
Yeah, but in China, of course.
In China.
Hong Kong.
Hong Kong.
Be announced here.
You call your office right away, or the press will have it before.
Thank you very much.
Okay.
Thanks a million for calling.

Also recorded on March 9, 1973

  • 037-070 2:35 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:35 pm and 2:46 pm.
  • 037-071 2:35 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and William Downey talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:35 pm and 2:46 pm.
  • 037-073 2:46 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 2:46 pm.
  • 037-074 2:46 PM · 2 min — Henry A. Kissinger and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:46 pm and 2:53 pm.
  • 418-006 3:05 PM · 22 sec — Unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building on an unknown date, sometime between 3:05 pm on March 9, 1973 and 12:46 pm on March 12, 1973.
  • 875-001 3:10 PM · 2 min — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:10 pm and 3:17 pm.
  • 875-005 3:10 PM · 15 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:10 pm and 3:17 pm.
  • 875-002 3:17 PM · 35 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William E. Simon, John T. Dunlop, John D. Ehrlichman, Herbert Stein, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:17 pm to 3:53 pm.

All 51 conversations from March 9, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 037-075, March 9, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417195291). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/037-075 (accessed October 29, 2026).