Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 43 › Conversation 043-085

Nixon phone call with an unidentified caller on Hobart D. Lewis

Wednesday, February 14, 1973 · 5:33 PM–8:04 PM ET · White House Telephone · 21 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation043-085 on Tape 43StartWednesday, February 14, 1973 at 5:33 PMEndWednesday, February 14, 1973 at 8:04 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 043-085 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon instructed the White House operator to place an outgoing call to Hobart D. Lewis, the president and editor-in-chief of Reader's Digest, at his office in New York. The brief exchange served purely administrative purposes to facilitate contact between the President and the media executive. No further policy discussions or substantive developments occurred during this brief request for operator assistance.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yes, please.
Would you try Mr. Hobart Lewis in New York, please?
Certainly.

NARA Description

On February 14, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:33 pm and 8:04 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 043-085 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 43-85

Date: February 14, 1973
Time: Unknown between 5:33 pm and 8:04 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

       Request for a call to Hobart D. (“Hobe”) Lewis

Also recorded on February 14, 1973

  • 043-083 5:06 PM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 5:06 pm to 5:07 pm.
  • 043-084 5:29 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Elliot L. Richardson talked on the telephone from 5:29 pm to 5:33 pm.
  • 856-002 5:29 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Elliot L. Richardson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:29 pm to 5:33 pm.
  • 856-003 5:34 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Gen. Brent G. Scowcroft met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:34 pm and 6:06 pm.
  • 856-004 5:34 PM · 30 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:34 pm and 6:06 pm.
  • 856-005 6:06 PM · 28 sec — Unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 6:06 pm on February 14, 1973 and 8:15 am on February 15, 1973.
  • 856-006 6:06 PM · 10 sec — Unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 6:06 pm on February 14, 1973 and 8:15 am on February 15, 1973.
  • 856-007 6:06 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 6:06 pm on February 14, 1973 and 8:15 am on February 15, 1973.

All 58 conversations from February 14, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 043-085, February 14, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/043-085 (accessed October 1, 2026).