Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 51 › Conversation 051-010

White House tour group on White House tours and Cabinet Room

Thursday, March 25, 1971 · 11:30 AM–5:00 PM ET · Cabinet Room

ParticipantsWhite House tour groupConversation051-010 onTape 51StartThursday, March 25, 1971 at 11:30 AMEndThursday, March 25, 1971 at 5:00 PMRecording deviceCabinet RoomSourceNixon Library record for 051-010 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon allowed a group of visitors to tour the Cabinet Room, providing them with an opportunity to view the facility and sit in his chair. During the informal session, members of the group engaged in lighthearted, speculative banter regarding the power associated with the presidency. No official policy decisions were made, as the interaction served primarily as a brief public relations moment for the tour group.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.6 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 114.4 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 111.5 MB ·Download MP3 (part 4) · 30.2 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 · Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.

4:39:39Come on, let's press this chair and make a wish.
4:39:58You know, just make yourself a private wish.
4:40:01All right?
4:40:01This is it.
4:40:02Now press the button and I'll start a war.
4:40:04Okay.
4:40:05And, uh...

NARA Description

On March 25, 1971, a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 11:30 am and 5:00 pm. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 051-010 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 51-10

Date: March 25, 1971
Time: Unknown between 11:30 am and 5:00 pm

Location: Cabinet Room

Unknown people [a tour group] met

     Roosevelt Room [?]

     Cabinet Room
          -A picture
          -President’s chair

The unknown people [tour group] left at an unknown time before 5:00 pm

Also recorded on March 25, 1971

  • 051-005 11:15 AM — John B. Connally and unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 11:15 am and 11:25 am.
  • 051-006 11:15 AM — unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 11:15 am and 11:25 am.
  • 473-006 11:20 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Dwight A. Ink, Alan Dean, Charles R. Perry, Donald B. Rice, Richard P. Nathan, Samuel M. Cohn, Charles Bingman, Wesley K. Sasaki, Emerson J. Elliott, Harry S. Havens, Earl D. Rhode, Carl W. Tiller, Rodger L. Greene, Raymond L. Walters, Seymour Blum, Russell Chapin, James Finch, Paul H. O'Neill, John B. Connally, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:20 am and 11:25 am.
  • 051-007 11:25 AM — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 11:25 am to 11:30 am.
  • 473-007 11:25 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:25 am and 11:30 am.
  • 051-008 11:30 AM — unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 11:30 am and 5:00 pm.
  • 051-009 11:30 AM — unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 11:30 am and 5:00 pm.
  • 051-011 11:30 AM — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 11:30 am and 5:00 pm.

All 27 conversations from March 25, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 051-010, March 25, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/051-010 (accessed September 18, 2026).