Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 68 › Conversation 068-004

Nixon White House recording on informal conversation

Thursday, August 5, 1971 · 5:22 PM–6:20 PM ET · Cabinet Room · 2 min

Participants[Unknown person(s)]Conversation068-004 on Tape 68StartThursday, August 5, 1971 at 5:22 PMEndThursday, August 5, 1971 at 6:20 PMRecording deviceCabinet RoomSourceNixon Library record for 068-004 ↗

AI Summary

This recording captures informal, non-substantive interactions among unidentified individuals gathering in the Cabinet Room. The dialogue consists primarily of casual chatter, lighthearted banter, and logistical remarks regarding room access and personal routines. No policy discussions, official decisions, or significant historical developments occurred during this brief exchange.

Audio

Download MP3 · 4.7 MB

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 74% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
All right.
You didn't screw today, did you?
You didn't screw today, did you?
Are you up to shit?
I don't think there's nothing I can do.
Oh, lookie, lookie.
Is that George right here?
Isn't he?
Oh, that's Josh, yeah.
I don't think I have any shortage here this time of year.
Okay.
I'm just crazy when it comes down to it.
Yeah.
We used to start every time we met, so it's been an actually long time.
Just throw it around.
That's what we used to do.
Yeah.
Billy got in the door.
Yeah, that's what I said.
We had to go through the same thing and get back.
Right.
We were all baffled.
Yeah.
About the door.
Yeah.
I had to look through it on paper.
Yeah.
I'm paying a job for you all.
That's it.
That's it.
Oh, man.
Somebody else put his leg on something.
Yeah.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On August 5, 1971, unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 5:22 pm and 6:20 pm. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 068-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 068-004

Date: August 5, 1971
Time: Unknown between 5:22 pm and 6:20 pm
Location: Cabinet Room

Unknown people met

******************************************************************************

[Previous non-historical (H) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 05/02/2019. Segment
cleared for release.]
[Non-Historical]
[068-004-w001]
[Duration: 2m 2s]

     Cleaning

     Unknown person’s eating habits

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

     Security clearance
          -Other jobs

******************************************************************************

The unknown people left at an unknown time before 6:20 pm

Also recorded on August 5, 1971

  • 555-008 3:21 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:21 pm and 3:23 pm.
  • 555-009 3:23 PM · 1 hr 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George W. Romney, John B. Connally, George P. Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Peter M. Flanigan, and Paul W. McCracken met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:23 pm to 4:35 pm.
  • 555-010 4:35 PM · 39 min — President Richard M. Nixon, James L. Buckley, John N. Mitchell, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:35 pm to 5:16 pm.
  • 555-011 5:16 PM · 11 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:16 pm and 5:22 pm.
  • 555-012 5:16 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:16 pm and 5:22 pm.
  • 068-002 5:22 PM · 1 hr 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and representatives of leading farm publications, including Claude Gifford, Thomas Huheey, Royal Fraderich, Wayne Swegle, Joseph A. Elliot, Cordell W. Tindall, Richard E. Albrecht, Ferdie J. Deering, William D. Knox, Robert G. Rupp, Lane Palmer, Jack Pickett, Herbert G. Klein, White House photographer, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 5:22 pm and 6:20 pm.
  • 068-003 5:22 PM · 26 min — unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 5:22 pm and 6:20 pm.
  • 068-005 5:22 PM · 1 min — unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 5:22 pm and 6:20 pm.

All 20 conversations from August 5, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 068-004, August 5, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/068-004 (accessed October 13, 2026).