Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 72 › Conversation 072-002

Nixon White House recording on Market conditions and John F. Kennedy quote

Friday, September 10, 1971 · 12:12 PM–12:39 PM ET · Cabinet Room · 9 min

Participants[Unknown person(s)]Conversation072-002 on Tape 72StartFriday, September 10, 1971 at 12:12 PMEndFriday, September 10, 1971 at 12:39 PMRecording deviceCabinet RoomSourceNixon Library record for 072-002 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 648452357 ↗

AI Summary

This recording captures an informal conversation between unknown individuals in the Cabinet Room, featuring discussions about market conditions, a reference to John F. Kennedy's famous quote, and observations about personnel selection and management, particularly in the context of sports teams. The conversation was cut off before its natural conclusion.

  • Market conditions
  • John F. Kennedy quote
  • Personnel selection
  • Management
  • Sports teams

Audio

Download MP3 · 19.8 MB

This clip of the conversation was cut from the tape by the National Archives (catalog record ↗).

Listen to the full tape segment it comes from
072a.mp3
072b.mp3

NARA Description

On September 10, 1971, unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 12:12 pm and 12:39 pm. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 072-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 72-2

Date: September 10, 1971
Time: Unknown between 12:12 pm and 12:39 pm
Location: Cabinet Room

Unknown men met

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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Non-historical]
[Duration: 9m 1s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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

Recording was cut off at an unknown time before 12:39 pm

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was made by an AI model listening to the recording (gemini-3.8-flash) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Speaker names are the model's inference from the voices and the participant list. Words and names can still be wrong — verify against the audio and the finding aid before citing.

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).

Unknownabout the market [unintelligible]
UnknownSo we still get paid, eh?
Unknown[unintelligible] you know?
UnknownNo.
Unknownpull the chair back so you can get up to the table or pull pushing them up so you can [laughter]
UnknownYeah, which way do you want to go?
UnknownHuh?
UnknownI don't care.
UnknownPull it out so I got [unintelligible] room for me. And uh [unintelligible]
UnknownThere you go.
UnknownI had a right good beginning to say [unintelligible]
UnknownDead eye Dick is go for
Unknown[laughter] Who said that?
Unknownsaid that. That is all of his uh [unintelligible]
Unknown[unintelligible] and the and then the
UnknownOh it's Kennedy's, uh, master.
UnknownKennedy's, yes.
UnknownGo for two minutes? What is that?
UnknownWell, not what you can do for your country, but what your country can do for you.
UnknownThat's Kennedy.
UnknownThat's that's uh Is that what the senator said?
UnknownYeah, that was that coach. I got it right.
UnknownYeah. Come down here.
UnknownMr. Vincent Smith?
UnknownYeah, Grayson Smith.
UnknownGrayson Smith, yeah, that's right.
UnknownSee I know that guy [unintelligible] who ain't got no family.
UnknownHey, did you [unintelligible] question?
UnknownYeah. What's the reason for somebody [unintelligible]
UnknownOh, they sure do keep that thing on.
UnknownGo back. No, no, it's already, that's it.
UnknownNo, a couple drawings like that.
UnknownExcuse me.
UnknownA cabin, then you're supposed to have, you know, like one room, you know, like that.
Unknown[laughter] No doors or anything.
UnknownNo, no, and
UnknownHey, you, [laughter]
UnknownHm? You have to do it all systems.
UnknownPut it back?
UnknownHuh?
UnknownPut it back in foot-backward piece.
UnknownYeah.
UnknownOh, that foot break is doing doing that. You still You're still working?
UnknownStill working for me.
UnknownGood man.
UnknownYeah, all my plants are done.
UnknownGood man.
UnknownAll my [unintelligible] Good men are hard to find.
UnknownGeneral Sweeney says it's not hard to find them. He said that they are here. He just don't know who to choose.
UnknownAin't ain't who you want to choose, but
Unknown[laughter] get forced in. Taking that door,
Unknownmanagement is telling you to take them. Right.
UnknownNow he can't say it for management, then.
UnknownWell, that's what's wrong with a lot of these ball players now, thinking they are the managers. [laughter]
UnknownYeah, that's right.
UnknownYeah, they think they're the manager.
UnknownYeah, they got more
UnknownWho?
UnknownSt. Thomas [unintelligible] team and he went straight to the top.
UnknownFirst fourth year ever did a thing like that. First for Detroit, yeah.
UnknownI told you, people are happy for them to drive that next year, for it.
UnknownYeah, that's uh Mr. Sweeney, I mean

Also recorded on September 10, 1971

  • 569-003 12:12 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 12:12 pm and 12:14 pm.
  • 569-004 12:14 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:14 pm to 12:19 pm.
  • 569-005 12:19 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, James D. ("Don") Hughes, Jo Ann Redman, Bruce Bennett, Mrs. Bruce Bennett, Anthony Radd, Naomi Redman, Lt. Col. Harland E. Pridelle, Lt. Col. James H. Gibbons, Lt. Col. John Finlay, Maj. Maj. Frederick W. Swift, Maj. Charles Freed, SGM Richard J. McCoy, Polly Thompson, Mary Burson, Walter R. Tkach, J. Paul Benson, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:19 pm to 12:25 pm.
  • 569-006 12:25 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:25 pm to 12:26 pm.
  • 569-007 12:26 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ernst G. Breitholz, George T. Bell, Robert R. Mullen, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:26 pm to 12:36 pm.
  • 569-008 12:36 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:36 pm and 12:39 pm.
  • 569-009 12:36 PM · 24 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:36 pm and 12:39 pm.
  • 569-010 12:39 PM · 54 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 12:58 pm.

All 28 conversations from September 10, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 072-002, September 10, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 648452357). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/072-002 (accessed November 2, 2026).