Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 83 › Conversation 083-004
Nixon, Committee on Mental Retardation & Richardson
Tuesday, November 16, 1971 · 10:15 AM–10:56 AM ET · Cabinet Room · 39 min
Audio
This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.
Listen to the full tape segment
part B, 59:30
NARA Description
On November 16, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and members of the Committee on Mental Retardation, including Elliot L. Richardson, Patricia R. Hitt, Clair W. Burgener, Kenneth Robinson, Jeannette Rockefeller, Nan Ulle, Joseph H. Douglas, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., James H. Cavanaugh, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 10:15 am to 10:56 am. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 083-004 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 083-004
Date: November 16, 1971
Time: 10:15 am - 10:56 am
Location: Cabinet Room
The President met with Elliot L. Richardson, Patricia R. Hitt, Clair W. Burgener, Kenneth
Robinson, Jeannette Rockefeller, Nan Ulle, Joseph H. Douglas, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., and James
H. Cavanaugh
[Recording begins while the conversation is in progress]
Robinson
Arrangements for photo
-Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins
-Copies
Robinson
-Activities
Douglas
-Department of Health, Education, and Welfare [HEW]
Mentally retarded
-United States’ programs
-Compared with other nations
-Number and appropriations
-Consolidation
-Variety
-President’s Committee on Mental Retardation
-Role
-Burgener
-Douglas
-Institutional population
-Program goals
-Integration into society
-Alternative housing
-Scandinavia
-Costs of institutionalization
Youth
-Protection
-Treatment by parentsShow the rest of the log (58 more lines)
-Walter H. Judd
-Keynote speech at 1960 Republican Convention
-Daughter
-Involvement with mental retardation
Youth National Association for Retarded Children [YNARC]
-Membership
-Activities
-Media coverage
-Legislation
-State level
-Involvement with charitable causes
-Involvement with mental retardation
-Goals
Robinson
-Background
Mental retardation
-Hitt’s experience
-Robinson
-Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Conversation with the President, November 15
-Visit with Mayor Ralph J. Perk’s child
-Prevention
-Prenatal
-Diagnosis
-Physical cause
-Diagnosis
-Prevention
-Genetic counseling
-Premature birth
-Pre- and postnatal care
-Identification of high-risk populations
-Birth damage
-Amniocentesis
-Development of fetal lung
-Measles
-Drugs
-Committee’s forum in Honolulu, October 1971
-Nations participating
-Resolution commending the President
-Press coverage
-The President’s forthcoming statement
-Committee
-Efforts
-Importance
Presentation of gifts by the President
-Cuff links and compacts
The President’s schedule
Robinson’s future
The President, et al. left at 10:56 amTranscript (AI-generated)
No transcript is available yet for this conversation.
Also recorded on November 16, 1971
- 619-007 9:53 AM · 20 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John B. Connally, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:53 am to 10:13 am.
- 619-008 10:13 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:13 am and 10:15 am.
- 619-009 10:15 AM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:15 am and 10:56 am.
- 084-002 10:56 AM · 28 min — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 10:56 am on November 16, 1971 and 9:57 am on December 1, 1971.
- 084-003 10:56 AM · 8 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 10:56 am on November 16, 1971 and 9:57 am on December 1, 1971.
- 084-004 10:56 AM · 24 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 10:56 am on November 16, 1971 and 9:57 am on December 1, 1971.
- 084-005 10:56 AM · 35 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 10:56 am on November 16, 1971 and 9:57 am on December 1, 1971.
- 084-006 10:56 AM · 4 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 10:56 am on November 16, 1971 and 9:57 am on December 1, 1971.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 083-004, November 16, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417174281). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/083-004 (accessed November 2, 2026).