Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 87 › Conversation 087-005

White House tour group on White House tours and Cabinet Room

Monday, January 3, 1972 · 4:44 PM–2:45 PM ET · Cabinet Room

ParticipantsWhite House tour groupConversation087-005 onTape 87StartMonday, January 3, 1972 at 4:44 PMEndThursday, January 20, 1972 at 2:45 PMRecording deviceCabinet RoomSourceNixon Library record for 087-005 ↗

AI Summary

An unidentified guide leads a White House tour group through the Cabinet Room, providing historical context regarding the room's layout and furniture. The discussion focuses on the history of the Cabinet table and the tradition of departing Cabinet members receiving their chairs as gifts. The guide highlights President Nixon’s efforts to improve the room’s configuration to foster better communication among members.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 110.9 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 111.6 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 64.4 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.

1:21:47These are Preston Dixon's choices.
1:21:48City Roastwell, after the Roastwell question, couldn't imagine it.
1:21:49Great Academy, just before the major Preston would come through here, as he sits and tries and tries on this.
1:21:52And he's watching, he's not going to sit here.
1:21:53Come on the other side.
1:21:53A lot of smoking was done.
1:22:15And they do the same thing all the time here.
1:22:17It's just the other way around.
1:22:18Phone, computer.
1:22:1915th of Monday.
1:22:19Came in.
1:22:20Secondary State.
1:22:20Interior.
1:22:21What's the first thing?
1:22:21They're going to need you to take the chair.
1:22:23What did you leave all the time for the student?
1:22:25They wanted the chair.
1:22:45I really don't know.
1:22:46They did a lot of research on yellow ones and all.
1:24:52This is the captain's room.
1:24:53This is the captain's room.
1:24:53I remember the decision as we were behaving here.
1:25:05The table was presented to my husband, my president, Nixon.
1:25:06He used to be sort of a non-long-talker, rather than a long-talker.
1:25:08Rick Daniels' table.
1:25:08And it was hard for one person to sit here at the edge to see the speaker who was talking, to see someone who was sitting in this area.
1:25:11So President Nixon, I hope the table might be a little bit nicer, so we're able to see each other and hear each other and so on.
1:26:04No, I don't, the kitchener doesn't have, the kitchener doesn't have a camera here.
1:26:10Who's scared?
1:26:11By the way, only mine.
1:26:12Mine's a member, it's a cabinet member, or a cabinet-level officer.
1:26:18And I'll take these with me when they leave the office.
1:26:24This one's about to depart.
1:26:26Is that on speech?
1:26:27Yeah, it's on speech.
1:26:28There's two of them.
1:26:29This one is...

NARA Description

a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 4:44 pm on January 3, 1972 and 2:45 pm on January 20, 1972. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 087-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 87-5

Date: Unknown between January 3 and January 20, 1972
Time: Unknown between 4:44 pm, January 3 and 2:45 pm, January 20, 1972
Location: Cabinet Room

Unknown people met

     Cabinet Room
          -Seating arrangement
                -The President, Vice President
          -Table, chairs
          -Theodore (“Teddy”) Roosevelt, [Thomas] Woodrow Wilson
          -Seating arrangement
                -Cabinet Secretaries
                     -Stag Party in the White House
                           -Presentation of chairs as gifts to departing Cabinet members
          -Cabinet meeting
          -Table

The unknown people left at an unknown time before 2:45 pm, January 20, 1972

Also recorded on January 3, 1972

  • 018-013 4:44 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:44 pm and 5:15 pm.
  • 018-014 4:44 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William P. Rogers, unknown person(s), and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:44 pm and 5:15 pm.
  • 087-002 4:44 PM — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 4:44 pm on January 3, 1972 and 2:45 pm on January 20, 1972.
  • 087-003 4:44 PM — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 4:44 pm on January 3, 1972 and 2:45 pm on January 20, 1972.
  • 087-004 4:44 PM — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 4:44 pm on January 3, 1972 and 2:45 pm on January 20, 1972.
  • 087-006 4:44 PM — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 4:44 pm on January 3, 1972 and 2:45 pm on January 20, 1972.
  • 087-007 4:44 PM — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 4:44 pm on January 3, 1972 and 2:45 pm on January 20, 1972.
  • 087-008 4:44 PM — Michael J. Farrell, David N. Parker, and unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 4:44 pm on January 3, 1972 and 2:45 pm on January 20, 1972.

All 105 conversations from January 3, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 087-005, January 3, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/087-005 (accessed September 18, 2026).