Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 104 › Conversation 104-005

White House tour group on Cabinet Room and White House tours

Saturday, July 1, 1972 · 10:40 AM–10:16 AM ET · Cabinet Room · 2 min

ParticipantsWhite House tour groupConversation104-005 on Tape 104StartSaturday, July 1, 1972 at 10:40 AMEndFriday, July 21, 1972 at 10:16 AMRecording deviceCabinet RoomSourceNixon Library record for 104-005 ↗

AI Summary

An unidentified tour group explores the historical and architectural features of the White House Cabinet Room. The discussion focuses on the room's woodwork and the specific seating protocol for Cabinet members based on the seniority of their respective departments. Participants examine the placement of the Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury in relation to the President and Vice President.

Audio

Download MP3 · 1.8 MB

This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.

Listen to the full tape segment

part A, 4:33

104a.mp3
104b.mp3
104c.mp3

NARA Description

a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 10:40 am on July 1, 1972 and 10:16 am on July 21, 1972. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 104-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 104-5

Date: Unknown between July 1 and July 21, 1972
Time: Unknown between 10:40 am, July 1 and 10:16 am, July 21, 1972
Location: Cabinet Room

Unknown people [tour group] met

     Interior woodwork

     Cabinet Room
          -Seating arrangements
          -Portraits
          -Woodwork

           -Seating
                 -Scheme
                 -Chairs

The tour group left at an unknown time before 10:16 am, July 21, 1972

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Well, you see, the American people are very conscious of this.
There's one thing about it, all the steel-covered walls, and really kind of things like this.
It's very, Americans are very great people.
They're all worried about their dollar assets.
It's one problem with our country, speaking of my own opinion.
Nine out of ten people come through and think that their taxes pay for all this silk.
You might get five out of those that think,
We must keep this reputation like this, okay, and we'll buy this as long as it's used well, and we must have the presidents on looking at us.
And then you get the other half of that, that just bitterly complained, and when it's not even true to begin with, because the tax money does not go like that, it's all private donations.
And a lot of people come in and stick walls in their hands, rub it all over them, and say, please don't handle the walls.
Why?
I pay for it, you know, which they really don't.
They might pay our salary because we're still in service.
And then they pay for the heat and gas, and they pay the salaries of our custodial people.
But all that was private information.
This is just publicity.
They need to be informed about this.
People, you know, they worry about the taxes, you know, and they don't want the politicians taking everything, you know, and so on.
We always emphasize that it's private donations, because so many people are ignorant of that fact, you know.
And I like the chairs in here.
Now, the table's brand new president, Mrs. Nixon, bought that, and gave it to the White House, and they've used it for several years now.
Yes, the table is here.
Call it back.
The president keeps his favorite portraits in here.
President Eisenhower, Dito Roosevelt, President Wilson.

Also recorded on July 1, 1972

  • 104-001 10:40 AM · 2 min — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 10:40 am on July 1, 1972 and 10:16 am on July 21, 1972.
  • 104-002 10:40 AM · 1 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 10:40 am on July 1, 1972 and 10:16 am on July 21, 1972.
  • 104-003 10:40 AM · 1 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 10:40 am on July 1, 1972 and 10:16 am on July 21, 1972.
  • 104-004 10:40 AM · 42 sec — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 10:40 am on July 1, 1972 and 10:16 am on July 21, 1972.
  • 104-006 10:40 AM · 5 min — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 10:40 am on July 1, 1972 and 10:16 am on July 21, 1972.
  • 104-007 10:40 AM · 58 sec — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 10:40 am on July 1, 1972 and 10:16 am on July 21, 1972.
  • 104-014 10:40 AM · 18 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 10:40 am on July 1, 1972 and 10:16 am on July 21, 1972.
  • 026-033 11:00 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and U. Alexis Johnson talked on the telephone from 11:00 am to 11:12 am.

All 44 conversations from July 1, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 104-005, July 1, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/104-005 (accessed November 2, 2026).