Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 105 › Conversation 105-003

White House tour group on White House tour and Cabinet Room

Friday, September 8, 1972 · 5:31 PM–10:06 AM ET · Cabinet Room

ParticipantsWhite House tour groupConversation105-003 onTape 105StartFriday, September 8, 1972 at 5:31 PMEndMonday, September 11, 1972 at 10:06 AMRecording deviceCabinet RoomSourceNixon Library record for 105-003 ↗

AI Summary

A White House staffer leads a tour group through the Cabinet Room to explain the significance of the Cabinet chairs and their identifying plaques. The guide identifies specific chairs belonging to officials such as Robert Finch, Donald Rumsfeld, John Volpe, and Peter Peterson. The discussion focuses on the history of cabinet appointments, the meaning of the nameplates, and the tenure of various administrative members.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 110.5 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 110.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 45.9 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.

1:11:49You can just look on the back of the chair so you can see the name of the captain of the office and the date that the officer was sworn in.

1:12:01This is Peter Pitch.

1:12:01This is Bob Pitch.

1:12:03And this is Mr. Rose Felt.

1:12:06The director of the Constable Council.

1:12:12He's still Constable.

1:12:13Is that when he came in?

1:12:15That's when he was made a cabinet officer, or sworn in as a cabinet officer.

1:12:19Uh-huh.

1:12:21What's the longest term of anybody to come here?

1:12:25Uh... Oh, he's just starting to invent something.

1:12:26Yeah.

1:12:27Come on.

1:12:27Let me see, who would be the longest...

1:12:37Do they have two or three?

1:12:41I guess there was some, well, for how I'm most likely, originally they would have all come in, but there's been quite a few changes.

1:12:53Uh-huh.

1:12:55Uh-huh.

1:14:15There's not three people sitting here.

1:14:21No, he's had three jobs.

1:14:25Ha ha ha.

1:14:26Ha ha ha.

1:14:27Ha ha ha.

1:14:32I think...

1:14:32This is really...

1:14:40This is exciting, Jack.

1:14:41I really appreciate you coming out there and getting me.

1:14:44I'm glad to do it.

1:14:45I bet you're going to do it.

1:14:48I'm glad to do it.

1:14:52It's a...

1:14:53It's a...

1:15:00It's a...

NARA Description

a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 5:31 pm on September 8, 1972 and 10:06 am on September 11, 1972. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 105-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 105-3

Date: Unknown between September 8 and September 11, 1972
Time: Unknown between 5:31 pm, September 8 and 10:06 am, September 11, 1972
Location: Cabinet Room

A tour group met

     Cabinet Room
          -Cabinet meetings
          -Chairs
               -Robert H. Finch
               -Donald H. Rumsfeld
          -Service in Cabinet
               -John A. Volpe
               -Peter G. Peterson
               -Secretaries of Defense, State, Transportation, Health, Education, and Welfare
                      [HEW]

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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Non-historical]
[Duration: 1m 8s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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

     Cabinet Room
          -Chairs
               -Presentation upon leaving Cabinet

The tour group left at an unknown time before 10:06 am, September 11, 1972

Also recorded on September 8, 1972

105-002 5:31 PM — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 5:31 pm on September 8, 1972 and 10:06 am on September 11, 1972.
105-011 5:31 PM — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 5:31 pm on September 8, 1972 and 10:06 am on September 11, 1972.
105-012 5:31 PM — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 5:31 pm on September 8, 1972 and 10:06 am on September 11, 1972.
177-001 6:03 PM · 6 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone at Camp David on an unknown date, sometime between 6:03 pm on September 8, 1972 and 2:26 pm on September 10, 1972.
177-002 6:03 PM · 23 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David on an unknown date, sometime between 6:03 pm on September 8, 1972 and 2:26 pm on September 10, 1972.
177-003 6:03 PM · 14 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and Lawrence M. Higby talked on the telephone at Camp David on an unknown date, sometime between 6:03 pm on September 8, 1972 and 2:26 pm on September 10, 1972.
208-001 6:03 PM · 14 sec — Unknown person(s) met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David on an unknown date, sometime between 6:03 pm on September 8, 1972 and 2:26 pm on September 10, 1972.
208-002 6:03 PM · 13 sec — Julie Nixon Eisenhower and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David on an unknown date, sometime between 6:03 pm on September 8, 1972 and 2:26 pm on September 10, 1972.

All 44 conversations from September 8, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 105-003, September 8, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/105-003 (accessed September 18, 2026).