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Conversation 015-029

TapeTape 15StartThursday, November 18, 1971 at 10:56 AMEndThursday, November 18, 1971 at 10:58 AMTape start time00:33:43Tape end time00:35:37ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  White House operator;  Stein, HerbertRecording deviceWhite House Telephone
AI Summary

President Nixon calls Herbert Stein to check on his recovery following eye surgery and to express the administration's need for his return. During the informal exchange, Stein shares a humorous anecdote about Dean Acheson and a Harvard reunion. The conversation concludes with Nixon advising Stein not to rush his return to work and lightheartedly joking about maintaining a political bias to the right.

Herbert SteinHealthDean AchesonPersonal well-beingHarvard University
AudioNARA Description

On November 18, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Herbert Stein talked on the telephone from 10:56 am to 10:58 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 015-029 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 15-29

Date: November 18, 1971
Time: 10:56 am - 10:58 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

     Herbert Stein

The President talked with Stein..

[See also Conversation No. 294-11A]

     Stein quotation
           -Dean G. Acheson anecdote
                -Harvard reunion

     Stein’s health
           -Surgery
Transcript (AI-Generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

Yeah.
Mr. Herb Stein.
There you are.
Hello.
Good morning.
I think probably the best crack of the week is that you said, well, you read too much anyway, so... Well, what I said was that half of what I read wasn't worth reading.
That's right.
That's probably an exaggeration.
Well, I think there's a great story that Acheson told about going back to his reunion, you know, at Harvard, and he went back and he went back...
one year and one old fellow around there was uh he uh it's uh uh had just looked sour he'd been a real gay blade and all that sort of thing looks sour and uh mean and all that sort of thing and uh actually what's the matter with this well he'd uh he had be he had to uh give up drinking because it affected his uh hearing so uh he went back there as
five years later and the same fellow was there and he was just as drunk as he could be and deaf as a post.
And he said, what made you change your mind?
He said, I found that
liked what I was drinking a hell of a lot better than what I was hearing.
So anyway, you take care.
We need you.
And when will you be back?
Well, I think I'll probably stop in sometime tomorrow.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
I can see perfectly well out of my right eye, and they say there's no implication that this thing that just coincidentally happened in the left eye is going to happen in the right eye.
Just keep on the right.
Okay.
Yeah, I guess maybe I saw everything too much from the right anyway.
That's right.
Well, let's bias it a little more.
I'll be back soon.
Sure.
Well, take care.
Bye.
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