Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 155 › Conversation 155-010
Nixon phone call with Eisenhower on New York City and Family travel
Monday, November 20, 1972 · 9:05 AM–9:09 AM ET · Camp David Study Table · 5 min
AI Summary
President Nixon consulted his daughter, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, to coordinate a family trip to New York City for the upcoming holiday weekend. The President planned to combine personal activities—including shopping, attending a Broadway show or hockey game, and visiting a church—with a visit to his former law firm and a symbolic trip to Brooklyn to acknowledge his performance in the 1972 election. Nixon delegated the logistical planning, including selecting entertainment and consulting with Tricia Nixon Cox, to Julie while he remained at Camp David to manage affairs surrounding Henry Kissinger’s return.
- New York City
- Family travel
- 1972 election
- Logistics
- Thanksgiving
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
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It wasn't too bad, really.
No, it wasn't bad at all.
I wanted to tell you a couple of things that I had in mind.
I have decided not to go to Florida this weekend, so we will have dinner on Thursday.
But just for your private information, and I want you to subtly work it around for your mommy, I think I'll go to New York for the weekend.
I've got a couple of things I've got to do.
I've got to go down and see some of my friends in the firm on a couple of matters, etc.
And I thought it would be rather interesting, and I'm having it checked now, to go to a show or a hockey game or something like that.
And then we'll go to Peel's church on Sunday.
point is, could you go?
Could you go to New York with us?
We'd take the suite at the Waldorf, I mean, which is always available for us.
We would go up Friday morning about 11 o'clock and have Friday night there, Saturday night, Sunday, and then come back.
I could definitely go.
You could go, fine.
It would be fun.
Mother and I could go shopping.
Well, shop, and incidentally, just for your private information, I wanted to do a little shopping.
I thought, I've never done any Christmas shopping in four years, and
I thought that I could.
I won't go to stores, of course, unless it's all arranged.
But then I could have Carnival bring me by some things, and I could have somebody from Silco's come by and so forth.
But don't you want to get away?
No, I can't do it this weekend for another reason.
Oh, I understand.
Okay.
Kissinger's coming back.
See?
Yeah.
And with him coming back, I can't be gallivanting around down off some damn island.
I love New York.
Fine.
All right.
Well, you tell her that that's the plan and that we will leave.
Now,
What time would you like to have the Thanksgiving dinner?
But would all of us then prefer, wouldn't it be nicer to have it in the evening rather than at noon?
I mean, with sort of the lights and everything, the noon is not too good a time.
Maybe like around 5.30.
5.30 or so.
You know what I mean?
Well, let's do that, and then spend the night here, then go back to the White House, get all of our clothes, and then go to New York.
See, I have appointments here in the morning.
Go to New York around 12 noon.
Right.
And then have that marvelous sweet there and so forth and so on.
And if Tricia didn't—I'll let you work that out with her—if she and Eddie would like to go, it's fine.
You see, because remember, there are four beautiful bedrooms there.
Sure.
And then I would like to go over with them to Brooklyn and look at the apartment.
I think that's not a bad thing to do, too.
Sure.
See what I mean?
Because we did very well in Brooklyn, and people would be pleased that we cared about the goddamn place.
Right.
Okay?
Good.
And there are some good plays around, Daddy, apparently.
Well— Pippin and— What?
It's called Pippin.
It's about Charlemagne and one other.
It is?
Well, I've called, incidentally, on that score, you called the White House operator.
I have called Claudia Val and told her to give me a rundown on the plays and even a hockey game I thought we might like to see.
That's a good idea.
We've never been to a hockey game up there.
You ever seen one?
No, never.
Oh, they're great.
Maybe that'd be the best.
A hockey game would be fun.
And I thought that on one night we would go to Cote Basque.
Good.
And the other night, even though we don't much give one damn about it anymore, I think we should do 21 after a show because, you know, it's sort of gay and fun and so forth and so on.
Good.
How's that sound to you?
That sounds great.
Fine.
Maybe on Saturday.
Then Sunday I think we should go to Peel's Church.
Good.
Oh, that'd be nice.
Fine.
All right.
You'll raise the whole thing now.
Talk to Claudia then?
Yeah.
You call Claudia because she's supposed to call me back here, but I'll be involved in appointments.
You arranged the whole thing, is that all right?
All right.
You call Claudia and get the list of plays that you called me up as to what.
Fine.
I told her either a musical comedy or a play, old or new, provided it wasn't dirty.
And then I said, on the other hand, I said, we had seen none of that, except for that we haven't seen anything.
Oh, one other thing is a possibility.
We could go to Rockefeller Center.
Radio City.
Radio City.
They have the movie version of 1776 and the Nativity on the Rockettes.
Yeah.
Does that sound good?
A play is probably better, though.
Yeah, Radio City is an idea, though.
We can see a movie any time.
There's no good play.
If there's no good play, you could go into Radio City.
Okay.
Good.
I'll talk to Claudia.
All right, fine.
You work the whole deal out.
Let me know.
Fine.
Give me the recommendations.
Everything's all right.
Otherwise, fine.
Okay.
Bye.
NARA Description
On November 20, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone at Camp David from 9:05 am to 9:09 am. The Camp David Study Table taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 155-010 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 155-10
Date: November 20, 1972
Time: 9:05 am - 9:09 am
Location: Camp David Study Table
The President talked with Julie Nixon Eisenhower
*****************************************************************
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
Julie Eisenhower’s trip
The President’s schedule
-Trip to Florida
-Dinner
-Trip to New York
-Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
-Mudge, Rose, Gutherie, and Alexander
-Hockey game
-12-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 155-10 (cont’d)
-Church
-Norman Vincent Peale
-Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Possible accompaniment
-Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
-Timing
-Shopping
-Trip toFlorida
-Henry A. Kissinger’s arrival
-Trip to New York
-Mrs. Nixon
-Thanksgiving dinner
-Timing
-Camp David
-Appointments
-White House
-Trip to New York
-Timing
-Tricia Nixon Cox and Edward R. F. Cox
-Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
-Apartment in Brooklyn
-1972 election
-Plays
-Pippin
-Charlemagne
-Claudia Val
-Plays
-Hockey game
-La Cote Basque
-21
-Church
-Peale
-Arrangements
-Plays
-Musical comedy
-No, No Nanette
-Rockefeller Center
-Radio City Music Hall
-1776
-Rockettes
-13-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 155-10 (cont’d)
[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
*****************************************************************Also recorded on November 20, 1972
- 155-005 8:00 AM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:00 am and 8:36 am.
- 155-006 8:00 AM · 24 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:00 am and 8:36 am.
- 155-007 8:36 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Claudia Val talked on the telephone at Camp David from 8:36 am to 8:41 am.
- 155-008 8:41 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:41 am and 8:46 am.
- 155-009 8:46 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone at Camp David from 8:46 am to 8:50 am.
- 155-011 9:09 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:09 am and 10:53 am.
- 228-001 9:09 AM · 1 hr 30 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Manolo Sanchez, Ronald L. Ziegler, Camp David operator, and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:09 am and 11:16 am.
- 155-012 10:53 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 10:53 am and 11:10 am.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 155-010, November 20, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/155-010 (accessed October 9, 2026).