On January 24, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Wilbur D. Mills, and Abbie L. (Daigh) Mills talked on the telephone from 1:52 pm to 1:56 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 019-042 of the White House Tapes.
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 Do not cite this transcript as authoritative.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.
hello congressman mills sir hello there you are hello wilbur hello how are you where did i find you are you found me in arkansas right let me tell you i read in the in my paper that you had some trouble your back is that right a disc problem but i think i've licked it do you think that's what it is well what i was going to say you know everybody's got his own deal but
You've probably heard of this fellow Ryland, Dr. Ryland.
He does Rockefeller, the Chief Justice, John Mitchell, and myself.
And as a matter of fact, he...
And I'd like, if it would be at all helpful, I'd like to have him go out there.
And, you know, he's really a miracle worker.
All people in our occupations have backs at one time or another.
I know it.
Nelson called me about him.
Oh, Nelson did.
I have a neurologist here in Little Rock that has been coming up to treat me.
I've been in traction and all of that.
Yeah, that traction, I tried it once.
It just kills you.
It's awful.
but it's much better than this pain i had to begin with yeah but i'm doing so much better i don't have any pain but he did ask me to stay at home this week you wouldn't uh if you if you'd like to have rylan take a car he is really well a miracle worker this guy let me wait till i get back to washington right and what i'll tell you what you do when you're here he comes down to washington every wednesday and is available you know for all the
I really would like to try.
He won't hurt you, I can assure you.
Have you got just a moment?
Sure, sure.
Remember that darling granddaughter of mine?
Yes, sir.
She's standing here and she wants to say hi to Mr. President.
Okay.
Will you do it?
I wouldn't miss it.
Hi.
Hi.
Hi there.
How are you, honey?
Hi.
And how's your granddad?
Is he feeling better?
Mm-hmm.
Well, that's good.
Well, you take good care of him because we need him in Washington, okay?
Okay, honey.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Thank you so much.
All right.
She's always great.
She's great.
And I told her to take good care of you because we needed you here.
Would you take a moment now and say hi to my mother who's 86?
Your mother's there?
Oh, great.
Right here.
All right.
Howdy.
Well, hello there.
How are you?
Well, I just want to say that I hope that the fact that you have lived to be 86 means that your son is going to live just that long.
I hope he does, too.
And I just was telling him that I have had this back problem myself from time to time, and I was trying to push a doctor off on him, but he said he's going to wait till he gets back to Washington.
It's painful, but it doesn't kill you.
Well, lots of good luck to you.
Well, good luck to you, and you can be mighty proud of him.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for taking time off.
Well, listen, that's fine.
And let me say, though, that the reason that I raise this is that I was talking to John Mitchell about it, and he said, why don't you give over a call?
And so that's why I'm doing it.
I appreciate it.
When you get back, let me say, on a Wednesday, we'll get you late in the day and just have you slip up and you just never know.
You know, I know what it is.
Muscle spasm, right?
You can't stand up and all those things.
I need a little more help than I've gotten.
I do need that, frankly.
When I get back, I'll call on you.
Great, great.
You take care.
Goodbye.
Take care of yourself.
Yes, sir.
Bye.