Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 217 › Conversation 217-011

Nixon phone call with Woods on Speechwriting and Post-inaugural strategy

Saturday, October 7, 1972 · 9:00 AM–10:16 AM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Woods, Rose Mary; Nixon, Richard M. (President); Woods, Rose MaryConversation217-011 on Tape 217StartSaturday, October 7, 1972 at 9:00 AMEndSaturday, October 7, 1972 at 10:16 AMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 217-011 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and his personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, reviewed a draft of an upcoming speech, specifically evaluating contributions from William E. Timmons and Raymond K. Price, Jr. The discussion centered on strategic preferences regarding the inclusion of post-inaugural references, with input provided by John D. Ehrlichman and Alexander P. Butterfield. Following their review, the pair decided to revise the document to better align with the President's desired tone and content.

Audio

Download MP3 · 3.1 MB

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 53% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

In fact, that's the start of it there.
He prefers that, and as I understand from Alex, that's what Ehrlichman prefers for you, not to make any post-inaugural things.
Okay, we'll turn it off and bring it back so you can look at it and do a new book.
you

NARA Description

On October 7, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:00 am and 10:16 am. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 217-011 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 217-11

Date: October 7, 1972
Time: Unknown between 9:00 am and 10:16 am
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

The President met with Rose Mary Woods.

        Speech draft
            -William E. Timmons
            -Raymond K. Price, Jr.
                -Preference
            -John D. Ehrlichman
                -Post-inaugural references
                     -Alexander P. Butterfield
            -Copy

        [Pause]

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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO.1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 1m 5s]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO.1

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

Woods left at an unknown time before 10:16 am.

Also recorded on October 7, 1972

  • 147-005 9:00 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:00 am and 10:16 am.
  • 217-009 9:00 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:00 am and 10:16 am.
  • 217-010 9:00 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:00 am and 10:16 am.
  • 217-012 9:00 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:00 am and 10:16 am.
  • 217-013 9:00 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:00 am and 10:16 am.
  • 147-006 10:16 AM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone at Camp David from 10:16 am to 10:28 am.
  • 217-014 10:16 AM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 10:16 am to 10:28 am.
  • 217-015 10:28 AM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 10:28 am and 11:55 am.

All 41 conversations from October 7, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 217-011, October 7, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/217-011 (accessed October 11, 2026).