Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 226 › Conversation 226-022

Nixon phone call with Keyes on 1972 election results and travel planning

Friday, November 17, 1972 · 8:53 PM–8:56 PM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Keyes, Paul W.Conversation226-022 on Tape 226StartFriday, November 17, 1972 at 8:53 PMEndFriday, November 17, 1972 at 8:56 PMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 226-022 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 655785303 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and television producer Paul W. Keyes coordinate a post-Thanksgiving trip to Florida for a period of relaxation. During the brief planning discussion, the two touched upon the electoral success of the 1972 campaign, with Nixon noting that his margin surpassed that of Lyndon Johnson. The conversation concluded with the pair firming up travel logistics for their upcoming getaway.

1972 election results
travel planning
Florida
Paul Keyes
recreation

Audio

Download MP3 · 3.4 MB

NARA Description

On November 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Paul W. Keyes met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 8:53 pm to 8:56 pm. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 226-022 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 226-22

Date: November 17, 1972
Time: 8:53 pm - 8:56 pm
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

The President talked with Paul W. Keyes.

[See Conversation No. 153-55]
                                             -15-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Paul, how are you?

How are things going out there?

You know, on, uh, the day after Thanksgiving, I'm going down to, uh, uh, Mary Key.

You've been there, isn't it?

What?

You can get off for that, uh, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

I'll have them all.

Keep your repose of it.

And, you know, you and I will go down there and have a little fun.

What we should do is take the plane so that you arrive, let me see, arrive at Thanksgiving, no, go to Florida, that's the best thing, and then leave you at MCP there Thanksgiving night again, and from there we'll go over to Walker's and we'll, you know, we have nothing to do except just to relax and

I hope you've got a couple of little jokes.

He'll love the election.

We're going to get, I think, a bigger overall margin.

Well, the margin is bigger than Johnson's.

But overall, we're going to get a bigger percentage.

You've got 61.1, I think, or 61.2.

I deliberately played it, you know, very low-key and all that, because that was right next to me.

People of California think the whole thing, I suppose.

Many of your friends do.

Really?

Well, then we'll see in, uh... Well, we're going to leave.

I don't arrive there until, uh,

I would go down there, let's see, uh, Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving.

But if we could get there, say, Thursday night or Friday morning, that would be fine.

But it's the next party.

Okay, well...

Also recorded on November 17, 1972

153-052 8:40 PM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Patricia B. McKee talked on the telephone at Camp David from 8:40 pm to 8:41 pm.
153-053 8:47 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at 8:47 pm.
153-054 8:47 PM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:47 pm and 8:53 pm.
226-020 8:47 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at 8:47 pm.
226-021 8:47 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:47 pm and 8:53 pm.
153-055 8:53 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Paul W. Keyes talked on the telephone at Camp David from 8:53 pm to 8:56 pm.
153-056 8:56 PM · 18 sec — Camp David operator and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:56 pm and 11:59 pm.
226-023 8:56 PM · 12 sec — Camp David operator and President Richard M. Nixon met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:56 pm and 11:59 pm.

All 41 conversations from November 17, 1972 →

Nixon phone call with Colson on Second term reorganization November 29, 1972 · 10 min
Nixon phone call with Rebozo on Paul Keyes and Vietnam War November 28, 1972 · 1 min
Nixon, Colson & Finch on 1972 Election Results and Vote Percentages November 8, 1972 · 1 hr 16 min
Nixon phone call with Robinson on Camp David and Astronauts September 16, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon with unidentified visitors in his EOB office on Key Biscayne June 6, 1972 · 3 min
Nixon & Rebozo on Camp David and Sequoia September 11, 1971 · 3 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 226-022, November 17, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 655785303). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/226-022 (accessed October 31, 2026).