Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 260 › Conversation 260-013
Nixon alone in his EOB office on American Revolution Bicentennial
Friday, July 2, 1971 · 4:29 PM–5:24 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 39 min
AI Summary
President Nixon met in the Old Executive Office Building to dictate the formal remarks for a ceremony marking the opening of the American Revolution Bicentennial Era. This speech was prepared for delivery the following day in conjunction with Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and Speaker of the House Carl Albert. The session served to finalize the rhetoric and thematic framing for this national commemorative event.
- American Revolution Bicentennial
- Speechwriting
- Presidential communications
- Ceremonial events
- Richard Nixon
Audio
This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.
Listen to the full tape segment
Position in tape: 01:16:46 – 01:56:22
260a.mp3
260b.mp3
260c.mp3
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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We share the right of free will.
We share the right of free will.
We have the right to life.
This room is so rich in archaeology.
And we look back on the project.
I'm grateful for those who made it possible.
You're going to have to do it again.
He cried.
He cried.
He cried.
He cried.
He cried.
I don't know.
We can set our goals higher.
The water world, the environment, and the sea.
Which environment?
I'm sorry, what environment?
All right.
.
.
.
Thank you.
.
.
.
.
.
Thank you.
Uh, you know, I, I didn't want you to know this, but if you wanted to talk to me about it, you don't have to talk to me about it.
Uh, I don't have to talk to you about it.
But we have to go.
On the line.
We will be on board for sure.
What I have to do is I have to, I have to wait a little bit before I write it down.
Thank you for watching.
We shall not fail.
We are in a state, or a culture, that Americans can be proud of for a century, or old for a century.
Americans have sacrificed their lives not for a common cause, not for America, not for America.
We shall always use our respect for you, and we pray that you may have a good memory of each other.
Amen.
And also, we are not just war.
We are not just war.
We are not just war.
We are not just war.
We are not just war.
We are not just war.
We are not just war.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Welcome.
Welcome.
Welcome.
Welcome.
Welcome.
This is the coal market.
It's a great supermarket.
It's a great supermarket.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
I will return home.
All right.
All right.
You've got a hard shot for the highway.
Park your car on the road.
I can't see you.
I'm asking for support.
I'm asking for support.
I'm asking for support.
What do you really want?
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Restoration of our airways.
All right.
Take care of the fire.
All right.
We have respect for all of the laws and the certifications on the page.
We're hiring a bunch of guys to do a brief, a real copy of that.
They're coming your way.
They're coming your way.
Thank you.
Better education, health, and housing for all.
There you go.
So we can achieve all these goals.
.
.
.
That's cool.
I'll be working right here.
I must be under the spirit.
Is that what you said?
In this building?
That's right.
Do you think it was that spirit?
Do you think it might be?
And it is only important that you have a model of the subject.
Here, I'd like you to remember to take the source and not the strength.
All right?
Take the strength.
You are a character in our lives, and I think that all of us are.
But we are not totally, but very certain that a lot of us in our generation are rich, good, strong-minded, and holy.
The American spirit will show for you tomorrow night, including tomorrow night.
The government will make a decree, just decree, and it will not change.
More I know about the ship, the greater and greater part of the quality of life.
The quality of systems and lifts that we understand are dignified and classified, and then studied and integrated above all.
I approach the world of the ship with a tendency not to dominate, but to protect the people who live in the shadow of the world.
I'll strike that as the first word of the ship.
I'm sure that certain, yeah, I'm trying to put certain, the emergent work to do.
There's still too much father, too much brother, too much of which, and part of you, and not the other one.
And yet, although America would clear eyes and face every reason for pride and overshadowing, the great cause for gratitude is a little group that has a strong ground to hold, not all to respect.
The crucial challenge now is to hold a high level of confidence, courage, and faith in the strength of one another.
And to avoid the quicksand of a bigger doubt.
They're all going to go to work.
If we are the nature of Americans, and the animals are the nature of the nation, then each of us makes a difference.
And I'm afraid that our vision will always excite us and kill us.
These memories of all of us, we will all see our communication with each other.
Because of these things, I've been here all throughout this year with the Archivists.
And I've not only been to Stanford Center for Declaration of Change, but I've been here with the Cross, and my office in the back of the building.
That one I like especially because it summaries the artist's motivation.
The name of the people that I've run for senior education at that point.
So it always reminds me of the American people.
and teach us to love him.
Anyone can be a son of that great man.
One of the American physical builders was sent here by an Asian girl who had gone to Georgia for her class.
Well, I didn't find it possible at that time.
I seem to feel such a... a thought should be on the lips of a great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great,
Those countries from a few years ago, they prostrate for more than prostrates did.
And by the end of the day, they're mad.
And we are truly mad too.
Those countries did more for a human being than she did.
Not just because she was jealous, but because she was jealous of the children of the Lord.
What is there to pray for in the end of the day?
All right, here we go.
NARA Description
On July 2, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:29 pm and 5:24 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 260-013 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 260-13 Date: July 2, 1971 Time: Unknown between 4:29 pm and 5:24 pm Location: Old Executive Office Building The President dictated a speech. [A transcript of the final presentation of this July 3, 1971 speech “Remarks of the President, Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, and Speaker of the House Carl Albert at a Ceremony opening the American Revolution Bicentennial Era” appears in Public Papers of the President 1971, pp. 793-798.]
Also recorded on July 2, 1971
- 006-095 4:23 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 4:23 pm to 4:25 pm.
- 260-011 4:25 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:25 pm and 4:27 pm.
- 006-096 4:26 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 4:26 pm.
- 006-097 4:27 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 4:27 pm to 4:29 pm.
- 260-012 4:27 PM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:27 pm to 4:29 pm.
- 006-098 4:29 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:29 pm and 5:24 pm.
- 260-014 4:29 PM · 53 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:29 pm and 5:24 pm.
- 260-019 4:33 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:33 pm and 4:39 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 260-013, July 2, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/260-013 (accessed October 5, 2026).