Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 273 › Conversation 273-015

Nixon with unidentified visitors in his EOB office

Thursday, August 12, 1971 · 5:07 PM–5:16 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation273-015 on Tape 273 (tape position 01:55:17–01:56:20)StartThursday, August 12, 1971 at 5:07 PMEndThursday, August 12, 1971 at 5:16 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 273-015 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with the White House operator to facilitate an outgoing telephone call to an unidentified individual. The brief interaction focused on the logistics of placing the call and the subsequent coordination of a callback. No substantive policy matters or strategic decisions were recorded during this brief administrative exchange.

Audio

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This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.

Listen to the full tape segment

Position in tape: 01:55:17 – 01:56:20

part A, 1:55:18

273a.mp3
273b.mp3
273c.mp3

NARA Description

On August 12, 1971, 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 5:07 pm and 5:16 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 273-015 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 273-15

Date: August 12, 1971
Time: Unknown between 5:07 pm and 5:16 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with the White House operator.

     Request for a call to an unknown person
         -Call back

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

No, that fish is not important at all.
I would call it mine.
He doesn't need you because I'm going to be competing with him.
I would call him mine.

Also recorded on August 12, 1971

  • 273-010 4:51 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:51 pm and 5:05 pm.
  • 273-011 4:51 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:51 pm and 5:05 pm.
  • 273-012 4:51 PM · 3 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 4:51 pm and 5:05 pm.
  • 273-013 4:51 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:51 pm and 5:05 pm.
  • 273-014 5:05 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:05 pm to 5:07 pm.
  • 273-016 5:07 PM · 28 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 5:07 pm and 5:16 pm.
  • 273-017 5:16 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:16 pm to 5:20 pm.
  • 273-018 5:20 PM · 48 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:20 pm and 5:27 pm.

All 33 conversations from August 12, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 273-015, August 12, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/273-015 (accessed November 2, 2026).