Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 274 › Conversation 274-006
Nixon with unidentified visitors in his EOB office on William L. Safire
Monday, August 16, 1971 · 2:43 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 34 sec
AI Summary
President Nixon initiated a brief communication through the White House operator to place an outgoing call. The primary purpose of this interaction was to establish a direct line of contact with presidential speechwriter William L. Safire. No further discussion or substantive policy deliberations occurred during this brief exchange.
Audio
This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.
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Position in tape: 00:08:51 – 00:09:21
part A, 17:15
NARA Description
On August 16, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 2:43 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 274-006 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 274-6
Date: August 16, 1971
Time: 2:43 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President talked with the White House operator.
Request for a call to William L. SafireTranscript (AI-generated)
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Also recorded on August 16, 1971
- 274-005 2:40 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:40 pm to 2:43 pm.
- 274-048 2:43 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:43 pm to 2:44 pm.
- 274-007 2:44 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:44 pm to 2:49 pm.
- 274-008 2:49 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:49 pm and 2:54 pm.
- 274-009 2:49 PM · 12 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 2:49 pm and 2:54 pm.
- 274-010 2:54 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:54 pm to 2:58 pm.
- 274-011 2:59 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Robert H. Finch met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:59 pm to 3:01 pm.
- 274-012 3:01 PM · 59 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:01 pm and 3:05 pm.
Related conversations
- Safire & Connally on Economic policy and Price Commission October 7, 1971 · 1 min
- Nixon phone call with Safire on Vietnam War and Speechwriting January 17, 1972 · 17 min
- Nixon phone call with Safire on Speechwriting and Secrecy January 18, 1972 · 3 min
- Nixon & Haldeman on Speechwriting and William Safire July 1, 1971 · 21 min
- Nixon & Safire on Economic Policy and Speechwriting August 15, 1971 · 1 min
- Nixon & Safire on Staffing and Speechwriting October 6, 1971 · 2 min
Cite this conversation
Conversation 274-006, August 16, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/274-006 (accessed November 7, 2026).