Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 281 › Conversation 281-008

Nixon alone in his EOB office on Speechwriting and Public Speaking

Thursday, October 21, 1971 · 9:39 AM–9:45 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation281-008 on Tape 281 (tape position 00:39:42–00:44:20)StartThursday, October 21, 1971 at 9:39 AMEndThursday, October 21, 1971 at 9:45 AMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 281-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Richard Nixon met in his Old Executive Office Building office to rehearse a forthcoming speech. The session focused on the President's delivery and the refinement of his public address. The final version of these remarks was subsequently published in the 1971 Public Papers of the Presidents.

Audio

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

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Position in tape: 00:39:42 – 00:44:20

281a.mp3
281b.mp3
281c.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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
I received thousands of letters from all over the country recommending outstanding lawyers, outstanding women and men for appointment to the Supreme Court.
I received thousands of letters from all over the country recommending me to you.
Hundreds of able men and women were appointed to the
the two vacancies on the court.
He got us one of the vacancies.
Is that left by the retirement and death of Mrs. Justice Black or Bennett?
There has been great support for the appointment of a member of the Senator House to the court.
So that point of view would be adequately represented.
There are people, a great number of letters have recommended the appointment of a woman since no woman has ever been
a number of others members of representatives of religious, racial groups of religious, racist, racial and
nationality groups not presently representative of the court.
I believe that the Supreme Court should, in the broadest sense, be representative of the entire nation.
Lonely Night seeks to fill, obviously, every... room in the country.
Not to be, uh...
represented by a final.
At this time in the court's history, I think the overriding consideration must be the Supreme Court is the highest judicial body in the nation.
Yacht.

NARA Description

On October 21, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:39 am and 9:45 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 281-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 281-8

Date: October 21, 1971
Time: Unknown between 9:39 am and 9:45 am
Location: Executive Office Building

The President rehearsed a speech.

[A transcript of the final broadcast of this speech appears in Public Papers of the Presidents,
Richard M. Nixon, 1971, pp. 1053-1057]

Also recorded on October 21, 1971

  • 012-027 9:33 AM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:33 am.
  • 012-028 9:33 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 9:33 am to 9:39 am.
  • 281-007 9:33 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:33 am to 9:39 am.
  • 012-029 9:45 AM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:45 am.
  • 012-030 9:45 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 9:45 am to 9:51 am.
  • 281-009 9:45 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:45 am to 9:51 am.
  • 012-031 9:51 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:51 am and 10:51 am.
  • 012-032 9:51 AM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:51 am and 10:51 am.

All 107 conversations from October 21, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 281-008, October 21, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/281-008 (accessed October 12, 2026).