Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 281 › Conversation 281-061

Nixon & Woods on William Rehnquist and Supreme Court nomination

Thursday, October 21, 1971 · 6:36 PM–6:37 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Woods, Rose MaryConversation281-061 on Tape 281 (tape position 04:52:38–04:53:48)StartThursday, October 21, 1971 at 6:36 PMEndThursday, October 21, 1971 at 6:37 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 281-061 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and his personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, discuss the professional background and legal credentials of William Rehnquist. The brief interaction focuses on Rehnquist’s academic history, his previous clerkship for Justice Robert Jackson, and his subsequent legal career in Arizona prior to his federal service. The dialogue serves to review Rehnquist’s qualifications, likely in preparation for his upcoming nomination to the Supreme Court.

Audio

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Position in tape: 04:52:38 – 04:53:48

part C, 47:36

281a.mp3
281b.mp3
281c.mp3

NARA Description

On October 21, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:36 pm to 6:37 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 281-061 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 281-61

Date: October 21, 1971
Time: 6:36 pm - 6:37 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Rose Mary Woods.

[See Conversation No. 12-55]

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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He was graduated from Stanford University five and a half in 1948.
He graduated first in his class from the Stanford Law School in 1932.
He was then awarded one of the highest honors a law graduate can receive.
He was chosen as law clerk for Mr. Justice Robert Jackson, one of the most outstanding members of the court in the past half century.
His position, he acted as legal assistant to the justice, and his duties included legal research in the highest order.
Upon leaving the court, Mr. Rehnquist engaged in the general practice of law for 16 years in Phoenix, Arizona, until 1969, when I appointed him Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel.
The legal counsel in the Justice Department has a very special function, serving as the chief interpreter of the Constitution and the statutes of the United States.
He is, in effect, the President's loyal lawyer.
I have read opinion after opinion that he has provided on the Constitution.
I have not all of it on the Constitution.
And he has a superb, an absolutely superb job.
He has shared his responsibility with such great distinction that among the thousands of able lawyers who serve in the federal government, William Reynolds rates him as the very top constitutional lawyer and as a legal scholar.

Also recorded on October 21, 1971

  • 012-055 6:36 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 6:36 pm to 6:37 pm.
  • 281-062 6:37 PM · 52 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:37 pm and 6:44 pm.
  • 012-056 6:44 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 6:44 pm to 6:45 pm.
  • 281-063 6:44 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:44 pm to 6:45 pm.
  • 012-057 6:45 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:45 pm and 8:03 pm.
  • 281-064 6:45 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:45 pm and 7:05 pm.
  • 281-065 6:45 PM · 37 sec — 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 6:45 pm and 7:05 pm.
  • 281-066 6:45 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:45 pm and 7:05 pm.

All 128 conversations from October 21, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 281-061, 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/281-061 (accessed November 15, 2026).