Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 282 › Conversation 282-035

Nixon & Moore on Supreme Court nominations and Judicial appointments

Wednesday, October 20, 1971 · 6:05 PM–6:07 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Moore, Richard A.Conversation282-035 on Tape 282 (tape position 02:39:56–02:41:54)StartWednesday, October 20, 1971 at 6:05 PMEndWednesday, October 20, 1971 at 6:07 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 282-035 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Richard A. Moore discuss the status of potential judicial nominees for the Supreme Court, specifically weighing the qualifications of candidates like Mildred Lillie. Nixon expresses frustration over opposition to certain nominees and identifies Senator Howard Baker as a top contingency choice if his primary preferences do not move forward. The brief meeting concludes with Nixon instructing Moore to conduct further vetting on the suitability of specific candidates.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yeah.
Yeah.
They, uh, we are, uh, we still don't know what's going to happen, like, uh, the bars and stuff, you know, that's all we've got to play right now.
You know, there's some things, you know, they, uh, they, uh, they, uh, they voted against year 11, but, but, and,
They said, you know, all the women in the country, she was probably the best qualified, but they were thinking that she was not qualified to be in the court.
How do you like that?
Mitchell is definitely the best person.
You've got that information now, and I can see it.
That is a nice thing to say, to get it out.
So I really, really agree with him on that.
Now, incidentally, the one thing I want to know, and I don't think we're going to have to move fast, and I can't think of anybody wrong, is on the, in case I don't get the paper, Baker is the first choice.
In case we don't get that, I want to ask you to check her with, or her, if you say he is foreign or not.
She says...
All right, good.

NARA Description

On October 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Richard A. Moore met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:05 pm to 6:07 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 282-035 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 282-35

Date: October 20, 1971
Time: 6:05 pm - 6:07 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Richard A. Moore.

[See Conversation No. 12-19]

Also recorded on October 20, 1971

  • 012-019 6:05 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Richard A. Moore talked on the telephone from 6:05 pm to 6:07 pm.
  • 012-020 6:08 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 6:08 pm.
  • 012-021 6:08 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 6:08 pm to 6:09 pm.
  • 282-036 6:08 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:08 pm to 6:09 pm.
  • 012-022 6:09 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:09 pm and 6:10 pm.
  • 282-037 6:09 PM · 50 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:09 pm to 6:10 pm.
  • 012-023 6:10 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. talked on the telephone from 6:10 pm to 6:11 pm.
  • 282-038 6:10 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 6:10 pm.

All 83 conversations from October 20, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 282-035, October 20, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/282-035 (accessed September 28, 2026).