Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 292 › Conversation 292-020

Nixon with unidentified visitors in his EOB office on Presidential…

Tuesday, October 19, 1971 · 5:43 PM–5:49 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation292-020 on Tape 292 (tape position 02:31:35–02:32:17)StartTuesday, October 19, 1971 at 5:43 PMEndTuesday, October 19, 1971 at 5:49 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 292-020 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consults with the White House operator regarding the professional background and qualifications of a potential judicial or administrative appointee. The discussion centers on the candidate’s legal experience, age, and professional standing in comparison to another individual named Smith. Nixon expresses concern over the candidate's stature, ultimately deciding on a strategy to handle the individual if he initiates further contact.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 112.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 67.0 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 02:31:35 into the tape and ends around 02:32:17.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
2:30:17Yeah.
2:30:19Yeah.
2:30:20Yeah.
2:30:21Sure.
2:30:21Sure.
2:30:45What are his, uh, you know, what are his, what are his qualifications?
2:30:50He's an assistant attorney general, right?
2:30:59I understand that, by the way.
2:31:01How about the qualifications then?
2:31:07What's the practice law?
2:31:13Where is he from?
2:31:18There we go.
2:31:19You go to law school there.
2:31:29Say hello, Unable God.
2:31:37What's your name?
2:31:38How long have you been practicing law?
2:31:43Then he came to the government with us.
2:31:45He was probably more than that.
2:31:49He was probably more of a 14-year-old, 34-year-old, 35-year-old, 38-year-old, four-year-old, maybe even 40.
2:32:08In a sense, if you went for him, you might as well go for Smith.
2:32:13They both have sort of the same, have all sorts of distinct, you know, probably a bigger name.
2:32:22And I do, I mean, I don't know where they're from, but, you know, I think it would, they're sort of then conscious of, you know, into a big firm, into a big city, you know, like that.
2:32:40That's right.
2:32:46Well, I was just the other person there, and I'm still all around our Irish crew.
2:32:51Every play we make a little gap, but it's good.
2:32:55Good, good, good.
2:33:04Well, in case he calls you, if he doesn't call you, how are Dan going to do this now?
2:33:11He just doesn't do it.
2:33:12He won't take no for an answer.
2:33:15Perfect.
2:33:16Sure.
2:33:17Okay.

NARA Description

On October 19, 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 5:43 pm and 5:49 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 292-020 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 292-20

Date: October 19, 1971
Time: Unknown between 5:43 pm and 5:49 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The White House operator talked with the President.

[See Conversation No. 11-145; one item has been withdrawn from the conversation]

Also recorded on October 19, 1971

  • 011-143 5:38 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 5:38 pm to 5:43 pm.
  • 292-018 5:38 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:38 pm to 5:43 pm.
  • 011-144 5:43 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 5:43 pm to 5:48 pm.
  • 011-145 5:43 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:43 pm and 5:48 pm.
  • 292-019 5:43 PM · 20 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 5:43 pm and 5:49 pm.
  • 292-021 5:43 PM · 20 sec — 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 5:43 pm and 5:49 pm.
  • 011-146 5:49 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 5:49 pm to 5:50 pm.
  • 292-022 5:49 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:49 pm to 5:50 pm.

All 93 conversations from October 19, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 292-020, October 19, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/292-020 (accessed September 28, 2026).