Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 297 › Conversation 297-039

Nixon with unidentified visitors in his EOB office on Presidential leadership

Friday, November 12, 1971 · 2:25 PM–2:36 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); [Unknown person(s)]Conversation297-039 on Tape 297 (tape position 02:09:20–02:09:50)StartFriday, November 12, 1971 at 2:25 PMEndFriday, November 12, 1971 at 2:36 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 297-039 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and an unidentified interlocutor engage in a philosophical reflection regarding the heavy psychological and political burdens faced by wartime presidents. The discussion centers on the historical examples of Lincoln, Wilson, and Roosevelt to illustrate the challenges of maintaining public support during armed conflict. The dialogue emphasizes the necessity of navigating wartime leadership to achieve victory despite significant personal and public strain.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 112.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 39.0 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 02:09:20 into the tape and ends around 02:09:50.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

2:09:32You have to run a war, you know.
2:09:35That poor dad, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Wilson.
2:09:38Oh, they went through horrible agonies, but they had no choice.
2:09:41They had to win or lose.
2:09:42Lincoln went through agonies, but Wilson and Roosevelt had a great time.
2:09:47You have to run a war where the whole public is for you.

NARA Description

On November 12, 1971, 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 2:25 pm and 2:36 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 297-039 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 297-39

Date: November 12, 1971
Time: Unknown between 2:25 pm and 2:36 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with an unknown person.

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 2s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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The unknown person left at an unknown time before 2:36 pm.

Also recorded on November 12, 1971

  • 617-010 2:19 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Henry A. Kissinger, and Howard H. Baker, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:19 pm to 2:23 pm.
  • 297-038 2:20 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:20 pm to 2:25 pm.
  • 617-011 2:23 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:23 pm and 2:26 pm.
  • 617-012 2:26 PM · 1 hr 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, Stephen B. Bull, Clark MacGregor, William E. Timmons, Ronald L. Ziegler, Michael J. ("Mike") Mansfield, Hugh Scott, Gerald R. Ford, Milton R. Young, Allen J. Ellender, George H. Mahon, Frank T. Bow, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:26 pm and 3:36 pm.
  • 014-084 2:36 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 2:36 pm to 2:38 pm.
  • 297-040 2:36 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:36 pm to 2:38 pm.
  • 014-085 2:38 PM · 4 min — John D. Ehrlichman, White House operator, John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:38 pm and 11:59 pm.
  • 297-041 2:40 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:40 pm to 2:41 pm.

All 93 conversations from November 12, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 297-039, November 12, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/297-039 (accessed October 1, 2026).