Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 309 › Conversation 309-008

Nixon & Hughes on personal favors and military aide

Friday, December 24, 1971 · 1:50 PM–1:51 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 33 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Hughes, James D. ("Don")Conversation309-008 on Tape 309 (tape position 01:42:00–01:42:59)StartFriday, December 24, 1971 at 1:50 PMEndFriday, December 24, 1971 at 1:51 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 309-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with his military aide, General James D. Hughes, to provide specific instructions regarding a personal favor or exception for an acquaintance. The President directed Hughes to contact a pastor to communicate that an exception had been granted on his behalf. This brief exchange served to facilitate a message of authorization for the individual in question.

  • personal favors
  • military aide
  • clerical communication
  • Presidential directive

Audio

Download MP3 · 1.3 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

So, I forgot to tell you, but I want you to call out a pastor on the line, if you will, and say to your colleague, and the president of your class, that there is, that there will be an exception.
And the president said that he told you to call a pastor.
So, if you could, I would do the same.
In fact, there is nothing I can do to cause it.
All right.

NARA Description

On December 24, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and James D. ("Don") Hughes met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:50 pm to 1:51 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 309-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 309-8

Date: December 24, 1971
Time: 1:50 pm - 1:51 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Gen. James D. (“Don”) Hughes.

[See Conversation No. 17-9]

Also recorded on December 24, 1971

  • 017-006 1:46 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:46 pm and 1:48 pm.
  • 017-007 1:48 PM · 54 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and James D. ("Don") Hughes talked on the telephone from 1:48 pm to 1:49 pm.
  • 309-006 1:48 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and James D. ("Don") Hughes met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:48 pm to 1:49 pm.
  • 309-007 1:49 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 1:49 pm.
  • 017-008 1:50 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 1:50 pm.
  • 017-009 1:50 PM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and James D. ("Don") Hughes talked on the telephone from 1:50 pm to 1:51 pm.
  • 017-010 1:51 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:51 pm and 1:56 pm.
  • 309-009 1:51 PM · 14 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 1:51 pm and 1:56 pm.

All 54 conversations from December 24, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 309-008, December 24, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/309-008 (accessed October 6, 2026).