Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 309 › Conversation 309-015

Nixon & Reagan on Eisaku Satō and Diplomatic relations

Friday, December 24, 1971 · 2:16 PM–2:21 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Reagan, Ronald W.Conversation309-015 on Tape 309 (tape position 01:54:59–01:59:17)StartFriday, December 24, 1971 at 2:16 PMEndFriday, December 24, 1971 at 2:21 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 309-015 ↗

AI Summary

President Richard Nixon contacted Governor Ronald Reagan to extend holiday greetings and formally invite him to join a diplomatic outing with Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Satō. The proposed event, scheduled for January 7, 1972, involved a golf outing at the estate of Ambassador Walter Annenberg following official meetings. Reagan accepted the invitation, and the two men concluded the brief discussion with personal remarks regarding the upcoming Washington Redskins versus San Francisco 49ers playoff game.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello?
Hello?
I hope you're taking the day off.
Are you interested in the home?
And it's raining.
Well, it's cold here and clear.
But I'll tell you what I call.
First, I wish you and Nancy a very Merry Christmas.
And second, if you are free,
We're going to have, when Sato is here on, I'm going to, at the end of our visit, I'm going to do something that the Japanese, they say, would appreciate many of us.
I'm going to go over, fly him over to Laura Annenberg's place to play golf.
I wondered if he could join us.
Oh, the 7th, I think.
7th, January 7th.
Well, there's no, there's no, you can make it fine, you can't buy it.
We're going to have, the Rockers will play, I will play, Saco, we'll have about eight, two portions, and then we're going to have dinner, it's just all going to stay, just to have dinner with Walter and his house and our dinner in the home.
And I haven't played golf in twice this year, so he was old.
As you know, that course was not very crowded either.
I know, I know.
Well, I thought it would be a nice touch since, you see, he's kind of started the story.
He's visiting here.
And we'll have a, I'll have our talks on the 6th.
And then we'll fly over there around 11 o'clock.
We'll wait off, finish around 4.30, early dinner, and then home again.
But you, since you met all these fellows, I hope you find joy in it.
I hope you understand I haven't, I'm not inviting you to come here to Cranston.
Ha, ha, ha.
OK. That's it.
You all right?
Sure.
Well, look, it's fine.
If you can make it, we'll have .
Don't break the tape.
Good.
That's good.
I'll put you down.
All right.
Well, I hope the darn weather clears up because I want to see that Redskins game tomorrow.
No, no, Monday, Saturday.
49ers.
I got it.
That's the only time I don't lose to California when the Redskins win.
I know you will.
Okay.
All right.
Goodbye.

NARA Description

On December 24, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald W. Reagan met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:16 pm to 2:21 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 309-015 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 309-15

Date: December 24, 1971
Time: 2:16 pm - 2:21 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Ronald W. Reagan.

[See Conversation No. 17-15; one item has been withdrawn from the conversation]

Also recorded on December 24, 1971

  • 017-012 2:01 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:01 pm and 2:06 pm.
  • 309-011 2:01 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 an unknown time between 2:01 pm and 2:06 pm.
  • 017-013 2:06 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Nelson A. Rockefeller talked on the telephone from 2:06 pm to 2:12 pm.
  • 309-012 2:06 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Nelson A. Rockefeller met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:06 pm to 2:12 pm.
  • 017-014 2:12 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:12 pm and 2:16 pm.
  • 309-013 2:12 PM · 8 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 2:12 pm and 2:16 pm.
  • 309-014 2:12 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:12 pm and 2:16 pm.
  • 017-015 2:16 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald W. Reagan talked on the telephone from 2:16 pm to 2:21 pm.

All 54 conversations from December 24, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 309-015, 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/309-015 (accessed October 20, 2026).