Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 31 › Conversation 031-009

Nixon phone call with Shivers on Birthday greetings and Wedding anniversary

Friday, October 6, 1972 · 10:14 AM–10:16 AM ET · White House Telephone ·2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Shivers, AllanConversation031-009 onTape 31StartFriday, October 6, 1972 at 10:14 AMEndFriday, October 6, 1972 at 10:16 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 031-009 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon called former Texas Governor Allan Shivers to extend birthday and wedding anniversary greetings. The two men engaged in lighthearted conversation about aging, specifically regarding the benefits and challenges of entering their sixties. Nixon encouraged Shivers by referencing the productive later years of prominent historical figures like Konrad Adenauer and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Mr. President, former Governor Alan Shivers for you.
Hello?
Hello.
Alan, I was surprised to read this morning that my old friend Alan Shivers is actually a little older than I was, and I had to congratulate you before you began to realize it.
So I wish you a happy birthday.
And I want to tell you that, you know, I have just finishing the 50s.
I'll start in the 60s in 1973.
Do you think they're good years or not?
Do you recommend it or do you think I should just give up now?
So far they've been pretty kind to me.
I recommend them.
One thing I've tried to do is keep them from stopping.
That's right.
Well, you know, every time you get any discouragement, you can think of what a lot of people did, like Adenauer and Eisenhower and Churchill and De Gaulle after they were 70.
They're pretty good.
So let's not even think the 60s are a stopping place.
Don't forget, I'm eligible for Medicare now.
Oh, God almighty, and Social Security.
All right, I'll raise Social Security for shivers.
They probably won't even take care of your tip and money.
I said, no, I don't know how the devil that got in the paper, but the Spidey Fox will love you to call.
No, we saw it up here, and one of our guys, Shivers, I don't follow many these days, but I thought, my God, that fellow can't be 65.
Then I thought to myself, my God, I can't be 59.
It was our wedding anniversary also.
Your wedding anniversary, too?
Yes, we're over at our farm in East Texas.
That is terrific.
And yesterday was my birthday and our 55th wedding anniversary.
You give your wife a message.
And incidentally, I don't know whether you know, but did you know that there's another great fellow who worked with you in 52 who had exactly the same name, Jimmy Barnes?
Yes.
Jimmy Barnes' birthday was always on his wedding anniversary.
Right, I remember.
And I went down to his, just two years before he died, I was there in South Carolina when they celebrated his 80th.
I don't know, his 60th, 5th wedding anniversary or something.
Well, anyway, I hope you live as long as he did.
Well, thank you, Mike.
Thank you a lot for calling.
Thank you.
Good to talk to you.

NARA Description

On October 6, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Allan Shivers talked on the telephone from 10:14 am to 10:16 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 031-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 31-9

Date: October 6, 1972
Time: 10:14 am - 10:16 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Allan Shivers.

[See Conversation No. 793-9B]

        The President's extension of birthday greetings
            -Age

                                         (rev. Oct-06)

                 -Konrad Adenauer
                 -Dwight D. Eisenhower
                 -Gen. Charles A.J.M. De Gaulle
                 -Winston S. Churchill
                 -Social Security
             -Mr. and Mrs. Allan Shivers
                 -Wedding anniversary
             -James F. Byrnes

Also recorded on October 6, 1972

  • 793-006 9:06 AM · 31 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Stephen B. Bull, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:06 am to 9:28 am.
  • 793-007 9:30 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:30 am to 10:03 am.
  • 793-008 10:03 AM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 10:03 am.
  • 793-009 10:03 AM · 30 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, White House operator, Charles W. Colson, Allan Shivers, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:03 am and 10:06 am.
  • 031-008 10:06 AM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:06 am and 10:10 am.
  • 793-010 10:06 AM · 44 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Pote Sarasin, Anand Panyarachun, John H. Holdridge, White House photographer, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:06 am to 10:36 am.
  • 793-011 10:37 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:37 am to 11:20 am.
  • 793-012 11:23 AM · 40 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Patrick Hillery, Sean O'Heideian, Col. Richard T. Kennedy, Marion H. Smoak, John D. Moore, Ronald L. Ziegler, White House photographer, Stephen B. Bull, and Richard A. Moore met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:23 am to 11:34 am.

All 64 conversations from October 6, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 031-009, October 6, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/031-009 (accessed September 18, 2026).