Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 312 › Conversation 312-031

Nixon alone in his EOB office on Ray Price and Speechwriting

Tuesday, January 11, 1972 · 4:05 PM–4:06 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Nixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan)Conversation312-031 on Tape 312 (tape position 03:49:37–03:50:42)StartTuesday, January 11, 1972 at 4:05 PMEndTuesday, January 11, 1972 at 4:06 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 312-031 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon briefly discussed the progress of a memorandum drafted by speechwriter Ray Price. The President expressed frustration that the fourth draft was excessive in length or content, leading him to adjust his schedule in response. This short exchange highlights the President's personal oversight of his upcoming administrative communications.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 118.5 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 107.9 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 03:49:37 into the tape and ends around 03:50:42.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

3:49:51It's got a little bit of a discouraging thing from Ray Price's memorandum.
3:49:59His fourth draft was excessive.
3:50:02I ended up raising the clock.
3:50:18Thank you.

NARA Description

On January 11, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:05 pm to 4:06 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 312-031 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 312-31

Date: January 11, 1972
Time: 4:05 pm - 4:06 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon.

[See Conversation No. 18-70; one item has been withdrawn from the conversation]

Also recorded on January 11, 1972

  • 018-067 3:49 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:49 pm and 4:02 pm.
  • 312-027 3:49 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:49 pm and 4:02 pm.
  • 018-068 4:02 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 4:02 pm to 4:03 pm.
  • 312-029 4:02 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:02 pm to 4:03 pm.
  • 018-069 4:03 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:03 pm and 4:05 pm.
  • 312-030 4:03 PM · 9 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 4:03 pm and 4:05 pm.
  • 018-070 4:05 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 4:05 pm to 4:06 pm.
  • 312-032 4:06 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:06 pm and 4:08 pm.

All 34 conversations from January 11, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 312-031, January 11, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/312-031 (accessed September 21, 2026).