Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 313 › Conversation 313-026

Nixon & Dole on 1972 Election and Political Strategy

Monday, January 10, 1972 · 5:21 PM–5:24 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Dole, Robert J.Conversation313-026 on Tape 313 (tape position 01:38:35–01:41:40)StartMonday, January 10, 1972 at 5:21 PMEndMonday, January 10, 1972 at 5:24 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 313-026 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Senator Robert Dole discuss political strategy and administrative planning in anticipation of the upcoming election year. The President stresses the importance of unifying the party and coordinating with colleagues to ensure effective messaging. They also touch upon personnel matters and the need for a cohesive outreach strategy to appeal to broader segments of the electorate.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 35% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Hello?
I'm just returning your call.
I was out last night.
Yeah, well, Mrs. Nixon did a hell of a job, and she's going to be great this afternoon.
She's returning, and she's very happy.
Well, are you in Kansas?
Miami?
Oh, well, that's too bad.
Well, give him a call.
Go over and see him.
Probably will probably come to you then.
Yeah, well, you call him and watch there.
Well, fine.
He'll enjoy seeing you.
I mean, he's a totally reliable employer.
Totally reliable.
Yeah.
Are you feeling all right?
Right, very good.
We'll get ready for the big battle of the next year.
We're going to have a hunting working night instead of going out of communication for a week on Thursdays and Wednesdays.
So, 20 of them.
We have our big cabinet dinner that night, so we'll get everybody.
I'm going to expand that to include the people like us, too, so that everybody is kind of aware, you know, that we're going to sit by them all the time, too, for their information.
He's your old colleague, huh?
I think so, yeah.
But my feeling is that Bob would have no choice, really, with both him and McCloskey.
Of course, I don't think they're both going to get supposed to.
Anybody that runs around with a handkerchief and a new handkerchief is going to get a deal between them.
They're both...
I think the line we should take is that we were just aiming to get more than 72,000.
I wouldn't set it any higher than that.
I hope you'll be granted one.
We can't do these things in a while.
We're going to have to do this to have an effective suggestion from the public and the governor.
I'm going to have dinner for us.
Thank you very much.
We're going to have a chance to read it.
Huh.
Too long.
Yeah.
Absolutely, they're cracking guys that can help us.
Well, I'll vote for you, and I think that Sergeant Bushman could be, he's got a good, he appeals to people that we normally wouldn't get.
Thank you.
Oh, as far as I'm concerned, you and John, you work it out, I approve.
Okay.
All right.
Have a good time, folks.

NARA Description

On January 10, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Robert J. Dole met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:21 pm to 5:24 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 313-026 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 313-26

Date: January 10, 1972
Time: 5:21 pm - 5:24 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Robert J. Dole.

**********************************************************************

[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 09/18/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[313-026-w001]
[Duration: 1m 28s]

[See Conversation No. 018-051]

**********************************************************************

Also recorded on January 10, 1972

  • 018-050 5:16 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Herbert G. Klein talked on the telephone from 5:16 pm to 5:21 pm.
  • 313-025 5:16 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Herbert G. Klein met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:16 pm to 5:21 pm.
  • 018-051 5:21 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Robert J. Dole talked on the telephone from 5:21 pm to 5:24 pm.
  • 313-027 5:24 PM · 13 sec — 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 5:24 pm and 5:27 pm.
  • 018-052 5:27 PM · 36 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 5:27 pm to 5:28 pm.
  • 313-028 5:27 PM · 36 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:27 pm to 5:28 pm.
  • 018-053 5:28 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:28 pm and 5:29 pm.
  • 313-029 5:28 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 5:28 pm and 5:29 pm.

All 83 conversations from January 10, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 313-026, January 10, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/313-026 (accessed September 24, 2026).