Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 318 › Conversation 318-033

Nixon & Lewis on William T. Cahill and New Jersey

Wednesday, February 2, 1972 · 3:25 PM–3:30 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Lewis, Hobart D.Conversation318-033 on Tape 318 (tape position 02:50:51–02:53:58)StartWednesday, February 2, 1972 at 3:25 PMEndWednesday, February 2, 1972 at 3:30 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 318-033 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Reader's Digest editor Hobart D. Lewis to advocate for a follow-up article highlighting the administrative successes of New Jersey Governor William T. Cahill. Nixon emphasized Cahill’s accomplishments in environmental policy, education reform, and his efforts to combat corruption, contrasting these achievements with past negative portrayals of the state. The discussion served as an editorial pitch to improve the public perception of the Cahill administration through the magazine's national platform.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 83% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
just a little over a year ago, which was extremely derogatory with regard to New Jersey.
There it is.
Kale, as you probably know, has been doing one of the best jobs in any government in the country.
On a number of fronts.
He has worked closely with John Metzoli, Sidney Little, I don't know, corrupt trackers in New Jersey.
He has probably the best program on the environment in any state in the country.
He has made enormous progress in the field of secondary and higher education.
He was out of rank in these areas where
I was very old when I was off the street back then.
You will see that New Jersey deserves a second order from him back then.
And I frankly agree with him.
Without trying to compromise the other part of the thing, I think it might be because most of the New Jersey
I don't know what to say.
I'm not going to get very close, but...
I'm not going to get very close, but...
I'm not going to get very close, but...
All right.

NARA Description

On February 2, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Hobart D. Lewis met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:25 pm and 3:30 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 318-033 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 318-33

Date: February 2, 1972
Time: Unknown between 3:25 pm and 3:30 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President replayed a portion of a previously recorded dictabelt recording.

     Reader’s Digest article
         -New Jersey

The President resumed dictating a letter to Hobart D. Lewis.

[Continuation of Conversation No. 318-31]

     William T. Cahill
          -Performance as Governor of New Jersey
                -Relations with John N. Mitchell
                     -Racketeers
                -Environmental program
                -Secondary and higher education
           -Possible second article in Reader’s Digest
                -Suggested titles
                -Progress in New Jersey
                -Mitchell
                -Possible quotes from the President

Also recorded on February 2, 1972

  • 020-032 3:17 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 3:17 pm to 3:25 pm.
  • 020-033 3:25 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:25 pm and 3:30 pm.
  • 318-034 3:25 PM · 5 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 3:25 pm and 3:30 pm.
  • 020-034 3:30 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 3:30 pm to 3:31 pm.
  • 318-035 3:30 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:30 pm to 3:31 pm.
  • 318-036 3:31 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Ronald W. Reagan, William G. Milliken, and Linwood Holton met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:31 pm and 4:12 pm.
  • 318-037 3:31 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:31 pm and 4:12 pm.
  • 318-038 3:31 PM · 39 sec — 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 3:31 pm and 4:12 pm.

All 71 conversations from February 2, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 318-033, February 2, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/318-033 (accessed October 21, 2026).