On July 19, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Francis A. ("Frank") Sinatra met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:35 pm to 2:40 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 348-008 of the White House Tapes.
Transcript (AI-Generated)This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.
Hello?
Yeah.
Oh, my.
Hello?
Yes.
Hello, Frank?
Well, I just called to tell you that I was in California yesterday, and I got back and read the morning news summary, and I just thought you did a great job on that committee, and the way your counsel told us
took the press on, the way you handled the committee, I thought was just a very good job.
And incidentally, I think you came out very well.
Well, sometimes you have to go into counterattack, too, because what is the situation really is?
This is one of those, what I, I was talking to Mayor Rizzo going out there a few weeks ago, and I said, it's one of those guilt-by-association things.
And so they go way back in the back and do a home stop in some sort of a race track, and somebody will go home stop, else home stop, and I say, well, what's that, what am I, you know, I mean, that's really reaching.
And I'm glad it came out, and I think he had it look well, and I think they'll, they're probably sorry they called him there,
Are you in France?
I understand.
Yeah.
Oh, great, great, great.
Yes, sir.
You mean the cancer specialist?
The cancer specialist?
Heart, heart, heart.
Yes, yes.
From Houston.
Houston.
Right.
Great.
Great.
Great audience.
Great audience.
Let me ask one other thing, and incidentally, I'll ask you because I don't want our people to bother your schedule.
As you probably know, there's a new prime minister in Italy, and he's a very good man, and he's a very strong friend of the United States.
I have not had a meeting with him before going to Russia, the little son of the so-called British,
The Germans and the French didn't have the Italian people, they didn't have a government.
Now that he's in, we are arranging with him for him to come over for a meeting here with me.
Now, when the arrangements are made, if it would fit your schedule, we'd like very much if you would do the entertainment for the thing.
I'll have our people talk to your schedulers only if you'd like to do it.
Great.
Now, what we might do, Frank, is this, is something, is that we do it one of two ways.
Normally, we do it in the White House, and we do it in the White House.
Well, what we would do, in any event, we would have, like, we would come together and all that sort of thing, in the White House, and so on.
Then, if the number of people appears to be too great, we thought we might go down to the Kennedy Center and put it on where you've got a better stage and so forth and so on, and have it down there.
I don't know that we can arrange.
I don't know where we can place the rest.
But as far as you're concerned, you've done the East Room before.
You could do it either way, but which would you rather do?
And keep it more in the East Room.
Yeah.
Right.
Well, we can do that, too, I think.
Let's see.
We can get about 200 in there.
And you've done those.
You know, the thing I was thinking of, that farewell thing you did, if you could maybe give us some of those songs.
But anything you want.
But anyway, we won't bother you with it now.
And we'll just have our people check with your people when we get a date set for him.
Yeah.
Well, great, and have a great time over there.
What do you do?
Do you fish or swim or?
Rack?
Ah, you're a golfer.
That's right.
Is he?
I have not met him, but I have, of course, admired him and Chris Kelly, and extend my warmest, best wishes to him.
Will you?
All right.
Goodbye, and good luck to you.
Bye.
Bye.