Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 451 › Conversation 451-021

Nixon alone in the Oval Office on Public speaking and Speechwriting

Thursday, February 18, 1971 · 5:14 PM–5:25 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation451-021 onTape 451 (tape position 04:32:22–04:35:14)StartThursday, February 18, 1971 at 5:14 PMEndThursday, February 18, 1971 at 5:25 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 451-021 ↗

AI Summary

President Richard M. Nixon utilized this time in the Oval Office to rehearse his upcoming dedication speech for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The session focused on refining the rhetoric and delivery of his remarks to ensure they were appropriate for the academic and historical significance of the event. No administrative policy decisions were made during this practice session, as the primary objective was rhetorical preparation.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 166.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 167.2 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 143.0 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 04:32:22 into the tape and ends around 04:35:14.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 · Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.

4:33:56Do you want to go over to the guest house with me and that guy?
4:34:02No, I don't want to do that.

NARA Description

On February 18, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:14 pm and 5:25 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 451-021 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 451-21

Date: February 18, 1971
Time: Unknown between 5:14 pm and 5:25 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President rehearsed portions of his remarks for the dedication of the [Thomas] Woodrow
Wilson International Center for Scholars

[A transcript of the final version of this speech appears in Public Papers of the Presidents,
Richard M. Nixon, 1971, pp. 187-189]

Also recorded on February 18, 1971

  • 451-016 3:40 PM · 20 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:40 pm and 3:52 pm.
  • 451-017 3:40 PM · 37 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:40 pm and 3:52 pm.
  • 451-018 3:52 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Mark I. Goode met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:52 pm to 3:55 pm.
  • 451-019 3:55 PM · 1 hr 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, George P. Shultz, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:55 pm to 4:52 pm.
  • 451-020 5:10 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:10 pm to 5:14 pm.
  • 451-022 5:14 PM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:14 pm and 5:25 pm.
  • 451-023 6:16 PM · 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 6:16 pm to 6:37 pm.
  • 451-024 6:40 PM · 43 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 6:40 pm to 7:27 pm.

All 24 conversations from February 18, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 451-021, February 18, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/451-021 (accessed September 18, 2026).