On February 22, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:43 pm to 2:07 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 455-018 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 Do not cite this transcript as authoritative.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.
How are you?
Recovered, huh?
Yeah, I think so.
I'm still a little weak-kneed.
I should try to stay in bed.
I've got to go dry and sit back.
And I got the girl gave me the list of things in America.
I was having a list of things.
They had received, they said that they had received the book of speeches and the other one that they didn't have on the list, the medals and all that sort of thing.
I'm not sure.
Those are not on our list.
Probably not on anyone's list.
They should be on the list.
Could you see that they are on the list in the future?
I don't want to get them twice.
Now, I'm sure they got the one count of inaugural medals.
They probably don't have those.
Well, I think they probably got that count.
Yes, I'm sure they did.
But that's what it was, I'm not sure.
But I'll check that.
What we were checking is to see whether or not there was a possibility of that.
Elliot, what?
Uh, what I wanted to do was to... ...to buy glasses.
I think the Bob Capnum glasses would be very nice.
He's got a glass of Woolsey Cocktail than the others now.
Remember the thing he gave the press?
They were checking around here through a bar field or something.
They were very nice.
Maybe they're too expensive.
Could I see one of them, perhaps?
We have one out here now.
I'll find out if they find any.
Let's see.
Anyway, I believe they're taking a set of glasses.
Well, that would be fine.
Now, what could we give Jimmy Crosby?
I don't know what he'd say.
What have we got?
Bring me one of the glasses that we gave him first.
Yeah, I don't know if we can get any of those around here.
Well, I believe we can fit that there.
Well, someone gave me, sent me something that I've never seen.
Maybe we use this as a gift.
But a vermilion track, very small.
I've got it on my desk.
It's an etching of the White House on the front.
And on the back, it says, to me, it says appreciation for your devoted service.
But on the back, what do you mean, on the bottom?
Well, it could be on the bottom.
I think it's on the back.
That could be, all right.
But I was thinking of, first of all, for that one, I'll burn it on a dozen glasses.
And incidentally, I like it.
It would be nice to have him dressed in sunglasses.
Did you think of what we would give Don Kempel?
Well, I thought I was going to have to go talk about the tray, only not exactly that type.
Or maybe he painted that in the description you wanted on his desk.
I've been thinking of it, but I didn't get it.
Well, I suggested a pen set for him, and I also suggested that for Apple.
But I could get that one off the pen set at the end of the box and see just what's standing in the armrest.
And what could we give Jimmy to do?
I think he had the old-fashioned ones.
Yeah.
He had the old-fashioned ones.
I don't see the size.
Those are mine.
Well, I think I would like to suggest that we're supposed to go with the second one.
This is just out of the studio.
I think it was the second you were going to mention that.
Come on, nice straight.
Yeah, nice straight.
Yeah, nice straight.
Yeah, nice straight.
Yeah, nice straight.
Yeah, nice straight.
Yeah, nice straight.
Yeah, nice straight.
Yeah, nice straight.
Yeah, nice straight.
Well, I was going to go out the hall and get a pen set.
I didn't get a pen set very quickly, so tell me on that day.
On the morning of the day, I wanted to get my pen set on the clock.
The fancy pen set on the clock did not come.
It was going to be cool, but when I got it right away, it wasn't the appreciation for it.
19, 1971.
Yeah.
I think Bob that long should get a pen set, too.
But I don't know what Rock will do about Jimmy.
I hope that we give him one and have one.
Give Jimmy a pen set, but not the glasses.
Pen set.
I think a pen set is the easiest thing, Rose.
Then, once you get the pen set, then you can have it.
in mind, that if you get the right kind, that I will use these arms to be a nice one.
This might be a nice one.
We just need nothing.
We need you to deserve and expect something.
Why don't you just say to the President what you might like?
That's right.
That's all.
Thank you.
without any on the other side.
Just put the seal and the signature and you're good to go.
That's all.
You can't say a bad thing.
The police are on the throes of the situation.
They had to raise your father fine.
I think with Don, just the, just the one.
Yes, by all means, because they had people there to show
Speaking of Elmer, or go ahead, Mr. Kluge.
Kluge, who's in here, who just, you know, we had a 70-year-old birthday.
Would you let him know that I, you know, we have said that I do not want to have birthdays recognized unless they are, unless they are, and I think it's 70 or 70, 70 is all right, 75 is all right, anything of any five years starting with 70.
I don't think people like to, you know, otherwise, I didn't want to be reminded of that day, but you know what I mean, I don't want to go back and pick it up, 45, 50, 55, and so forth, you know what I mean?
I think 60.
60, 70, 75.
60, 70, 75, double two, pick up dinner, grab something to eat.
I have a thing about that.
If you send something, I think the bookends would be nice.
Are they very expensive?
All right, what do you think?
What do you think he said?
They don't realize that they've got so old that we can't...
I'm 78.
Well, Christy, just can't handle a job anymore.
Come on.
I want to tell you that any time we have a minister come in, there are two that get in on it.
The obvious gift for all of us, by all means, is that we get one.
But if you'll just remember that if you've ever seen it on the list, be sure that that is what comes in.
Because that's, they prefer that than getting the biopneumonics every time next to the family.
The biopneumonics.
You got it on there.
Yes, I mean, I've heard of this type of people generally.
It means a hell of a lot to have a wife.
There was all my eyes on him.
Did I scare you enough?
Yeah.
Did that go right at that?
Was it the back there?
That's fine.
He was so terrible at the time.
Yeah.
He was actually shot out of there so it was nice that we went.
Oh.
Well, that was nice because Pat had told me he had cancer.
No, no.
I'm fine.
I think he was fine.
You asked about that fellow in the south, D.P.
Marshall.
He would certainly be here, but I had to climb in to check it out quietly.
He's the A1 fellow, and there's probably going to be two, except there's no vacancy until 1976.
He called over 10,000 times.
He talked to me about suits and so forth.
The one suit that, when you're through with it, they want to be sure they have is the one you wore when you were sworn in.
Well, that's what we do.
I mean, it's basically a black, uh, and that's simply a blue coat.
He will.
I mean, you wouldn't get that away anyway.
See, that isn't the kind of thing anybody else would ever want.
I'll keep that.
And they did find the shotgun.
Where did they find it?
Well, see, what happens is that, what I thought, some of the stuff came with your stuff from the parking lot and the stuff from downtown to get it.
It was in a storehouse over that Rex or Pat or someone had.
So they started it.
Today, Lloyd is back, and Lloyd and Lucy Ferguson are doing a complete check.
And there's also, I think the listing says that that's, uh, Archer is in that group of stuff.
Archer, the Archer does some stuff.
Has that been done with them?
No, we haven't, but we did.
No, no, we did.
And I think it's in that group.
I don't think it's mystical what that means.
I wonder.
But you know that never came down to the office.
I'm sure it passed me by the way it did out of the garage.
Remember?
It was in the garage.
I know.
But she's never had any sense of hanging on to those things.
I bet a lot of people have good things.
I don't think that a lot of stuff is just given away.
Yeah, when she was getting ready to move, I know she told me she had people come and try to take her away.
Yeah, they found her, definitely found her.
I'm honored to have a real conversation with you.
Oh, sir.
I was just asking my advice whether any time ever you and Mrs. Nixon would consider coming back for another dinner, you know, in that church you're seeing.
She doesn't want to ask you.
She doesn't want to ask you.
No, don't invite her at this point.
At this point.
It's too hard on me.
Well, she understands better.
She's brave.
I want to be honest with her.
I'm used to hanging on to something that isn't there.
How do we want to readjust on the last two hours?
She was very pleased that you wrote her.
I could go back there in one hour.
All right.
All right.
Now, as you know, the energy thing at the White House, Mr. Nixon has okayed the list for that.
Yeah.
And so none of the mutant people and so forth, and they shouldn't be for this special occasion.
Well, she would get okayed the other people for it.
She crossed off.
She left some of the people on that were subjected by it.
But now, I wanted to show you.
Oh, yeah.
I put petrol in.
I kept those voters.
Could I ask you this one fast question?
I was in Kevin.
Those are the ones.
Is there any special ground in there that you think would need to be there?
I'm full of Kevin.
I don't need this.
Special reason.
I know.
She covered it for a reason.
But, uh...
They put on one of the tracers here.
I remember.
And I'll repeat to everybody this time.
We're all covered.
that a lot of people are interested in.
Then, on the fax people...
I wouldn't mind that.
Well, Trisha invited the ones, I think, the Chief Double A to the fight, Steve Paul and Rob Little.
That's right.
Whatever she wants.
She invited me.
We had planning.
None of the others should be invited because.
What do you think about having planning?
I mean, no.
Okay, good.
They didn't have to talk to some Johnny Ernest on the list of Congressmen.
We have a lot of others.
Do you think he needs to be just in here?
I don't know.
I don't know.
That's important.
Not at that time, is it?
I have another time.
That's right.
I hate to borrow your time.
That's all right.
That's important.
You asked once about Darryl Bannick and he had been, he was invited to the Axe Pop Center and he read it and they was invited so he didn't have to wait, I was going to wait.
He's the one who read along with everybody, why was he writing about Darryl Bannick, you know?
Oh, he wrote a lot of the letters.
We've done a little Ode to Origination.
Well, I want to see it.
I want to see it.
I want to confirm it.
Yeah, this is very good.
Very good.
This is the train.
Hey, you know, this is the train.
Well, this room is still quite cool in here.
This room feels good.
Sometimes it feels bad.
I think you have to be careful about these dinners.
You know, you get some people who, well, he could hold his own as a dinner, but so many people can't hold their own sitting between two strategies.
Sir, you know, sir, they can't do it.
You couldn't.
He's very, you know, he's been the former chairman of the California Real Estate Board, and he's in that league.
But when you invite them to dinner, you just can't invite them to eat anything.
And in person, you just have to be well-attended and not smart.
No, in the evening, it's so much better for someone who might be ill and need to do something.
And they go out and talk to each other.
Uh-huh.
It's much better now, eh?
Much better.
Gosh, everybody.
Well, it's typical of what it is this time of year, isn't it?
Except we've had it all along, basically.
You think so?
Depends on the weather.
It's been a horrible cold month on hand now we've had nothing to do.
I agree, you know, this is good.
We haven't had the weather as much, you know.
Well, we're in all the time.
When I go up to Camp David, sometimes it's good.
That's really important, too.
I'll just see you later.
Okay.