Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 456 › Conversation 456-015

Nixon with unidentified visitors in the Oval Office on William L. Safire

Tuesday, February 23, 1971 · 2:09 PM–3:00 PM ET · Oval Office ·2 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  White House operatorConversation456-015 onTape 456 (tape position 03:28:31–03:28:51)StartTuesday, February 23, 1971 at 2:09 PMEndTuesday, February 23, 1971 at 3:00 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 456-015 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with the White House operator to facilitate a telephone call to speechwriter William L. Safire. The exchange served as a routine administrative request to establish a line of communication with a key staff member. No policy matters or substantive discussions were recorded during this brief interaction.

Audio

Download MP3 · 0.0 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 · Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Stop our equation.

NARA Description

On February 23, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:09 pm and 3:00 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 456-015 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 456-15

Date: February 23, 1971
Time: Unknown between 2:09 pm and 3:00 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with the White House operator

     Call to William L. Safire

Also recorded on February 23, 1971

  • 048-002 1:03 PM — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 1:03 pm on February 23, 1971 and 11:45 am on February 25, 1971.
  • 456-012 1:05 PM · 52 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, Charles W. Colson, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, Clark MacGregor, George P. Shultz, and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:05 pm to 2:09 pm.
  • 456-013 2:09 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:09 pm and 3:00 pm.
  • 456-014 2:09 PM · 27 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:09 pm and 3:00 pm.
  • 456-016 3:00 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:00 pm to 3:05 pm.
  • 456-017 3:05 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:05 pm to 3:08 pm.
  • 456-018 3:08 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 3:22 pm.
  • 456-019 3:08 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 3:22 pm.

All 27 conversations from February 23, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 456-015, February 23, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/456-015 (accessed September 18, 2026).