Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 458 › Conversation 458-004

Nixon, Kleppe & Renercomb on Swearing-in ceremony and SBA loans

Thursday, February 25, 1971 · 3:35 PM–3:46 PM ET · Oval Office · 12 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Renercomb, George; Kleppe, Thomas S.; Kleppe, Glenda L. (Gompf); Kleppe, Jill; Kleppe, Jane; Anderson, Gladys; Edick, Ruth; Chase, Anthony G.; Singer, Arthur H.; Parker, Marshall J.; Eachon, Jack, Jr.; McZier, Arthur; Russell, Howard; Johnson, Einar; Gavin, Wilfred J.; Knebel, John A.; Rivard, Loren J.; Stull, Raymond E.; Young, Milton R.; Young, Patricia M. (Burne); Dole, Robert J.; Conte, Silvio O.; Evins, Joseph L. ("Joe"); Gallagher, Christine; Sharp, Lucey; Kabis, Dorothy A.; Lutnass, Magnus; Morton, Rogers C. B.; MacGregor, Clark; Stans, Maurice H.Conversation458-004 on Tape 458 (tape position 00:49:34–01:01:23)StartThursday, February 25, 1971 at 3:35 PMEndThursday, February 25, 1971 at 3:46 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 458-004 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417175999 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon hosted a group of officials, family members, and congressional guests in the Oval Office for the ceremonial swearing-in of Thomas S. Kleppe as the new Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA). Following the oath of office, the group discussed the agency's primary objectives, specifically emphasizing the need for active engagement with the business community and the provision of low-interest loans for victims of the recent California earthquake. The meeting concluded with the President presenting gifts to the attendees and formal expressions of mutual support and cooperation.

Audio

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NARA Description

On February 25, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, George Renercomb, Thomas S. Kleppe, Glenda L. (Gompf) Kleppe, Jill Kleppe, Jane Kleppe, Gladys Anderson, Ruth Edick, Anthony G. Chase, Arthur H. Singer, Marshall J. Parker, Jack Eachon, Jr., Arthur McZier, Howard Russell, Einar Johnson, Wilfred J. Gavin, John A. Knebel, Loren J. Rivard, Raymond E. Stull, Milton R. Young, Patricia M. (Burne) Young, Robert J. Dole, Silvio O. Conte, Joseph L. ("Joe") Evins, Christine Gallagher, Lucey Sharp, Dorothy A. Kabis, Magnus Lutnass, Rogers C. B. Morton, Clark MacGregor, and Maurice H. Stans met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:35 pm to 3:46 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 458-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 458-004
Date: February 25, 1971

Time: 3:35 pm - 3:46 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with George Renercomb, Thomas S. Kleppe, Glenda L. (Gompf) Kleppe, Jill
Kleppe, Jane Kleppe, Gladys Anderson, Ruth Edick, Anthony G. Chase, Arthur H. Singer,
Marshall J. Parker, Jack Eachon, Jr., Arthur McZier, Howard Russell, Einar Johnson, Dr. Wilfred
J. Garvin, John A. (“Jack”) Knebel, Loren J. Rivard, Raymond E. Stull, Milton R. Young,
Patricia M. (Burne) Young, Robert J. Dole, Silvio O. Conte, Joseph L. (“Joe”) Evins, Christine
Gallagher, Lacey Sharp, Dorothy A. Kabis, Reverend Magnus Lutnass, Rogers C. B. Morton,
Clark MacGregor, and Maurice H. Stans

     Introductions

     [General conversation]

     Swearing-in ceremony
         -T. S. Kleppe
         -MacGregor
         -Donald H. Rumsfeld
         -Oath of Office
         -Expression of thanks
                -Goals of Small Business Administration [SBA]
         -SBA loans
                -California earthquake
         -Presentation of gifts by the President

     [General conversation]

Renercomb, et al. left at 3:46 pm

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 7 minutes of this recording (about 59% 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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Hello there, how are you?
I'm just fine.
How are you, Mr. Deere?
Nothing.
Hello there.
Hello there.
Hello there.
Hello there.
Oh my God.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you.
You know, with all of your decent friends, I don't see why you didn't tell me about that.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
All right.
Now, let's see.
Where do we stand, sir?
I don't know.
Let's go.
I think the, uh, this is the record.
That's right.
Let's go this little west way.
Let's not answer it wrong.
Let's answer it right.
I mean, this is important.
Let's go that way.
All right.
Now, that is a very big deal.
I am prepared to take the oath.
If you ask me.
I, Thomas S. Spethley, do solemnly swear.
I, Thomas S. Spethley, do solemnly swear.
That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.
That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Against all enemies sworn into my seat.
Against all enemies sworn into my seat.
That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.
That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.
That I take this obligation freely.
That I take this obligation freely.
Without any general reservation or purpose of evasion.
without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.
And I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.
And I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.
So help me God.
So help me God.
I would like to take that one word to tell you how honored I am to, uh, for this occasion, this afternoon, how honored I am, the privilege of serving with you in this government, in this country.
You know, when I was appointed, when you appointed me, many of my friends said to me, uh, Tucky, do you know what you did in a bold way?
Well, I've even interpreted that in many ways.
I think maybe I've learned a little bit about what they're talking about.
But as it pertains to SBA, we have great opportunities now.
And within the framework of the thoughts and the ideas that I know you hear, we're going to communicate these to a group of dedicated people that we care.
And we're going to get our feet out from under that desk, and we're going to get out where the action is.
And with all of the leadership that you've given us and the dedication you've served, this is the job we're going to do, to communicate with Congress and to work with you in the administration for all things better for the total SDA community.
That's what we need.
How do we get out of this?
We're thankful for all the friends and the support that we've had to get this started.
It's a real important job.
Yes, sir.
We've had your congressional friends here, too.
Yeah, we thank a lot of us.
Yes, we're using a great deal.
Tremendous.
The earthquake in California is a long-term, low-interest loan to re-establish people in business.
That year in the middle.
That year in the middle.
We were going to do it in the middle.
Right.
I know.
It's just me and Holly and I working hard together.
Amen.
Joe and I, we've accomplished a good thing.
I want to say that the president and I were classmates.
We came to Congress together, and he's become president.
And I've always been terrible at something.
Stay there.
You all live.
I'll give you that.
They look pretty well.
Okay.
All right.
This goes to the best part that we had to offer.
I got you to the setting check and I'll shoot the scooter.
Well, you know, we're going to get Peter Hewitt to attend a ceremony like this, and that's why we can't afford many like you.
President, just a couple things.
We're going to get a small business while we wait.
We wish you the very best of luck.
Hey, we appreciate it.
I'll get you some beer.
Come on, let's have you put them over there.
All these things are kind of exquisite, huh?
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
Congratulations.
Oh, boy, I'm down.
Hey, where did you get it?
It's got to be somewhere right over here.
Right here.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mark.
Yeah.
I like.
Thank you.
Thank you, Clark.
Thanks, sir.
It was great.

Also recorded on February 25, 1971

  • 458-003 3:28 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:28 pm to 3:35 pm.
  • 458-005 3:46 PM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Felipe Herrera, Charls E. Walker, Henry J. Costanzo, and Ashley Hewitt met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:46 pm and 4:05 pm.
  • 458-006 4:05 PM · 37 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:05 pm and 4:07 pm.
  • 458-007 4:07 PM · 28 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Joe D. Waggonner, Jr., Juanita Morris Moody, John C. Whitaker, Richard K. Cook, White House photographer, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:07 pm to 4:34 pm.
  • 458-008 4:34 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Dwight L. Chapin met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:34 pm and 4:42 pm.
  • 458-009 4:42 PM · 23 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Milton C. Rose, Manolo Sanchez, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:42 pm to 5:05 pm.
  • 458-010 5:05 PM · 38 min — President Richard M. Nixon, David M. Kennedy, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., White House photographer, Nellie L. Yates, Marjorie P. Acker, and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:05 pm to 5:43 pm.
  • 458-011 5:44 PM · 45 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Alexander P. Butterfield, and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:44 pm to 6:30 pm.

All 12 conversations from February 25, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 458-004, February 25, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417175999). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/458-004 (accessed November 2, 2026).