Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 460 › Conversation 460-010

Nixon, Jones & Radd on Princeton University and Southeast Asia policy

Friday, February 26, 1971 · 1:00 PM–1:08 PM ET · Oval Office ·6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Jones, T. Harding;  Radd, Anthony;  Kolb, Charles;  Magruder, Jeb Stuart;  White House photographerConversation460-010 onTape 460 (tape position 00:44:13–00:49:55)StartFriday, February 26, 1971 at 1:00 PMEndFriday, February 26, 1971 at 1:08 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 460-010 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with a delegation of Princeton University students, accompanied by White House aide Jeb Stuart Magruder, to discuss their political support for his administration. The conversation focused on the rationale behind Nixon's Southeast Asia policies, specifically regarding the ongoing operations in Laos and Cambodia and the necessity of maintaining public perspective. Nixon encouraged the students to remain politically active on campus and emphasized the importance of effectively communicating his foreign policy goals to the public through television and media.

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello Bill, how are you?
We are all from Princeton.
We are all from Princeton.
We are all from Princeton.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
You're part of the Prince of Hardcore.
Yeah, that's right.
Oh, that's good country down there.
You like Christmas?
The other thing I'm going to say is that I remember what you did supporting us.
I'm just grateful for that.
I'm just telling you, for anybody, for anybody on the college campus, and particularly on the east, there's a lot of guns.
If there are any organizations like ours on the eastern college campus at this time, it's a recognition that we get from either the district, encourage everyone, and again, my most important thing to all of you is to be active on the east.
Aren't you all, sir, Michael, one day proud of you?
Why don't you say well?
I hope that you will help provide the support that you need.
We were just talking about amounts and question how.
How do you get it?
How do you get it quickly?
Sometimes you've got to do a hard thing in order to get a good life that you want.
When I got to the house, now I remember, I remember I used to sit in the convention.
I was engaged in a high-end building, and I was sitting behind you over the roads when you made the exception speech, and I remember looking up and I said, and I was a very, very confident man of mine, I just knew you were going to be president, and I read it in television at school in my freshman year at Princeton, and we were going through all the, you know, it was just a terrible environment I felt, and so many little people, and they all said, I can't make it, and I sat there, and I was just,
But that day when we came out, you know, and it was all over with, and you were the president, and I just thought, you know, I couldn't ask for anything more.
And then we, you know, I was confident in it.
And then we were, we were just hearing about the, uh, the success of Ivan Klaus.
I don't feel like I'll get another chance.
Yeah, I mean, he's, he's gonna blow such a beam tonight.
I mean, like, Chris, I'm trying to get you to take that.
He is still there.
I'm not sure I can see him, sir.
Well, this is the very thing about Donald Trump, which is, like, I don't know if this is something that...
It's difficult for younger people to realize.
I mean, I know, you know, we're all in there.
The American people are impatient.
Young people, by definition, are impatient.
And that's their great priority.
But perspective is what is.
Yes.
And now we realize, as a result of Cambodia, the southern half of South Vietnam is secure.
Now, while this is tough, there's going to be two or three weeks of pretty bloody fighting.
We'll be out and down in Cambodia.
But in the end, the main purpose is every day to stop the Vietnamese during that.
It means the less stuff goes down there, the fewer Americans who can get out in an honorable way.
That's what it's all about.
Just keep your perspective.
It's how it works at COPS.
If we could only get some way to get to television, I'd just put it on every night.
You heard?
Since I told some of you guys to go on television, I'd like you to go on the network, right?
Are you planning to go on television?
Well, that's all politics to me, then.
That's all politics to me.
I'm amazing in history, but I might go to a box school one time.
I liked public relations and stuff like that.
Well, maybe I'll be able to bring that in.
There it is.
There's a box.
There we are.
That is the song that goes to the special people.
And we do appreciate what you've done.
I want you to know we've got a lot of faith.
I have a piece of pattern that's very good.
And when we talk about, you know, like, yeah, he was a young man and so forth.
He was trying to be cool, you know, right?
You know, when you do this in charge of Twitter, it shows most of the places you are in.
You know, I'm an artist, I'm going to show the more liberal side.
But, I'm going to show 55% of them.
Not in any way.
That is a target.
We've got people in this country, I'm sure, that have a golden mind.
And the majority of this is always in the comments.
And you heard that.
So what they do is we get a war on them.
Thank you very much.
Thank you
Thank you.
Keep your courage.
I'll let it grab you now.

NARA Description

On February 26, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, T. Harding Jones, Anthony Radd, Charles Kolb, Jeb Stuart Magruder, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:00 pm to 1:08 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 460-010 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 460-10

Date: February 26, 1971
Time: 1:00 pm - 1:08 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with T. Harding Jones, Anthony Radd, Charles Kolb, and Jeb Stuart
Magruder; the White House photographer was present at the beginning of the meeting

      Greetings

      Princeton University

          -Support for the President
                 -Laos
                      -President’s policy
                      -Vice President Spiro T. Agnew

      Southeast Asia
           -President’s policy
                 -Laos
                      -Public perception
                      -Cambodia
                      -Vietnam
                      -Rationale
                      -Television coverage

      Princeton University
           -Areas of study

      Gifts

      Appreciation
          -Attitudes of youth
                 -The President
                 -Effect of draft
                 -Students’ efforts

      Farewells

Jones, et al. left at 1:08 pm

Also recorded on February 26, 1971

  • 460-006 12:48 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Patricia R. Hitt, Robert E. Hampton, Barbara B. Gunderson, Jeanne Wilson Davis, Florence Johnson Hicks, Juanita Morris Moody, Essie Davis Morgan, Rita M. Rapp, Joan Raup Rosenblatt, and George T. Bell met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:48 pm to 12:54 pm.
  • 460-007 12:54 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:54 pm.
  • 460-008 12:54 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Francis E. White, Frederick C. Wieting, Bonnie Cook, Dennis Conley, Mrs. Dennis Conley, Eva M. Johnson, and George T. Bell met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:54 pm to 1:00 pm.
  • 460-009 1:00 PM · 40 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 1:00 pm.
  • 460-011 1:08 PM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 1:08 pm.
  • 460-012 1:08 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Cecil W. Stevenson, Frank G. Wood, George T. Bell, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:08 pm to 1:12 pm.
  • 460-013 1:12 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Thomas L. Lias, Harry S. Dent, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:12 pm to 1:14 pm.
  • 460-014 1:14 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Guilford Dudley, Jr., Harry S. Dent, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:14 pm to 1:18 pm.

All 30 conversations from February 26, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 460-010, February 26, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/460-010 (accessed September 18, 2026).