Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 460 › Conversation 460-013

Nixon, Lias & Dent on Diplomatic assignments and Social obligations

Friday, February 26, 1971 · 1:12 PM–1:14 PM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Lias, Thomas L.; Dent, Harry S.; White House photographerConversation460-013 on Tape 460 (tape position 00:54:26–00:55:58)StartFriday, February 26, 1971 at 1:12 PMEndFriday, February 26, 1971 at 1:14 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 460-013 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417176039 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Thomas L. Lias and Harry S. Dent for a brief, informal session following a photo opportunity. The President offered career advice and encouragement to Lias regarding an upcoming diplomatic assignment, specifically highlighting the challenges of the social obligations associated with such a role. The participants concluded by affirming their ongoing commitment to future political campaign efforts.

Diplomatic assignments
Social obligations
Political campaigning
Personnel matters
George H.W. Bush

Audio

Download MP3 · 2.1 MB

NARA Description

On February 26, 1971, 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. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 460-013 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 460-13

Date: February 26, 1971
Time: 1:12 pm - 1:14 pm

Location: Oval Office

The President met with Thomas L. Lias and Harry S. Dent; the White House photographer was
present at the beginning of the meeting

     Greetings

     New York
         -George H. W. Bush
              -New position at United Nations

     Cuff links

     Farewells

Lias and Dent left at 1:14 pm

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

It's all right.

How are you?

Well, I understand you're going to take off, huh?

Right.

Go up to the Wicked City?

You'll enjoy it.

It's a great assignment.

Have you ever studied a kind of human?

No, not very much.

This is sort of new to me.

Fascinating.

You'll love it.

You'll hate the social part of it.

Unless maybe you like to go on trails.

Matter of fact, I don't.

I feel like I'm so jarred, huh?

Yeah, that's right.

Well, the main thing is that the social part is tough, but you can go to a lot of those things.

It's exciting to go around the snow, people talk, but just eat very little, drink very little, and keep eating.

That's my best advice.

And listen a lot.

Well, you mentioned presidential contracts today.

That's all we give to people who give so much of their time and energy to us.

And we appreciate it.

You'll keep in touch with Harris.

We've been trying to get back to the campaign for us.

We're all about that.

Okay.

That's right.

Thank you.

You can't get rid of politics.

No, I don't want to.

Yes.

Okay.

Also recorded on February 26, 1971

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.
460-010 1:00 PM · 6 min — 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.
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.
460-014 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.
460-015 1:18 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 1:18 pm.
460-016 1:18 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:18 pm to 1:23 pm.
460-017 1:26 PM · 48 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, unknown person(s), and Dwight L. Chapin met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:26 pm to 2:20 pm.

All 30 conversations from February 26, 1971 →

Nixon phone call with Cox on Diplomatic events and Social obligations December 30, 1972 · 3 min
Nixon, Flanigan & Haldeman on John S.D. Eisenhower and Diplomatic assignments June 28, 1971 · 1 min
Nixon phone call with Ford on Christmas and Football December 25, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Smith on New Year's greetings December 31, 1971 · 3 min
Nixon phone call with an unidentified caller on White House operator November 3, 1972 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Colson on Political strategy and Media relations May 17, 1972 · 10 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 460-013, February 26, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417176039). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/460-013 (accessed November 2, 2026).