Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 471 › Conversation 471-018

Nixon, Campbell & Larson on Military personnel and Naval command

Wednesday, March 24, 1971 · 11:51 AM–11:54 AM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Campbell, Craig S.; Larson, Charles R.; Hughes, James D. ("Don"); White House photographerConversation471-018 on Tape 471 (tape position 02:38:47–02:41:32)StartWednesday, March 24, 1971 at 11:51 AMEndWednesday, March 24, 1971 at 11:54 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 471-018 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with military aides Commander Craig S. Campbell, Charles R. Larson, and Major General James D. Hughes to facilitate introductions and formal photographs. The discussion centered on Larson’s upcoming military reassignment to a submarine command based in San Diego, which Nixon noted was conveniently located near his San Clemente estate. The brief meeting concluded with the exchange of personal gifts and expressions of mutual appreciation regarding the aides' service.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 49% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Mr. President, may I present Commander Craig Campbell, sir, who will be relieving our commander-in-chief.
Commander, nice to see you.
Well, Chuck, we're sorry to see you late, but I understand you're not going back to Tulsa.
Yes, sir.
It's a submarine, sir.
Come on, let's get a formal picture here.
Let's get one of the three of us first.
But that's what I was thinking.
Now I'll get one because I've been charging myself along.
Right.
Where will you be located?
In San Diego.
That's too bad.
Isn't that too bad?
Right near San Clemente.
Well, there is.
We'll just have to come up on the third piece of that.
We've got to be at home for it.
So that's what I'm thinking.
But your family will be there?
And how long will you be a senator?
If you think about a year, I was executive officer three years ago, and I'll do this again as a refresher.
I should get my own command in about a year or so.
We'll be on the ground that day.
We'll be commanding the Senate?
Yes, sir.
President, so what do you know?
I don't believe that.
Hughes had never gone to something like that.
It's hard to get him in the air anymore.
Do you know, as you will learn to read, that we give conflicts, normal conflicts,
We got something new though, you got one of these.
He said, there's a present that you put that on here, you know.
It'll probably float around.
You still playing golf?
Uh, I haven't had time to play golf, but that's what you understand.
How you doing?
Hey, Bob.
We hope you enjoyed seeing you around.
All right.
Glad to have you aboard.
All right.
You have to turn all the moves.
I got your number there.

NARA Description

On March 24, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Craig S. Campbell, Charles R. Larson, James D. ("Don") Hughes, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:51 am to 11:54 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 471-018 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 471-18

Date: March 24, 1971
Time: 11:51 am - 11:54 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Commander Craig S. Campbell, Charles R. Larson, and Major General
James D. (“Don”) Hughes; a photographer was present at the beginning of the meeting

     Introductions

     Larson’s career
          -forthcoming assignment

     Arrangements for photos

     Larson’s new assignment
          -San Diego, San Clemente
          -Submarines

     Hughes
         -Submarines

     Gifts

     President’s appreciation

Campbell, et al. left at 11:54 am

Also recorded on March 24, 1971

  • 471-014 11:37 AM · 52 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at 11:37 am.
  • 471-015 11:38 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, Aldo Massarini, Paul Moniez, Jacques Bullet, Kenneth G. Wickham, Earl E. Anderson, Maocyr Paiva, Willi Rieke, Jae Chul Lee, William G. McNamara, Raoul Mollet, James D. ("Don") Hughes, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:38 am to 11:43 am.
  • 471-016 11:44 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, Harvey Firestone, Emmett O'Donnell, George T. Bell, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:44 am to 11:50 am.
  • 471-017 11:50 AM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:50 am to 11:51 am.
  • 471-019 11:54 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:54 am and 11:58 am.
  • 471-020 11:54 AM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:54 am and 11:58 am.
  • 471-021 11:54 AM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Gerald R. Ford met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:54 am and 11:58 am.
  • 471-022 11:58 AM · 8 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:58 am and 12:10 pm.

All 22 conversations from March 24, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 471-018, March 24, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/471-018 (accessed October 12, 2026).