Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 477 › Conversation 477-005

Nixon, Cochran & Cashen on Oval Office and Skiing

Monday, April 12, 1971 · 12:47 PM–12:53 PM ET · Oval Office · 7 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Cochran, Marilyn; Cochran, Barbara; Cochran, Bobby; Cashen, Henry C., IIConversation477-005 on Tape 477 (tape position 02:38:05–02:44:55)StartMonday, April 12, 1971 at 12:47 PMEndMonday, April 12, 1971 at 12:53 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 477-005 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417176459 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon hosted a brief meeting in the Oval Office with Marilyn, Barbara, and Bobby Cochran, accompanied by Henry C. Cashen, II, for a photo opportunity and gift presentation. The conversation focused on the younger Cochrans' interest in skiing, with the President encouraging their determination and persistence in the sport. Nixon concluded the visit by providing the group with a brief educational tour of the office, highlighting various historical artifacts including a portrait of George Washington and an 1837 depiction of the White House.

Audio

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NARA Description

On April 12, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Marilyn Cochran, Barbara Cochran, Bobby Cochran, and Henry C. Cashen, II met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:47 pm to 12:53 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 477-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 477-005

Date: April 12, 1971
Time: 12:47 pm - 12:53 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Marilyn Cochran, Barbara Cochran, Bobby Cochran, and Henry C.
Cashen, II; the White House photographer and members of the press were present at the
beginning of the meeting

     Greetings

     Introductions

     Photographic session

     Skiing
           -Father
           -Coach

     Presentation of gifts
          -Cuff links

     Skiing
           -Practicing
           -Determination

     Oval Office
          -Description
          -Presidential seal
          -Picture of White House in 1837
          -Portrait of George Washington

     Rose Garden

     Easter egg roll

     Farewells

M. Cochran, et al. left at 12:53 pm

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 4 minutes of this recording (about 56% 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.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

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Well, here's our captain.
Well, how are you?
Congratulations.
Right, right.
Your sister.
Right.
Oh yes.
Oh, I see.
Yes.
Oh, great.
I hope you got it.
I mean, how do you know if you got a chance?
Oh, here's the tone.
There we are.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Is there anything else you'd like to say?
I think they took care of Steve, but I'm sure I don't care for what I have.
Excuse the idea.
I'll leave this on the couch.
Thank you.
That's sport, of course, it's confidence.
I see those older people, you know, they're going to break their leg and pull back.
That's sort of a mark of something.
You've never broken anything, have you?
I haven't.
You haven't?
No, I haven't.
It's your leg?
Maybe you can try to do it.
Well, I've broken my leg.
Well, that's still, that's still a secret.
I know that's the main thing to me about Cedars.
I can see it in the air from the front.
You're going to give it up?
Oh, no!
You're going to go again?
That story seems very young.
Well, we did.
Your father did.
How old were you when you started?
Three.
Three?
Oh, boy.
Isn't that wonderful?
He must be a fine Cedar, your father, wasn't he?
Yeah.
He doesn't see too much of himself right now.
Yeah.
Good coach.
He knows all the moves.
Yeah.
I don't have any words to give him.
He's a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful strength.
Ah, let's see.
We're going to have to deal with that.
Here's a little record for you.
I just think that's the first time I've seen you in a bowl.
Some of the good things you give girls.
Maybe even some compliments.
I don't know what to say to you.
Now let's see if we can get some presence, a couple inches from each other.
Can't really get close to each other.
So if you get close.
Ah, there you go.
Hey, Bobby.
There you are.
All right.
And, uh, we can circumvent, uh, circumvent our actual teeth.
Also, I think it's good for you to focus and get around around any question.
Let the young Americans see you, you know, because you like to be liked.
You know, and to say, you know, gee, this is the only church in the building that's worked for you to practice for hours and hours and hours.
You fall down, fall down, get up, get up, and find your channel.
Almost anybody can do it.
All you want is to try it.
Well, we didn't do the very best.
You see, I must show you, this is the, this, you've got to have been in this room before.
That's the mark of the room, Mr. President, you'll see a lot there, which is also reproduced in red.
And that's the White House, 1837, where it used to be close to the room.
You see, you can tell that the building didn't have the loops on it.
It's British print.
That's, believe it or not, George Washington.
I mean, it's a very unusual photograph.
It's probably earlier in his life.
Actually, it's earlier in his life.
Well, good luck to you.
Many more candid shows.
No broken legs.
Bye.

Also recorded on April 12, 1971

  • 477-002 11:28 AM · 1 hr 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Shu-kai Chow, Emil ("Bus") Mosbacher, Jr., Steven Baker, Anna C. Chennault, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:28 am to 12:41 pm.
  • 477-003 12:41 PM · 18 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:41 pm and 12:42 pm.
  • 477-004 12:42 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:42 pm to 12:46 pm.
  • 477-006 12:53 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:53 pm.
  • 477-007 12:53 PM · 36 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:53 pm to 2:00 pm.
  • 477-008 2:00 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:00 pm and 2:30 pm.
  • 477-009 2:00 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:00 pm and 2:30 pm.
  • 477-010 2:30 PM · 1 hr 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Peter G. Peterson, Stephen B. Bull, unknown person(s), and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:30 pm to 3:37 pm.

All 20 conversations from April 12, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 477-005, April 12, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417176459). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/477-005 (accessed November 2, 2026).