Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 484 › Conversation 484-008

Moore, Hannan & Morris on Navy League of the United States

Wednesday, April 21, 1971 · 12:30 PM–12:34 PM ET · Oval Office · 5 min

ParticipantsMoore, Richard A.; Hannan, James M.; Morris, Thomas E.; Marshall, J. Paull; Bell, George T.; White House photographerConversation484-008 on Tape 484 (tape position 03:27:39–03:32:25)StartWednesday, April 21, 1971 at 12:30 PMEndWednesday, April 21, 1971 at 12:34 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 484-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with representatives from the Navy League of the United States to accept an honorary membership and discuss the importance of maintaining naval superiority. During the brief session, the group presented the President with a model of a statue of Admiral David G. Farragut, highlighting the Admiral's Spanish heritage. Nixon utilized the platform to emphasize his commitment to national defense and to discourage calls for unilateral disarmament.

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 21% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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President, you're over in Baltimore, aren't you?
President, how are you?
President, how are you?
President, how are you?
President, how are you?
President, how are you?
President, how are you?
President, how are you?
President, how are you?
Well, we, uh, there's an old Navy man glad to get the, the Navy League in here.
Let's stand over here.
This is one of the Navy flags.
That would be Edward.
Nice to meet you, sir.
Nice to meet you, sir.
Let us move.
And if you'd like to get one, you can get one right here.
Thank you.
This is an honorary membership in the Navy League that would like to have you accept for the next six years until you can come back as a New Spain member.
A New Spain member, right.
Well, I appreciate the idea.
I'm happy to do this.
I'm happy to be here.
That's right.
That's very well put.
That's great.
That's great.
Well, I'm delighted.
This is a great organization.
And, uh...
I know, uh, I know so many of your, your people are out in the country.
It's part of the, it's a part of us on national events and so on.
And of course at this particular point, it's so important to emphasize the modernizing of the Navy.
We better talk about cutting everything else.
The day that we decide to give up our naval superiority, this time percentage is a great fall.
I think I've been very fortunate that you've been taking us to sea here for a few years.
I'm sort of lucked out in being successful.
If you can continue to emphasize you and the League back strong, maybe, or forth, the country needs to hear too much of this unilateralist argument, please.
Thank you, still.
what has meaning around the world.
Mr. President, we also know that the design director of the statue, through a picture of both a parent and a child, is now all of a sudden returning.
This is in Spain.
Yes, sir.
And I'm the great counsel of this coming March on the island of New York.
And I want to see where this family came from.
And Farragut's mother was born there.
And Farragut is, they say, their adopted son.
I have to say, Mr. and Ma loved that statue.
But did you say that he, that he retired him?
No, sir.
His family all came from there.
His family came from there.
Oh, I see.
It's an old Spanish name, Mr. Farragut's.
I had thought it was a French name somewhere.
It is a Spanish name.
He adopted this as his birthplace.
I see.
He was born in the United States.
Yeah.
I'm a great counsel.
Praise Christ.
Amen.
And today we're going to give you the, you see the seal here?
That's the trademark of this room.
So be sure to get it because you've got your problems.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
That's the, they look more expensive than they are.
Only presidents can give them.
Thank you.
We appreciate you coming in.
You're a fine worker, and we believe in the kind of work you do.
I can say that.
But Bill's support for me, he's always been there for me.
I was going to ask you, you said you were kind of out of the ground.
Out of the ground, you mean?
Yeah.
And he's the one, sort of, that loves you.
Oh, yes.
Out of the ground.
Great God.
Gosh, what a teacher God is.
He loves us.
He's a great admirer of yours.
Yeah.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you, sir.
But just let's give the order.
All right.
All right.
Do that.
Thank you very much.

NARA Description

On April 21, 1971, Richard A. Moore, James M. Hannan, Thomas E. Morris, J. Paull Marshall, George T. Bell, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:30 pm to 12:34 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 484-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 484-8

Date: April 21, 1971
Time: 12:30 pm - 12:34 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Richard A. Moore, James M. Hannan, Thomas E. Morris, J. Paull
Marshall, C. Robert Clark, and George T. Bell; the White House photographer was present at the
beginning of the meeting.

     Introductions

     Navy League of the US

     Photo session

     Navy League
         -Presentation of honorary membership to the President
         -Support of national defense

     Importance of strong Navy
         -Danger of unilateral disarmament

     Presentation of statue of Admiral David G. Farragut
          -Spain
                -Majorca [site of memorial to Farragut built by Madrid Navy League]
          -Madrid Council
                -Model of statue
          -Farragut’s father
                -Ciudadela, Minorca
          -Origin of Farragut’s family
          -Farragut’s birthplace
          -Madrid Council
          -Farragut quotation, “Damn the torpedoes...”

     Presentation of gifts by the President
          -Seal
          -Presidential cufflinks

     The President's appreciation for support
          -Bill [Surname unknown]
          -Alan Brown

     Washington Redskins
         -George E. Allen

     The President's schedule
          -Massachusetts

Moore, Hannan, Morris, Marshal, Clark, and Bell left at 12:34 pm

Also recorded on April 21, 1971

  • 484-005 11:35 AM · 52 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Ronald L. Ziegler, Graham B. Steenhoven, John A. Scali, White House photographer, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:35 am to 12:27 pm.
  • 484-006 12:27 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:27 pm.
  • 484-007 12:27 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:27 pm to 12:29 pm.
  • 484-009 12:34 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:34 pm.
  • 484-010 12:35 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Richard A. Moore, Antonina Uccello, Mary Lou Grier, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:35 pm to 12:46 pm.
  • 484-013 12:50 PM · 51 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and John W. Dean, III met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:50 pm to 1:43 pm.
  • 002-022 1:00 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:00 pm and 1:13 pm.
  • 002-023 1:12 PM · 42 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John W. Dean, III talked on the telephone from 1:12 pm to 1:13 pm.

All 46 conversations from April 21, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 484-008, April 21, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/484-008 (accessed October 12, 2026).