Nixon White House TapesTape 489 › Conversation 489-016

Nixon & Chapin on Presidential travel and California

Monday, April 26, 1971 · 2:54 PM–2:55 PM ET · Oval Office ·18 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Chapin, Dwight L.Conversation489-016 onTape 489 (tape position 01:45:13–01:46:36)StartMonday, April 26, 1971 at 2:54 PMEndMonday, April 26, 1971 at 2:55 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 489-016 ↗

President Nixon consulted with Dwight L. Chapin regarding a potential trip to California for the upcoming weekend. The President intended to coordinate the logistics of this visit with H.R. Haldeman and Bebe Rebozo. Chapin deferred his response, agreeing to provide the President with a definitive answer the following day.

Download MP3 · 0.7 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Each line starts with a timestamp button; press it to play the audio from that point.

Sorry about the, uh, uh, let me check with you to see if you would be able to come out to California this weekend by any chance.
Oh, I, uh, I don't know yet.
Ask me about it tomorrow.
Okay.
Okay, very good.
That's fine.

On April 26, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Dwight L. Chapin met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:54 pm to 2:55 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 489-016 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 489-16

Date: April 26, 1971
Time: 2:54 pm - 2:55 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Dwight L. Chapin.

     President's schedule
           -California
                 -H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
                       -Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo

Chapin left at 2:55 pm.
  • 489-011 1:00 PM · 1 hr 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Manolo Sanchez, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm.
  • 489-012 2:00 PM · 11 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 2:54 pm.
  • 489-013 2:00 PM · 10 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 2:54 pm.
  • 489-014 2:00 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:00 pm and 2:54 pm.
  • 489-015 2:00 PM · 11 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 2:54 pm.
  • 489-017 2:57 PM · 1 hr 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, Stephen B. Bull, John D. Ehrlichman, George P. Shultz, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:57 pm to 4:12 pm.
  • 489-018 4:13 PM · 44 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William J. Kuhfuss, Roger Fleming, Bryce N. Harlow, Charles W. Colson, John C. Whitaker, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:13 pm to 4:57 pm.
  • 489-019 4:58 PM · 26 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John G. Gorton, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Manolo Sanchez, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:58 pm to 5:25 pm.

Conversation 489-016, April 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/489-016 (accessed September 18, 2026).