Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 535 › Conversation 535-016

Nixon, Keating & Wengler on Commemorative medallions and Lyndon B. Johnson

Friday, July 2, 1971 · 11:59 AM–12:02 PM ET · Oval Office · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Keating, William J.; Wengler, Herbert W.; Fossier, Richard A.Conversation535-016 on Tape 535 (tape position 02:57:43–03:02:16)StartFriday, July 2, 1971 at 11:59 AMEndFriday, July 2, 1971 at 12:02 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 535-016 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Representative William J. Keating, Herbert W. Wengler, and Richard A. Fossier to discuss the manufacturing and potential future production of commemorative medallions, including those featuring former President Lyndon B. Johnson. The participants also touched upon the administration’s progress regarding the Vietnam War and domestic unemployment rates. Nixon directed the group to coordinate further details concerning the production and presidential seal requirements with H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 53% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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, Chairman, Bill Keeney.
Well, how are you, Mr. President?
Good to see you, Senator.
Senator, I'd like to share a message with everybody here.
President Jay Fossey here.
I'd like to say good evening to you all.
Mr. President, I'd like to say good evening to you.
Mr. President, I'd like to say good evening to you.
We had the occasion on September 1st to thank the people for a memorial to former President Johnson.
It came rather soundly, but we've been fantastic.
To be honest with you, it's made much better than the President read it all on the street.
How many did we move to?
Did you do some grading for him, or did he make the top 20 or something?
Well, the original was a campaign.
We don't have a boundary, but we made it together on the road, and we found that he did.
Yes.
I spoke to her earlier about, I mean to all of them, about the fact that when we say, if I want to mention a little bit of a different way, with regard to the, when we say the residential suites, to give a little seagull,
We can't get on a scale like this unless it has a signature on it.
But you're the reason to put that on the box.
So you show this to all of them.
I'm going to be in touch with that man.
Now, I don't know what I'm going to do.
Because I can't do it.
We've got to see what we could do with it.
Yes, sir.
I'm working on a project now.
Do you see this?
Do you have any comment in terms of that?
No, sir.
No, sir.
You see, this can do it.
All right, then.
You can talk some time.
Be a small talker.
Why not?
I'd like to congratulate you, thank you, for trying to get the Vietnam situation to develop.
Did you hear?
We've got some issues with Vietnam.
Fingers crossed.
But, you know, as I told you, there's been more going on than some of the lawyers down there knew.
I'm sure that's right.
Look, this is the presidential studio.
Here's a comment.
Thank you very much.
And here I'll call for a judge.
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Now, here you go.
You get the...
That's right.
Well, you know, the trouble is, when he came down here, the wreck went to hell.
Well, you know, everything to the end of it.
What's the trouble with the fishing?
Injuries?
We lost a lot of people.
Oh, the cars were great.
That was a great time.
We're great.
We appreciate it.
They can't put the seal up unless I'm in the place.
They can put it up if they say presented to so-and-so.
Thank you very much.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
You're out now, aren't you?
Yes, I'm out.
Come on.
Come on.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On July 2, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, William J. Keating, Herbert W. Wengler, and Richard A. Fossier met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:59 am to 12:02 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 535-016 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 535-16

Date: July 2, 1971
Time: 11:59 am - 12:02 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Congressman William J. Keating, Herbert W. Wengler, Richard A.
Fossier
     Medallion
          -President Lyndon B. Johnson
          -Method of manufacture
          -John D. Ehrlichman
          -Forthcoming conversation with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
                -Possible future manufacture

     Administration’s accomplishments
         -Vietnam war
         -Unemployment rate

     Presidential gifts

     Baseball

Keating et al. left at 12:02 pm

Also recorded on July 2, 1971

  • 535-013 11:43 AM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Wimer D. Mizell, Eddie Bane, Larry Calufetti, Benny Castillo, Bob Ellenberger, John Caneira, Nell Ellenberger, Ron Fraser, Doug Gerlach, Marty Harrington, Peter Helt, Tony Hewitt, Cliff Holland, Fred Lynn, Bill McClain, Roger McGill, Fred Mims, Paul Patterson, Jeff Port, Ken Reed, Jay Smith, Jack Smitheran, Tim Steele, Jackson Todd, Al Torregano, Bobby Winkles, and Elinor Winkles met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:43 am to 11:52 am.
  • 535-014 11:54 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Roman C. Pucinski, Orlando Rivera, and Arthur Fagan met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:54 am to 11:57 am.
  • 535-015 11:57 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 11:57 am.
  • 535-017 12:02 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Chalmers P. Wylie met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:02 pm to 12:12 pm.
  • 535-018 12:02 PM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:02 pm to 12:13 pm.
  • 535-019 12:13 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Thomas E. Carroll, Hadlai A. Hull, William T. Pecora, Nathaniel P. Reed, Pinkney Walker, Frank G. Zark, Frederic V. Malek, and Daniel T. Kinsley met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:13 pm to 12:16 pm.
  • 535-020 12:16 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:16 pm.
  • 535-021 12:16 PM · 37 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:16 pm to 12:19 pm.

All 78 conversations from July 2, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 535-016, July 2, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/535-016 (accessed October 13, 2026).