Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 541 › Conversation 541-004

Nixon with unidentified visitors in the Oval Office on Presidential career

Wednesday, July 21, 1971 · 5:04 PM–5:07 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation541-004 on Tape 541 (tape position 02:13:10–02:15:16)StartWednesday, July 21, 1971 at 5:04 PMEndWednesday, July 21, 1971 at 5:07 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 541-004 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon held a brief exchange with the White House operator regarding potential professional opportunities in academia. The conversation involved personal reflections on the possibility of future university work and concluded without any formal policy decisions or administrative actions. The discussion remained focused on Nixon's personal contemplations rather than official White House business.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 168.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 128.2 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 02:13:10 into the tape and ends around 02:15:16.

Transcript (AI-generated)

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
2:13:10Nid yw'r rhwydwaith.
2:13:11Nid yw'r rhwydwaith.
2:13:13Nid yw'r rhwydwaith.
2:13:16Nid yw'r rhwydwaith.
2:13:17Nid yw'r rhwydwaith.
2:13:18Nid yw'r rhwydwaith.
2:13:20Nid yw'r rhwydwaith.
2:13:23ac ymddiriedaeth dynol, a llawer.
2:13:25Ac hefyd, rwy'n gallu gweithio, a gweithio, a gweithio yn un o'r prifysgolion.
2:13:31Felly, mae hynny'n rhywbeth i mi feddwl amdano.
2:13:37Fel y dywedais, rwy'n meddwl, os yw fy ffrindiau yn dweud nad ydw i'n gallu gwneud unrhyw beth am hynny, ond o ran yr hyn sy'n digwydd, rwy'n meddwl y byddwch chi'n gallu gwneud unrhyw beth am y prifysgolion.
2:13:55Mae'n ddiddorol iawn.
2:13:59Mae'n ddiddorol iawn.
2:14:04Mae'n ddiddorol iawn.
2:14:07Mae'n ddiddorol iawn.
2:14:30Diolch yn fawr iawn.

NARA Description

On July 21, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:04 pm and 5:07 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 541-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 541-4

Date: July 21, 1971
Time: Unknown between 5:04 pm and 5:07 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with the White House operator.

[See Conversation No. 6-179]

Also recorded on July 21, 1971

  • 006-178 4:46 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:46 pm and 5:14 pm.
  • 006-179 4:46 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:46 pm and 5:14 pm.
  • 541-003 5:04 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:04 pm and 5:07 pm.
  • 541-005 5:07 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:07 pm to 5:15 pm.
  • 006-180 5:14 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 5:14 pm.
  • 541-006 5:15 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 5:15 pm.
  • 541-007 5:15 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:15 pm and 5:21 pm.
  • 541-008 5:15 PM · 1 hr — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Alexander P. Butterfield, unknown person(s), Stephen B. Bull, Charles W. Colson, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:15 pm and 6:19 pm.

All 37 conversations from July 21, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 541-004, July 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/541-004 (accessed October 11, 2026).