Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 549 › Conversation 549-008

Nixon & Woods on White House social events and Guest list management

Wednesday, July 28, 1971 · 11:16 AM–11:23 AM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Woods, Rose MaryConversation549-008 on Tape 549 (tape position 01:54:29–01:57:28)StartWednesday, July 28, 1971 at 11:16 AMEndWednesday, July 28, 1971 at 11:23 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 549-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and his personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, discussed administrative details regarding White House social scheduling and guest list management. The conversation focused on inviting Lowell Watham, acknowledging Frank McCarthy, and organizing an upcoming dinner featuring Pat Nixon, Patrick and Shelley Buchanan, Raymond Price, and William Safire. Nixon instructed Woods to consult with the First Lady regarding these specific guest invitations and seating arrangements.

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 23% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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I wondered if you, uh, had, uh, made a note about that Notary Twins?
Yeah?
Fine, great, great.
Just so it went off out of here.
Second point is, did you, uh, and I'm reminded, did we ever do, have Roe Watkins down there?
There's nothing particular, but just for, because of personal reasons, I think he should come sometime.
So they put him, put him on here.
He said, do you remember Frank McCarthy on the train?
Yeah, his, yeah.
Now, church, church is something there.
But the boy, I guess, looks exactly like Frank.
He looks like Frank.
Might have looked when he was a boy a big good looking kid.
He was a big, nice guy, you know, very friendly.
But I kind of had a problem.
is good.
I don't know which one she might have gotten, but... Good.
I wondered if, actually, we need ten.
I mean, what I meant is we could do ten.
You see, they have two tables together, and they could do it.
But I wondered, actually, if this would be a good time to maybe have the Buchanans and Charlotte come up.
Yeah.
Well, I'm thinking, would you just raise it with Pat?
Because she had mentioned that she wanted to have the Buchanan's, you know, since they were married for some time.
See, we've had to raise it a couple of times.
And Sapphire, of course, has been to a number of, you know, White House things, you know, dinners and things.
And I don't think Buchanan, I haven't really seen it.
He doesn't like this sort of thing.
But...
That's right, Shelly did work for him.
She's not a bad idea.
Yeah, they've been good.
They worked a wedding, so that's big.
Right, but isn't that, I just thought it might fit in with it.
She wanted a couple of us, but they don't have to.
She doesn't like the idea of skipping.
Okay.

NARA Description

On July 28, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:16 am and 11:23 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 549-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 549-008

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

Date: July 28, 1971
Time: Unknown between 11:16 am and 11:23 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Rose Mary Woods.

     Note
            -Requirements

     Scheduling of White House social events
          -Lowell Watham
               -Guest list
          -Frank McCarthy
               -Unknown boy
          -Dinner
               -Patrick J. and Shelley A. (Scarney” Buchanan
                     -Raymond K. Price, Jr., William L. Safire
                     -Thelma C. (Ryan) (“Pat”) Nixon

Also recorded on July 28, 1971

  • 549-005 10:02 AM · 18 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:02 am and 10:20 am.
  • 549-006 10:02 AM · 1 min — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:02 am and 10:20 am.
  • 549-007 10:20 AM · 56 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:20 am to 11:16 am.
  • 549-009 11:16 AM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:16 am to 11:23 am.
  • 549-010 11:26 AM · 27 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:26 am and 11:51 am.
  • 549-011 11:26 AM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:26 am and 11:51 am.
  • 549-012 11:51 AM · 53 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:51 am to 12:46 pm.
  • 549-013 12:46 PM · 32 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:46 pm to 1:20 pm.

All 44 conversations from July 28, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 549-008, July 28, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/549-008 (accessed October 12, 2026).