Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 551 › Conversation 551-008

Nixon, Williams & Gill on Distributive Education Clubs of America and DECA

Thursday, July 29, 1971 · 12:24 PM–12:33 PM ET · Oval Office ·10 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Williams, Harold; Gill, Rhoda; Pendleton, Terry; Perrymore, Dale; Bennett, Nora; Page, Vickie; Renberg, Timothy; Gilley, Jerry; Wade, Deborah; Gremillian, Jerry; Cullen, Jo Ann; Rock, Frances; Cashen, Henry C., II; White House photographerConversation551-008 onTape 551 (tape position 03:39:19–03:49:16)StartThursday, July 29, 1971 at 12:24 PMEndThursday, July 29, 1971 at 12:33 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 551-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with representatives from the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), accompanied by Henry C. Cashen II, to discuss the organization's work and receive commemorative gifts including a plaque and a blazer. During the exchange, the President presented the group with official presidential gifts and pens while briefly commenting on the challenges of national service and global leadership. The meeting concluded with an invitation for the President to attend an upcoming DECA conference in Salt Lake City.

Distributive Education Clubs of America
DECA
Presidential gifts
National service
Youth organizations

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Thank you.

here here here here

Thank you.

Thank you for watching.

... ... ... ... ...

I'm sorry.

Try to walk.

Thank you very much.

And also, it seems to me that there's a lot of these things.

There's nothing that we can do about it.

There's a lot of these things that we can do about it.

But I do.

You're all going to be exposed to it.

They're all going to be exposed to it.

Well, we'd like to give you something right here.

Well, this is cute, by the way.

You might want to see this.

That's the, uh...

I've met it many, of course, and it's certainly just COG.

So this game I opened up, see what it was.

Now, let's see.

We want you each to have a little bit of an entrance.

This is for the boys.

This is the prison conference.

You see, this is the center of the picture.

This is the seal, which is the core.

And here's the prison conference.

So that's your .

We brought a lot of local mints over here, too, to give the flag something we like, possibly to bring them apart in the water.

Yes, you have the flag on.

I am very grateful now that I will put this up.

It's the right size.

We've got, since you've got the blazer now, you're all set to be official members of DECO.

I want you to try to make an annual media conference in Salt Lake and St. Lawrence.

So we certainly will invite you to come see us.

I'd like to be able to, but I don't think I'm able to.

But I get to that, because of this group being part of sort of a business story, I couldn't meet you in person.

That's how cute you look.

I signed a bill.

... ... ... ... ... ...

but that's going to be a very challenging time.

People think this period of war is hard as it is, but you know, what you do with these folks is very difficult.

And people have to serve.

There might actually be nothing but the country.

You become a second-rate country.

All you can do is take off and so that's your job.

Thank you.

NARA Description

On July 29, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Harold Williams, Rhoda Gill, Terry Pendleton, Dale Perrymore, Nora Bennett, Vickie Page, Timothy Renberg, Jerry Gilley, Deborah Wade, Jerry Gremillian, Jo Ann Cullen, Frances Rock, Henry C. Cashen, II, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:24 pm to 12:33 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 551-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 551-8
                                                                     Conv. No. 551-6 (cont.)
Date: July 29, 1971
Time: 12:24 pm - 12:33 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Harold Williams, Rhoda Gill, Terry Pendleton, Dale Perrymore, Nora
Bennett, Vickie Page, Timothy Renberg, Kirk White, Jerry Gilley, Deborah Wade, Jerry
Gremillian, Jo Ann Cullen, Frances Rock, and Henry C. Cashen, II; the White House
photographer was present at the beginning of the meeting.

     Greetings

     Introduction

     General conversation

     Plaque presentation

     Distributive Education Clubs of America
           -History
           -Work
           -Benefits

     Presidential gifts

     Music box

     Presidential gifts

     Blazer presentation

     Forthcoming meeting in Salt Lake City
          -Invitation

     Presidential pens
                                             25

                             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. 10/08)



             -Bill signing
                   -Distribution

      World peace

Williams et al. left at 12:33 pm.

Also recorded on July 29, 1971

551-004 11:05 AM · 43 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles M. Teague, Olin E. Teague, George P. Shultz, Donald E. Johnson, Clark MacGregor, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:05 am to 11:48 am.
551-005 11:48 AM · 37 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:48 am and 11:50 am.
551-006 11:50 AM · 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Agha Hilaly, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:50 am to 12:20 pm.
551-007 12:20 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:20 pm and 12:24 pm.
551-009 12:33 PM · 37 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:33 pm.
551-010 12:34 PM · 27 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, L. Edwin Coate, White House photographer, Stephen B. Bull, and Martin C. ("Marty") Anderson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:34 pm to 1:00 pm.
551-011 1:01 PM · 48 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:01 pm to 1:48 pm.
551-012 1:48 PM · 56 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:48 pm and 1:50 pm.

All 30 conversations from July 29, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 551-008, July 29, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/551-008 (accessed September 18, 2026).