Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 556 › Conversation 556-009
Nixon, Whitaker & Train on Council on Environmental Quality
Friday, August 6, 1971 · 12:06 PM–12:13 PM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon met with members of the Council on Environmental Quality, including Russell E. Train and John C. Whitaker, to express his appreciation for their work. The meeting began with a brief photo session, followed by casual conversation regarding the President's upcoming travel plans, pop culture references, and historical anecdotes. The meeting concluded with Nixon presenting commemorative paperweights to the council members.
- Council on Environmental Quality
- Environmental Policy
- Presidential Commemorations
- White House Staff
- Public Relations
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 168.2 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 29.8 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 01:50:22 into the tape and ends around 01:58:56.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
NARA Description
On August 6, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, John C. Whitaker, Russell E. Train, Robert Cahn, Gordon J. F. MacDonald, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:06 pm to 12:13 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 556-009 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 556-9
Date: August 6, 1971
Time: 12:06 pm - 12:13 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with John C. Whitaker, Russell E. Train, Robert Cahn, Gordon J. F.
MacDonald, and Alexander P. Butterfield; press photographers were present at the beginning of
the meeting.
Washington Post
President's visit to New York
-"No, No, Nanette"
-Ruby Keeler
-Bobby Van
[Photograph session]
-General conversation
-Environmentalism
-Clean air and water
-San Clemente
Rose Mary Woods [?] entered at an unknown time after 12:06 pm.
-Texas, Oklahoma, Massachusetts
Woods [?] left at an unknown time before 12:13 pm.
Report
Anecdote
-Bert Andrews
-New York Herald-Tribune
-State Department coverage
-John Foster Dulles
-Illustration of environmentalism
Dinner
-Unknown person's wife
Unknown person
President’s schedule
-California
Council on Environmental Quality staff
-President's appreciation for work
Presentation of gifts by President
-Paperweights
Whitaker, et al. left at 12:13 pm.Also recorded on August 6, 1971
- 556-006 12:02 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:02 pm and 12:06 pm.
- 556-007 12:02 PM · 53 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:02 pm and 12:06 pm.
- 007-064 12:06 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:06 pm.
- 007-065 12:06 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:06 pm.
- 556-008 12:06 PM · 51 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:06 pm.
- 556-010 12:13 PM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:13 pm and 12:15 pm.
- 556-011 12:13 PM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:13 pm and 12:15 pm.
- 556-012 12:15 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:15 pm to 12:16 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 556-009, August 6, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/556-009 (accessed September 18, 2026).