Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 558 › Conversation 558-005

Nixon, Campbell & Ill on Presidential Appointments and Public Service

Monday, August 9, 1971 · 4:33 PM–4:37 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Campbell, James F.; Ill, Charles L.; Lynn, Laurece E.; Mosiman, Donald M.; Watson, Norman V.; Wilbur, Richard S.; Kinsley, Daniel T.; White House photographerConversation558-005 on Tape 558 (tape position 01:32:20–01:38:04)StartMonday, August 9, 1971 at 4:33 PMEndMonday, August 9, 1971 at 4:37 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 558-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with a group of newly appointed assistant secretaries and administrators from various federal agencies to formally welcome them into his administration. During the brief gathering, the President emphasized the importance of their public service roles, distinguishing those who serve to 'do something' from those who merely seek status. The meeting concluded with Nixon presenting the appointees with presidential gifts, including golf balls and cufflinks, as a gesture of appreciation for their upcoming work on key domestic and foreign policy issues.

Audio

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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 01:32:20 into the tape and ends around 01:38:04.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.

1:32:39President, would you like to introduce some of your new appointees?

1:32:44Yes.

1:32:44James Campbell, Assistant Administrator, A&ID.

1:32:48Come over here, we're going to get a picture of you over here.

1:32:51It's a real pleasure.

1:32:54Thank you.

1:32:57Charles Dale, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, for I&L.

1:33:00Very nice to meet you, President.

1:33:02Thank you.

1:33:05Lawrence Lynn, Assistant Secretary, ECW, for Planning and Evaluation.

1:33:13Don Moseman, Assistant Administrator, EPA, for Regional Programs.

1:33:23Norman Watson, Assistant Secretary, HUD, for Housing Management.

1:33:31After Richard Wilbur, he's at the sanitary expense for health and land.

1:33:35Right.

1:33:35Well, there isn't too much I can say at all, you know, that you've taken all these assignments, that you'll be undertaking over work, and that you probably know all you've done before.

1:34:01which of course in a way is

1:34:28in the sense that maybe you're a man even more.

1:34:34I once read a description, well, as a matter of fact, the description was about presidents, and there's two kinds of men in the office.

1:34:45There are people who want to be president, they're around the president.

1:34:51There are some who run because they want to be somebody, and there are some who run

1:34:57because they want to do something.

1:35:00And so basically, I always think, when I meet people at the assistant secretary level, which of course all of you are, that you're doing it not because you want to beat somebody, but because you want to do something.

1:35:10And that means we're a great deal, certainly in the great deal of the country.

1:35:17So with that, we just wish you the best.

1:35:20I hope you don't spend too much money.

1:35:24I just couldn't be the president anymore.

1:35:26Well, you'll spend a lot of your money on that.

1:35:27Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right.

1:35:28No way, no way.

1:35:29I got a ton of money in here tomorrow to get me over there with a few more.

1:35:31That's right, sir.

1:35:32That really is the problem.

1:35:33Joe, I'm interested to be with you on this, even though some of you are, well, a person of 80 years, I think the latest is actually the best.

1:35:43Most people think the parents of their brothers and sisters.

1:35:52The war and peace issues, and of course the economic issue of another level of magnitude, the issue of old safety crimes, drugs, those have appealed.

1:36:04The naturalist appeal in the farm, in the house, in medicine and the rest of them, you really stop to think about the things that you do, except for the economic issue of salt and bread and butter, it has more effect.

1:36:23And he said, you're not going to feel better.

1:36:28All the rest of you.

1:36:29At least at this particular time.

1:36:32So, just reassuring you that what you do is important.

1:36:34You'll never be able to make your lives a little better.

1:36:39That's how I think it is.

1:36:40Larry, you're all right.

1:36:43Thank you.

1:36:43You're all right.

1:36:45You're all right.

1:36:47You will be caught now.

1:36:49This is a presidential job for all of you.

1:36:54Thank you.

1:36:55Thank you.

1:36:58Thank you.

1:37:05Thank you.

1:37:09Thank you.

1:37:11Thank you.

1:37:13Thank you.

1:37:45Thank you.

1:37:46We're proud to have you with us.

1:37:52We'll see you around.

1:37:57Thank you.

NARA Description

On August 9, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, James F. Campbell, Charles L. Ill, Laurece E. Lynn, Donald M. Mosiman, Norman V. Watson, Richard S. Wilbur, Daniel T. Kinsley, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:33 pm to 4:37 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 558-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 558-5

Date: August 9, 1971
Time: 4:33 pm - 4:37 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with James F. Campbell, Charles L. Ill, Laurence E. Lynn, Donald M.
Mosiman, Norman V. Watson, Richard S. Wilbur, and Daniel T. Kingsley; the White House
photographer was present at the beginning of the meeting.

     Introductions
           -Appointees
                -Campbell, Agency for International Development [AID]
                -Ill, Navy
                -Lynn, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare [HEW]
                -Mosiman, Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]
                -Watson, Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD]
                -Wilbur, Defense Department

     Government service
         -Forthcoming responsibilities
         -Recognition
         -Public servants
               -Types
                    -Office of President
                    -Assistant secretaries
         -Budget
         -Issues
               -Foreign affairs
                    -Defense
                          -Navy
                    -War and peace
               -Domestic
                    -Economics
                    -Crime, drugs, environment, housing, health

     Presentation of gifts by the President
          -Golf balls
          -Cufflinks

Campbell, et al. left at 4:37 pm.

Also recorded on August 9, 1971

558-002 3:36 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:36 pm and 3:38 pm.
558-003 3:38 PM · 52 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, John N. Mitchell, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:38 pm to 4:29 pm.
558-004 4:29 PM · 38 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:29 pm and 4:33 pm.
558-006 4:37 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at 4:37 pm.
558-007 4:37 PM · 23 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Paul W. McCracken, unknown person(s), and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:37 pm to 5:00 pm.
558-008 5:00 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:00 pm and 5:02 pm.
558-009 5:02 PM · 44 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, George P. Shultz, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:02 pm to 5:44 pm.
558-010 5:44 PM · 34 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ellsworth F. Bunker, Henry A. Kissinger, White House photographer, Stephen B. Bull, unknown person(s), and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:44 pm to 6:18 pm.

All 38 conversations from August 9, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 558-005, August 9, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/558-005 (accessed October 11, 2026).