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Conversation 566-004

TapeTape 566StartTuesday, August 17, 1971 at 1:14 PMEndTuesday, August 17, 1971 at 1:29 PMTape start time01:30:05Tape end time01:47:07ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Finley, Charles O.;  Williams, DickRecording deviceOval Office
AudioNARA Description

On August 17, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Charles O. Finley, and Dick Williams met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:14 pm and 1:29 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 566-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 566-4

Date: August 17, 1971
Time: 1:14 pm - unknown before 1:29 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Charles O. Finley, Dick Williams, Bill Posedel, Jerry Lumpe, Irv Noren,
Vern Hoscheit, Monte Moore, Bob Elson, Red Rush, Hank Fanger, Joe Romo, Tom Corwin,
Blue Moon Odom, Ron Klimkowski, Diego Segui, Jim (“Catfish”) Hunter, Chuch Dobson,
Darold Knowles, Jim Roland, Rollie Fingers, Vida Blue, Bob Locker, Dave Duncan, Gene
Tenace, Frank Fernandez, Dick Greene, Mike Epstein, Sal Bando, Larry Brown, Bert (“Campy”)
Campaneris, Mr. and Mrs. Mike Hegan, Tony LaRussa,Angel Mangual, Reggie Jackson, Tommy
Davis, George Hendrick, Joe Rudi, Curt Blefary, Ron Bergman, and Glen Schwarz; members of
the press were present at the beginning of the meeting.

     General conversation
         -Tour
         -Introductions
               -Vida Blue
                    -Age
                    -[Dwight] David Eisenhower, III
                          -Washington Senators
                          -Conversation with the President
                    -Birthdays
                          -Wins
               -Jim Hegan
               -Washington Senators
               -Camperis
               -Frank Howard
               -San Francisco Giants
               -Los Angeles Dodgers
               -Unknown player
                    -Eisenhowers
               -Odom
                    -Nickname, “Blue Moon”
               -Larry Brown of the Washington Redskins
               -Hunter's perfect game
               -Jim Fregosi
                    -California Angels
         -Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers
         -Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals,
               Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves

     Presentation of gifts by President
          -Golf balls

     President's schedule
          -World Series

     Baltimore Orioles
          -Frank and Brooks Robinson
          -John Wesley (“Boog”) Powell
          -Dave McNally

     Duke Snider
         -Homerun in 1952

     Jackie Robinson

     World Series

Finley, et al. left at an unknown time before 1:29 pm.
Transcript (AI-Generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

How are you?
How are you?
How are you?
Oh, yeah, sure, sure.
Thank you.
And you're, uh, you're 21.
How old is he?
22.
22.
22.
Oh, yeah.
You know, David, my, uh...
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my,
You must make your 23rd in that season.
Let's go.
This is Mr. and Mrs. .
Oh, yes.
How are you?
They brought you along.
Yeah, great.
Oh, yeah.
Good to see you.
Yes.
Like I said, Jim's pretty .
Oh, I know.
He's our first baseman.
I'd like to get back with him now.
Yeah, thanks.
Yeah, that would be great.
Yeah.
Yes, I haven't seen, I haven't seen, uh, over the flight.
Uh, didn't you have a senior commander?
We have an email list out for you.
All the letters that we can't tell you.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Right.
All right, I'll say it, I'll say it.
Our great believer, our great, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I know.
I said it to her.
She said, you're a bigger man than I am.
And I told her that.
And she said, oh, thank you.
Good luck.
She said, this is ain't going to end well.
All right.
All right.
You can't have a fire blue without another guy.
You think they'll hold up?
Don't worry, it's going to be all right.
Yeah, you know, the Giants, the Dodgers, the Colts, the Cavs, they're on the sale.
I'm glad they're on the sale.
I'm glad they're on the sale.
I'm glad they're on the sale.
I'm glad they're on the sale.
I'm glad they're on the sale.
I'm glad they're on the sale.
David always talks about you.
He said he had never seen you before.
He was .
He had never seen you before.
So that's where we ended up.
Two years ago, you know, it was a great year.
Last year, .
All right.
I didn't .
But, uh, it really helps, you know, get a few years.
The next year, you swap them.
The next year, you go back.
The same one from the World Series.
I'd like to take them all.
That's OK. Oh, yes.
Blue, red, blue, black.
I saw you touch the TV.
You want to touch the TV.
You want to touch the TV.
All right.
I'll tell you the very funny thing about my game.
Good.
I'll tell you the other thing.
I have a problem.
I just wanted to take the TV over a little while.
I don't.
Oh, yes, yes.
I can tell you.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Oh,
Ah!
Ah!
Oh, I can't do something.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Oh shit.
Thank you.
Hello, Bob.
How are you?
Very well.
How are you doing today?
Oh, yeah.
Don't get lost.
Don't give a bunch of politicians whatever comes their way.
Put their armor on you like that.
Listen, they aren't going to like this in Baltimore.
No, I know they're not.
I wouldn't want to be the lawyer to negotiate your contract.
I'll tell you, we're going to give you this company.
They're all athletes.
So, uh, this is the presidential golf ball.
It has a seal.
It has a seal in there.
And the golf ball has a signature on it.
And I just, I always tell my ex-brother to be on his side with it.
Well, I'll give each of you one of those, if you like.
And for the lady, well, she's no problem.
She just blows off for you.
Thank you very much.
All right.
I said that to the president.
She said that to Bob.
That's it.
All right.
Well, yeah, I'm glad to meet you, and I'm waiting for the best.
I'm hoping that this will work.
I don't know when I get to the World Series, and I'm going to be driving someplace.
But in any event, I'll see you on TV.
I'm not supposed to say you're in the World Series yet, but that's really good.
It's all mine.
I'll be quite serious through the month.
It's all mine.
You're a doctor, though, aren't you?
We think so.
We think so.
Thank you.
Thank you.
That's in here.
That's in here.
What are you doing?
Thank you for helping me with my new vacuum door.
Oh, great.
He doesn't mind if you do it for a world series of it, you know?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Yeah, that's right.
That's what we did.
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