Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 566 › Conversation 566-015

Nixon & Woods on Bob Elston and Presidential speech

Tuesday, August 17, 1971 · 3:23 PM–3:26 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Woods, Rose MaryConversation566-015 on Tape 566 (tape position 03:18:34–03:24:01)StartTuesday, August 17, 1971 at 3:23 PMEndTuesday, August 17, 1971 at 3:26 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 566-015 ↗

President Nixon met with his personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, to discuss personal administrative matters, including the handling of a note for Chicago White Sox announcer Bob Elston and his family. The discussion also touched upon preparations for a forthcoming presidential speech. Additionally, the participants briefly addressed strategic considerations regarding the potential withdrawal schedule for ongoing negotiations.

Download MP3 (part 1) · 169.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 171.7 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 8.1 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 03:18:34 into the tape and ends around 03:24:01.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
3:18:35We may have to... We'll have to see in November, Mr. President.
3:18:40You may want to have just a two-month withdrawal scheduled if the negotiations are closed to succeeding.
3:18:48But we...
3:18:49Instead of announcing the whole thing, just announce a two-month increment to keep the negotiations going, but we don't have to decide.
3:18:54Well, we'll see later.
3:18:55You're not going to complain now?
3:18:56No, Mr. President.
3:19:14Yeah, that's fine.
3:19:14I'm out there to see other people.
3:19:47I think that's still going to happen all the time.
3:20:23Thank you.
3:20:24Thank you.
3:20:25Thank you.
3:20:27Thank you.
3:20:28Thank you.
3:22:46Did you guys have an explanation at all?
3:22:47They thought they had to prove that they could pick up.
3:22:49They didn't change even a word.
3:22:49So we're trying to find out how many years later they have.

On August 17, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:23 pm to 3:26 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 566-015 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 566-15

Date: August 17, 1971
Time: 3:23 pm - 3:26 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Rose Mary Woods.

     Bob Elston
          -Chicago White Sox
          -Wife and daughter
                -White House photographer
                -Possible note from President
                     -Wording

**********************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 2m 6s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

**********************************************************************

     President's forthcoming speech
          -Preparation

Woods left at 3:26 pm.
  • 566-012 2:42 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:42 pm to 2:45 pm.
  • 566-013 2:45 PM · 46 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:45 pm and 2:55 pm.
  • 566-014 2:55 PM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:55 pm to 3:23 pm.
  • 566-016 3:26 PM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:26 pm and 4:12 pm.
  • 566-017 3:26 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:26 pm and 4:12 pm.
  • 566-018 3:26 PM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:26 pm and 4:30 pm.
  • 008-026 4:12 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 4:12 pm.
  • 008-027 4:12 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 4:12 pm.

Conversation 566-015, August 17, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/566-015 (accessed October 12, 2026).