Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 581 › Conversation 581-009

Nixon, Olson & Sliwa on Project Amnesty and Newspaper carriers

Thursday, September 30, 1971 · 12:51 PM–12:58 PM ET · Oval Office · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Olson, L. Scott; Sliwa, Curtis; French, Jimmy; Markwell, Kevin; Messina, Christopher; Hynes, Bruce; Byers, David; Bell, David, Jr.; Norris, Glenn; Hall, Millard; Neeld, John; Neurschwander, John; McHale, Gretchn; Colson, Charles W.; Ball, Neal; Shumway, DeVan L.Conversation581-009 on Tape 581 (tape position 02:37:30–02:44:08)StartThursday, September 30, 1971 at 12:51 PMEndThursday, September 30, 1971 at 12:58 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 581-009 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with L. Scott Olson and a group of newspaper carriers participating in 'Project Amnesty' to host them at the White House. During the brief, informal visit, the President engaged in lighthearted conversation, inquired about the participants' work, and discussed the profession of newspaper delivery. The meeting concluded with Nixon presenting the carriers with official gifts as a gesture of appreciation.

Project Amnesty
Newspaper carriers
Public relations
White House visit
Presidential gift-giving

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 3 minutes of this recording (about 41% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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President, this is Captain Olsen from Project Amnesty.

So you've got all the carriers.

That's my prize.

We have them every year.

How do you put your orders in?

Well, that speaks to it.

We're very happy to have you.

First time we've sent a carrier.

Three years.

You're number one.

So if you think I'm scrimmaging, I should do it.

First time you've seen me, what is your pretty good, best prize for the season?

Oh, sure, pal.

Perfect.

You got it.

All right.

How's your job?

Very good.

How's your job?

Very good.

All right, here's the postcard.

The news, how have you been?

Oh, God, good.

Well, thank you.

All right.

Thank you very much.

This is the, uh, this is the central one.

Morning.

What's the door knock?

I can knock on that door any second.

I see it.

I didn't.

Very good.

There we go.

Oh, yeah.

We're going to give you something else, too.

We thought... Do you see this little... That's the seal of the...

Here, there's the floor.

It's all the way up here, isn't it?

And each of you, you're going to have the same thing.

We'll see if it does it for a time.

You've got to have something coming.

I'll just have you get it.

Well, we've got the day.

Thank you, Dr. Thomas.

I thought, what a thank you that we have for the most.

Oh, I greatly admire all the voters here.

Let's do it.

Delivered papers.

They've heard these speeches all the time.

I know it's competing.

It's a great profession.

Some of the people that I've met, my mom-in-law, you know that.

Delivered papers from time to time.

Thank you very much.

NARA Description

On September 30, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, L. Scott Olson, Curtis Sliwa, Jimmy French, Kevin Markwell, Christopher Messina, Bruce Hynes, David Byers, David Bell, Jr., Glenn Norris, Millard Hall, John Neeld, John Neurschwander, Gretchn McHale, Charles W. Colson, Neal Ball, and DeVan L. Shumway met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:51 pm to 12:58 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 581-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 581-9

Date: September 30, 1971
Time: 12:51 pm - 12:58 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with L. Scott Olson, Curtis Sliwa, Jimmy French, Kevin Markwell,
Christopher Messina, Bruce Hynes, David Bell, Jr., Glenn Norris, Millard Hall, David Byers,
John Neeld, John Neurschwander, Gretchen McHale, Charles W. Colson, Neal Ball and DeVan
L. Shumway.
[The White House photographer and members of the press were present at the beginning of the
meeting]

     Greeting

     Introduction
           -L. Scott Olson

     Home towns of carriers

     Jimmy French, Philadelphia Daily News
         -Support for the President

     Presidential gifts

     Delivery of newspapers

Olson, et al. left at 12:58 pm.

Also recorded on September 30, 1971

581-005 12:18 PM · 41 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:18 pm and 12:20 pm.
581-006 12:20 PM · 25 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William P. Rogers, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:20 pm to 12:45 pm.
581-007 12:45 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Virginia H. Knauer, Richard H. Grant, and Marion F. Gregory met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:45 pm to 12:51 pm.
581-008 12:51 PM · 36 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:51 pm.
581-010 12:58 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:58 pm.
581-011 12:58 PM · 1 hr 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, Herbert Stein, unknown person(s), Henry A. Kissinger, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:58 pm to 2:11 pm.
010-036 12:59 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:59 pm.
010-037 1:04 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 1:04 pm.

All 28 conversations from September 30, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 581-009, September 30, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/581-009 (accessed September 28, 2026).