Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 585 › Conversation 585-006

Nixon with unidentified visitors in the Oval Office on Telecommunications

Tuesday, October 5, 1971 · 3:55 PM–3:59 PM ET · Oval Office · 4 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation585-006 on Tape 585 (tape position 00:53:14–00:54:01)StartTuesday, October 5, 1971 at 3:55 PMEndTuesday, October 5, 1971 at 3:59 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 585-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon initiates a brief interaction with the White House operator to facilitate an outgoing call. The President directs the operator to clear the line and connect him to another party. This exchange reflects the administrative routine of coordinating presidential communications via the switchboard.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Try to get out of the way, please.

NARA Description

On October 5, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:55 pm and 3:59 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 585-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 585-6

Date: October 5, 1971
Time: Unknown between 3:55 pm and 3:59 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with White House operator.

[See Conversation No. 10-41]

Also recorded on October 5, 1971

  • 585-002 3:26 PM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:26 pm and 3:27 pm.
  • 585-003 3:26 PM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:26 pm and 3:27 pm.
  • 585-004 3:27 PM · 22 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Joseph L. Vicites, Cooper T. Holt, Charles W. Colson, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:27 pm to 3:49 pm.
  • 585-005 3:49 PM · 4 min — Alexander P. Butterfield, Stephen B. Bull, and President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:49 pm and 3:55 pm.
  • 010-042 3:59 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 3:59 pm to 4:02 pm.
  • 585-007 3:59 PM · 32 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John N. Mitchell, Charles W. Colson, Manolo Sanchez, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, White House operator, and John B. Connally met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:59 pm to 4:02 pm.
  • 010-043 4:02 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:02 pm and 4:26 pm.
  • 010-044 4:26 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 4:26 pm to 4:30 pm.

All 36 conversations from October 5, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 585-006, October 5, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/585-006 (accessed September 28, 2026).