Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 585 › Conversation 585-012

Nixon with unidentified visitors in the Oval Office on Telephone logs

Tuesday, October 5, 1971 · 5:15 PM–5:19 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation585-012 on Tape 585 (tape position 02:09:52–02:10:04)StartTuesday, October 5, 1971 at 5:15 PMEndTuesday, October 5, 1971 at 5:19 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 585-012 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417179109 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon initiates a brief administrative interaction with the White House operator to facilitate an outgoing communication. This exchange serves as a standard logistical bridge for the President to connect with another party. No substantive policy discussions or significant political developments occurred during this brief request for telephone assistance.

Audio

part B, 7:17

Download MP3 (part 1) · 168.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 54.1 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the players above hold the full tape, shared with neighbouring conversations. By the archivists' log it runs from 02:09:52 to 02:10:04 into the tape; their log often drifts a minute or two from the audio, so listen for the subjects in the finding aid.

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 5:15 pm and 5:19 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 585-012 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 585-12

Date: October 5, 1971
Time: Unknown between 5:15 pm and 5:18 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with White House operator.

[See Conversation No. 10-45]

Transcript (AI-generated)

No transcript is available yet for this conversation. The recording may contain no audible speech, or it may not have been processed.

Also recorded on October 5, 1971

  • 585-009 5:12 PM · 19 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:12 pm and 5:15 pm.
  • 585-010 5:15 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:15 pm and 5:19 pm.
  • 585-011 5:15 PM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:15 pm and 5:19 pm.
  • 585-013 5:15 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:15 pm and 5:19 pm.
  • 010-046 5:18 PM · 31 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 5:18 pm to 5:19 pm.
  • 585-014 5:18 PM · 45 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:18 pm to 5:19 pm.
  • 585-015 5:19 PM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John B. Connally, White House operator, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Richard H. Poff met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:19 pm to 5:39 pm.
  • 010-047 5:20 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 5:20 pm to 5:21 pm.

All 40 conversations from October 5, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 585-012, October 5, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417179109). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/585-012 (accessed November 12, 2026).