Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 592 › Conversation 592-002

Nixon & Tkach on 1972 Presidential Election and Democratic Party

Thursday, October 14, 1971 · 9:13 AM–9:14 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Tkach, Walter R.Conversation592-002 on Tape 592 (tape position 00:13:09–00:16:02)StartThursday, October 14, 1971 at 9:13 AMEndThursday, October 14, 1971 at 9:14 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 592-002 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and his physician, Dr. Walter R. Tkach, briefly reviewed the political landscape regarding the 1972 election and current media commentary. The discussion centered on Democratic primary struggles, including the perceived weakness of potential candidates like George McGovern and Edmund Muskie in the wake of the President's judicial maneuvering. Tkach also brought to the President's attention a provocative column by Mike Royko that contrasted Nixon’s public image with the political standing of Edward Kennedy.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 88.5 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 89.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 81.3 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 00:13:09 into the tape and ends around 00:16:02.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
13:09they had planned for next spring in the primary states they would spend much of their treasure to grasp the public's attention which while deciding who would be the candidate now they find that richard nixon has already blocked out that time for his travels and the headlines seem likely to follow him not the democrats it has raised the question whispered in the dead of night of just how much the democratic nomination is worth in 1972 here it is more than a year before the election already two democratic candidates have dropped out before the time a man might normally start
13:19Yeah, one of the, uh... Bye.
13:22Bye.
13:22Excuse.
13:25Then they say, for the Democrats, the problem is more than just world peace and the economy.
13:28In the past, they were able to regroup and attack the president's Supreme Court nominees, at least.
13:33Even that failed as a strategy.
13:34The administration voted the name of Senator Robert Byrd as a possible court appointee last weekend.
13:39Although he was compared unfavorably by many with an unnamed rip-out of Karsloff, Byrd isn't sentenced democratically.
13:45Some of the most unequivocal Nixon critics found themselves equivocating.
13:50Senator McGovern of South Dakota had earned the reputation of the most straight-talking of the potential candidates, a man who knew his mind, and unlike the cautious Edmund Muskie, did not require days of consultation before announcing his opinion.
14:02But in the course of 36 hours, McGovern found his opinion a bird turning almost full of circles, and he recites that
14:09what he had done.
14:09It was all a painful experience, all the more so because McGovern and his aides do not believe that the President would ever send Berg's name to the Senate.
14:19Husky avoided the Berg dilemma, but enhanced his own reputation as a silent equivocator.
15:08Did you, I don't know whether you heard about the column in Chicago that was presented by Mike Royko, who is the most widely read columnist out there.
15:14The whole column is one of the most sensational I've ever read.
15:22He's certainly no friend of yours, but have you seen it then?
15:27He likes it.
15:29Unlike Mr. Nixon, Edward Kennedy is considered capable of great change and growth.
15:33Mr. Nixon has been viewed with more contempt for having been an eager but incompetent football player at Whittier College than Edward Kennedy has for cheating in some of his college exams.
15:41And you still hear some people asking you if you would buy a car from somebody like Mr. Nixon.
15:46I wish that the same people just once would ask if you would ride in a car with Edward Kennedy.
15:53Well, it's caused a hell of a sensation in Chicago.
15:55I have people... That's it?
15:57Oh, God, I've been working on it.
16:00It'll be, uh... That's when they have a start.

NARA Description

On October 14, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Walter R. Tkach met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:13 am to 9:14 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 592-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 592-2

Date: October 14, 1971
Time: 9:13 am - 9:14 am
Location: Oval Office

Dr. Walter R. Tkach talked with the President.

[See Conversation No. 11-87; one item has been withdrawn from the conversation]

Also recorded on October 14, 1971

  • 011-087 9:13 AM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Walter R. Tkach talked on the telephone from 9:13 am to 9:14 am.
  • 011-088 9:14 AM · 6 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 6:06 pm.
  • 011-089 9:14 AM · 23 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 6:06 pm.
  • 011-090 9:14 AM · 1 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 6:06 pm.
  • 011-091 9:14 AM · 5 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 6:06 pm.
  • 011-092 9:14 AM · 14 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 6:06 pm.
  • 011-093 9:14 AM · 36 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and Gerard C. Smith talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 6:06 pm.
  • 011-094 9:14 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 6:06 pm.

All 42 conversations from October 14, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 592-002, October 14, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/592-002 (accessed September 28, 2026).