Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 622 › Conversation 622-002

Nixon & Lewis on Reader's Digest and Media relations

Monday, November 22, 1971 · 4:02 PM–4:07 PM ET · Oval Office · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Lewis, Hobart D.Conversation622-002 on Tape 622 (tape position 00:11:59–00:16:43)StartMonday, November 22, 1971 at 4:02 PMEndMonday, November 22, 1971 at 4:07 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 622-002 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Hobart D. Lewis, the editor-in-chief of Reader's Digest, to discuss the possibility of a feature or interview piece for the magazine's upcoming 50th anniversary. The two men also touched upon political challenges, including concerns regarding board stability and legislative strategy. Nixon emphasized his commitment to maintaining a firm stance on controversial issues while coordinating with Lewis on the messaging strategy for the publication.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yeah.
All right.
Hello.
Oh, how are you?
Yeah.
Well, we should have been here.
Yeah.
Well, it's a very close question now, of course, as to whether these people will stay on the board.
If they don't, then we're going to have to go down.
And if there's a problem there, of course, they may go on some struggles, and that will be tough.
But we just can't back down now.
Well, I'm sure they are.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, uh, they've, uh, they've knocked me apart.
And, uh,
Oh, sure.
Yeah.
Right.
Well, hey, you just keep the feet of the fire open.
Ah, well, that's my story no more.
When would it be, uh,
Well, the interview is perhaps either the best format or maybe something I wrote for our 50th anniversary out of that.
Notice at the time, I mean, that is not acceptable to everybody.
It's a question of perhaps we do it better if I have a chance to think about the thing, rather than just off the top of my head.
When do you have to have advice?
And that's for your graduation.
Oh, I see.
All right.
All right.
All right.
All right.
Yeah, good.
Did you catch that, right?
You don't paint at all, are you?
Too cold?
Well, how did you get along with Irvin, I think?
As you know, we're back all the way up.
But I think what we ought to do is just get the dam, wheel back the congressional line.
That's my view.
And since it gets to my desk, I'll back it, so.
I don't need to interact with that one so long.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Rob?
Well, the point is that you've got to study the truth.
You can do that with my help.
Okay, thank you.

NARA Description

On November 22, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Hobart D. Lewis met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:02 pm to 4:07 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 622-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 622-002

Date: November 22, 1971
Time: 4:02 pm - 4:07 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Hobart D. (“Hobe”) Lewis.

[See Conversation No. 15-98]

Also recorded on November 22, 1971

  • 622-001 3:51 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:51 pm to 3:58 pm.
  • 015-098 4:02 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Hobart D. Lewis talked on the telephone from 4:02 pm to 4:07 pm.
  • 015-099 4:07 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:07 pm and 4:15 pm.
  • 622-003 4:07 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:07 pm and 4:15 pm.
  • 622-004 4:07 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:07 pm and 4:15 pm.
  • 622-005 4:07 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:07 pm and 4:15 pm.
  • 622-006 4:07 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:07 pm and 4:15 pm.
  • 015-100 4:15 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Clark MacGregor talked on the telephone from 4:15 pm to 4:26 pm.

All 62 conversations from November 22, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 622-002, November 22, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/622-002 (accessed October 23, 2026).