Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 633 › Conversation 633-002

Nixon & Bunche on condolences and diplomacy

Thursday, December 9, 1971 · 9:12 AM–9:13 AM ET · Oval Office · 58 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bunche, Ruth A.Conversation633-002 on Tape 633 (tape position 00:07:38–00:08:35)StartThursday, December 9, 1971 at 9:12 AMEndThursday, December 9, 1971 at 9:13 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 633-002 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Ruth Bunche to express his personal condolences and profound respect following the recent passing of her husband, the distinguished diplomat Ralph Bunche. The President recalled their shared connection through UCLA and lauded Ralph Bunche’s character and global contributions to peace. Nixon concluded the brief meeting by assuring Ruth Bunche that the administration would appropriately honor her husband’s legacy in official statements.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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He was such a fine man, and of course I used to joke a lot about the fact that we both
California, UCLA.
And he was a gentleman and a kind man and did so much for the things of the world.
And we will, of course, see if that's properly represented in our statements from here.

NARA Description

On December 9, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Ruth A. Bunche met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:12 am to 9:13 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 633-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 633-002

Date: December 9, 1971
Time: 9:12 am - 9:13 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Ruth H. Bunche.

[See Conversation No. 16-66]

Also recorded on December 9, 1971

  • 016-065 9:04 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:04 am and 9:12 am.
  • 633-001 9:05 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:05 am to 9:11 am.
  • 016-066 9:12 AM · 58 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ruth A. Bunche talked on the telephone from 9:12 am to 9:13 am.
  • 016-067 9:13 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:13 am and 11:33 am.
  • 633-003 9:13 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:13 am and 10:04 am.
  • 633-004 9:13 AM · 37 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:13 am and 10:04 am.
  • 633-005 10:04 AM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 10:04 am.
  • 633-006 10:04 AM · 56 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Emilio Garrastuzu Medici, and Vernon A. Walters met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:04 am to 11:02 am.

All 44 conversations from December 9, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 633-002, December 9, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/633-002 (accessed October 12, 2026).