Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 642 › Conversation 642-013

Nixon with unidentified visitors in the Oval Office on Public opinion and POWs

Monday, January 3, 1972 · 9:19 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation642-013 on Tape 642 (tape position 02:27:35–02:28:16)StartMonday, January 3, 1972 at 9:19 AMEndMonday, January 3, 1972 at 9:19 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 642-013 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with the White House operator to gather feedback regarding the public's perception of his recent performance in a televised interview. The discussion focused on the effectiveness of his delivery, particularly his forceful stance on the issues of peace and the treatment of American prisoners of war (POWs). The operator affirmed that the President’s assertive tone successfully conveyed his message to the audience.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.6 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.6 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 148.0 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 02:27:35 into the tape and ends around 02:28:16.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

2:27:37Yes, indeed.
2:27:38Yes, indeed.
2:27:40I think it served it in many ways, because you were able to be very forceful in that particular point, peace and solitary, and in the life and the time and in the area of POWs.
2:27:56I think the forcefulness came across really well.
2:28:04I'm surprised I didn't ask you a comics talk question.
2:28:13No, I didn't.

NARA Description

On January 3, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 9:19 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 642-013 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 642-13

Date: January 3, 1972
Time: 9:19 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with the White House operator.

[See Conversation No. 18-1]

Also recorded on January 3, 1972

  • 642-006 9:02 AM · 43 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:02 am and 9:07 am.
  • 642-010 9:07 AM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Richard A. Moore met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:07 am to 9:14 am.
  • 642-011 9:15 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Gerald L. Warren, unknown person(s), and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:15 am to 9:19 am.
  • 018-001 9:19 AM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:19 am.
  • 018-002 9:19 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 9:19 am to 9:23 am.
  • 642-012 9:19 AM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at 9:19 am.
  • 642-014 9:19 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:19 am to 9:23 am.
  • 642-015 9:25 AM · 39 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Rose Mary Woods, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:25 am to 10:04 am.

All 105 conversations from January 3, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 642-013, January 3, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/642-013 (accessed October 12, 2026).