Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 642 › Conversation 642-017
Nixon & Woods on White House administration and Record management
Monday, January 3, 1972 · 10:14 AM–10:15 AM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon and his personal secretary Rose Mary Woods briefly consulted regarding the whereabouts of missing important papers. Nixon questioned Woods about the contents of his outbox and whether aide Alexander Butterfield had collected any materials. They also discussed potential locations for the misplaced documents, including the possibility that they were left in the White House residence.
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 03:21:52 into the tape and ends around 03:23:33.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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NARA Description
On January 3, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:14 am to 10:15 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 642-017 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 642-17
Date: January 3, 1972
Time: 10:14 am - 10:15 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Rose Mary Woods.
Misplaced papers
-Manolo Sanchez
-Unknown person who cleaned room [Roosevelt Room?]
-Possible location
-Residence
-The President's instructions to Sanchez
-The President's recollection
-The President's breakfast
-Out box
-Alexander P. Butterfield
-Importance
Woods left at 10:15 am.Also recorded on January 3, 1972
- 018-003 10:05 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:05 am and 10:10 am.
- 642-016 10:05 AM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, Manolo Sanchez, White House operator, Gerald L. Warren, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:05 am and 10:14 am.
- 018-109 10:10 AM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Gerald L. Warren talked on the telephone from 10:10 am to 10:11 am.
- 018-110 10:11 AM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:11 am and 11:08 am.
- 642-018 10:15 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:15 am and 10:23 am.
- 642-019 10:15 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:15 am and 10:23 am.
- 642-020 10:23 AM · 34 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Gerard C. Smith, William P. Rogers, Henry A. Kissinger, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:23 am to 10:56 am.
- 642-021 10:56 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Manolo Sanchez, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:56 am and 11:00 am.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 642-017, 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/642-017 (accessed October 22, 2026).