Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 642 › Conversation 642-030

Nixon, Hoffman & Colson on Driver of the Year award

Monday, January 3, 1972 · 12:07 PM–12:13 PM ET · Oval Office · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Hoffman, Clarence C.; Hoffman, Clarence C. (Mrs.); Colson, Charles W.; McGill, John P.; [Unknown person(s)]; White House photographerConversation642-030 on Tape 642 (tape position 05:06:25–05:12:09)StartMonday, January 3, 1972 at 12:07 PMEndMonday, January 3, 1972 at 12:13 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 642-030 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon hosted Clarence C. Hoffman, his wife, and associates including Charles W. Colson and John P. McGill to honor Hoffman with the American Trucking Association's 'Driver of the Year' award. The meeting served as a ceremonial event featuring a photo session with the White House press corps and the exchange of presidential gifts, such as cufflinks and pins. Discussions also touched briefly on Hoffman’s distinguished driving record and general conversation regarding current events and weather conditions in Minnesota.

Audio

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This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.

Listen to the full tape segment

Position in tape: 05:06:25 – 05:12:09

part C, 1:07:50

642a.mp3
642b.mp3
642c.mp3

NARA Description

On January 3, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Clarence C. Hoffman, Mrs. Clarence C. Hoffman, Charles W. Colson, John P. McGill, unknown person(s), and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:07 pm to 12:13 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 642-030 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 642-30

Date: January 3, 1972
Time: 12:07 pm - 12:13 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Clarence C. Hoffman, Mrs. Clarence C. Hoffman, Charles W. Colson,
John P. McGill and an unknown man; the White House photographer was present at the
beginning of the meeting.

     Introductions

     Hoffman's driving record

     Arrangements for photographs session

     Presentation of "Driver of the Year" award sponsored by American Trucking Association,
          Inc.
          -Retention of award
          -Use

     Arrangements for photograph session
          -Sunlight

     Press

Members of the press entered at an unknown time after 12:07 pm.

     [Photograph session]

     [General conversation]

     Presentation of gifts by the President
          -Cufflinks
          -Pin with presidential seal

The press left at an unknown time before 12:13 pm.

     Clarence Hoffman’s comments about the President

     Phone

     Minnesota
         -Weather

     Washington, DC

Hoffman, et al. left at 12:13 pm.

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

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

So we have a startling shift in that interview, so it's...
He asked you that question about the differences between black and white, and you could see the way he asked it that he thought he had really nailed you.
And that one, you know, he just hit right out of the ballpark.
He just sort of left it.
It's a rather stupid question.
It was, you know, he had this line.
Why don't you begin with that?
I'll put barrels in one of the openings.
Frequently, they give you a quote that wasn't ever made before and ask you to comment on it.
That's very, very dirty business.
Well, that's how it is.
In some cases, where you see what I did, blacks and whites, which probably was part of the interview where I was talking about, they grow up in different schools and different neighborhoods and so on and so on.
They're different.
and everybody's the same.
And everybody's the same.
I mean, whites are not the same.
You know, what is that ad on television, you know, the literature?
There's this boy that was speaking at the back of the lab, where they show the pool there, and the golf player, and all the rest.
The rich are very different from the rest of us.
I don't know if you can see George Allen, but he's George Allen.
I don't know if this is not me or it's the bad George.
You know, the one with the smarts, the one with the smarts.
And now the, there's several, one of them is in the back on the street, one of them is on the right side.
The other one is George Allen.
He was the fellow that, uh, prisoned Eisenhardt in July, playing bridge with him.
He was a criminal.
He was a criminal.
He was a criminal.
He was a criminal.
He was a criminal.
He was out playing golf with the person in the car, though, just before the arm attack.
Yeah.
He doesn't play at all.
He's too down.
Too back.
Sorry.
Oh, shoot.
That's a lot of figures.
I see you've got the best driver of the year.

— 1 min 11 s with no transcribed speech —

That's a great record.
That's a great record.
Have you ever worked on them?
Yes.
Have you ever worked on them?
Yeah, we have done a lot.
We look out for your problems, and we congratulate you.

Also recorded on January 3, 1972

  • 018-008 12:13 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George E. Allen talked on the telephone from 12:13 pm to 12:15 pm.
  • 642-031 12:13 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George E. Allen met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:13 pm to 12:15 pm.
  • 018-009 12:16 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:16 pm.
  • 018-010 12:16 PM · 55 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, and Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:16 pm and 12:18 pm.
  • 642-032 12:16 PM · 59 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:16 pm.
  • 642-033 12:16 PM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:16 pm and 12:18 pm.
  • 642-034 12:16 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, and Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:16 pm and 12:18 pm.
  • 642-035 12:16 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:16 pm and 12:18 pm.

All 84 conversations from January 3, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 642-030, 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/642-030 (accessed November 15, 2026).