Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 651 › Conversation 651-007

Nixon & Rockefeller on Domestic policy and Political strategy

Wednesday, January 19, 1972 · 10:13 AM–10:21 AM ET · Oval Office · 7 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Rockefeller, Nelson A.Conversation651-007 on Tape 651 (tape position 00:18:53–00:26:23)StartWednesday, January 19, 1972 at 10:13 AMEndWednesday, January 19, 1972 at 10:21 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 651-007 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller met to discuss political strategy and domestic policy ahead of the 1972 election cycle. The two leaders coordinated their public messaging, with Nixon advising a conciliatory stance toward Congress to prevent Democrats from casting his administration as partisan while pushing for revenue sharing. They also shared disparaging views regarding political opponents, characterized by their mutual critique of a rival's perceived lack of substance.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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I was very interested to read the New York Times this morning, the military state of the state, and the reaction of our mutual friend.
Ha!
You really took the blood off, didn't you?
What have you decided at this time?
Right.
Right.
Very good.
32.
Right, right.
Right.
And they do pretty well.
Dragon?
Right.
I bet you just gotta have one man do it all if he doesn't have heart condition.
They've got to be afraid of us.
My gosh, you can't go through the city without knowing.
I mean, that's how it's got to be done.
It's going to have to be a revolutionary change.
I mean...
I thought I was correct.
I thought I might be a little far, so I wanted to check to see what you thought.
Well, you were very kind in what you said about me, and I appreciate it.
I think in this time that really has to all be exposed for what he is.
He's a charlatan.
Charlatan.
I mean, you know, all that business of, you know, charisma and all this.
He's Mr. Clean.
Everybody else is sort of a dirty politician.
My God, it's been a lousy job he's done.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's right.
Well, that's fine.
I'm just working on a little statement tomorrow.
I don't, I have to be brought on the, I have to be brought on the IP side of the career commanding.
At this point, I'm going to have to be an obligatory part of the Congress and say let's get revenue sharing through and all the other things.
that if they just screw around about the 1st of May, well, about 15th of May, we've got to go to the U.S. because you'll know that Teddy and some of the others are getting all partisan.
Pretty rough.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So if that's the way it's going to be.
But I think that my posture ought to be conciliatory at the moment.
Don't you agree?
Well, that's what I'm saying.
I don't want to do anything to break it off so that they have an excuse for saying it's made it partisan.
So it'll be quite conciliatory.
It won't make the chair.
It won't make the Republican chair.
It'll also not make the
Right back.
I'll check it out on the shelves.
Good.
Well, I have to tell you, I think we're going to have, we're going to have, we're going to have a question.
We just don't know if the deficit occurs when the economy is not multiplied and is not inflationary.
It's when the deficit, that's where we're all going to be.
But on that, the deficit thing, we're going to cut this budget back and also
We have already helped, and I keep the word.
We really have, you know?
Oh, good.
Yes, well, we would die if you killed us with that.
If you killed us.
Yeah.
We had it.
We just reverted.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I get it.
I got the word.
Well, you get it.
Don't bother.
Don't bother.
We'll go down.
We'll go down later.
Good.
Good.
Okay.
Great.
Great.
Bye.
Bye.

NARA Description

On January 19, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Nelson A. Rockefeller met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:13 am to 10:21 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 651-007 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 651-7

Date: January 19, 1972
Time: 10:13 am - 10:21 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Nelson A. Rockefeller.

[See Conversation No. 19-6]

Also recorded on January 19, 1972

  • 651-003 10:05 AM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:05 am to 10:06 am.
  • 019-005 10:06 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:06 am and 10:13 am.
  • 651-004 10:06 AM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:06 am and 10:13 am.
  • 651-005 10:06 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:06 am and 10:13 am.
  • 651-006 10:06 AM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:06 am and 10:13 am.
  • 019-006 10:13 AM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Nelson A. Rockefeller talked on the telephone from 10:13 am to 10:21 am.
  • 651-008 10:21 AM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:21 am and 10:30 am.
  • 651-009 10:21 AM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:21 am and 10:30 am.

All 30 conversations from January 19, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 651-007, January 19, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/651-007 (accessed September 29, 2026).