Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 659 › Conversation 659-011

Nixon & Woods on White House social events and Guest list management

Friday, January 28, 1972 · 2:51 PM–2:59 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Woods, Rose MaryConversation659-011 onTape 659 (tape position 03:39:49–03:43:52)StartFriday, January 28, 1972 at 2:51 PMEndFriday, January 28, 1972 at 2:59 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 659-011 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Rose Mary Woods confer to finalize the guest list for an upcoming White House dinner honoring DeWitt and Lila Wallace. The discussion focuses on balancing the attendance of high-profile political figures, such as the Mitchells and various cabinet members, with the logistical challenge of filling remaining tables. Nixon and Woods deliberate on potential last-minute additions to ensure the event's social success and political utility.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 168.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.5 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 84.7 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 03:39:49 into the tape and ends around 03:43:52.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 · Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.

3:39:51Well, I think, I certainly think that John is being unrealistic about it.
3:39:55I don't think they're going to help us.
3:39:57I think it's almost like, you know, you don't want negative ones.
3:40:02Because, look, I agree with you.
3:40:04You know, John Lennon, they do great flip-flops when they hear them.
3:40:09Kennedy changed his mind.
3:40:11All along, we said we were for it.
3:40:13I don't know.
3:40:15I...
3:40:50Shut up!
3:41:33but I'll save you two.
3:41:33Fine.
3:41:34Okay, we'll be calm tonight.
3:41:35It won't be fun.
3:42:32It occurred to me, I don't know, have we invited the Mitchells tonight?
3:42:40Yeah, good.
3:42:42Right.
3:42:42I bought the stances.
3:42:44Yeah.
3:42:47Yeah.
3:42:49Well, I'll tell you one that you could certainly call on Eric Clines.
3:42:56What do you think?
3:42:58They're sort of in that business, huh?
3:43:03You know, might as well fill out a couple of tables.
3:43:05It means a lot to people.
3:43:07And I don't know if there's any other kind of person that could... You really can't invite the Roger A. Miller's this late.
3:43:35Here I am.
3:43:35I'm going to give it to the person that's going to give it to me.
3:43:39I don't agree with this, but I'll make it.
3:43:43We can buy it.
3:43:44We're free.
3:43:46We can get lucky.

NARA Description

On January 28, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:51 pm and 2:59 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 659-011 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 659-11

Date: January 28, 1972
Time: Unknown between 2:51 pm and 2:59 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Rose Mary Woods.

     White House dinner for DeWitt and Lila (Acheson) Wallace, January 28, 1972

          -Guests
               -John N. and Martha (Beall) Mitchell
               -Maurice H. and Kathleen (Carmody) Stans
               -Herbert G. and Marjorie G. (Galbraith) Klein
               -Cabinet members
                    -William P. and Adele (Langston) Rogers
                    -Melvin R. and Barbara Laird
                    -Medal of Freedom
                    -Rogers C. B. and Anne Morton
               -Unknown man
               -Robert J. Dole
               -Wallaces

Also recorded on January 28, 1972

  • 659-010 2:24 PM · 27 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:24 pm to 2:51 pm.
  • 659-012 2:51 PM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:51 pm and 2:59 pm.
  • 659-021 2:51 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:51 pm and 2:59 pm.
  • 088-003 2:59 PM — President Richard M. Nixon and members of the Construction Industry Collective Bargaining Commission, including James D. Hodgson, Richard C. Van Dusen, J. Curtis Counts, John T. Dunlop, Frank A. Bonadio, Maurice A. Hutcheson, Martin J. Ward, Hunter P. Wharton, Carl M. Halvorson, Robert L. Higgins, John A. Stastny, Laurence H. Silberman, Willie J. Usery, Jr., Michael H. Moskow, Peter Fosco, John H. ("Jack") Lyons, Charles H. Pillard, Joseph T. Power, Thomas H. Owens, William E. Dunn, James H. Ferguson, Joseph Rich, George A. Miller, Fred R. Stevens, Dale R. Witcraft, David P. Lafayette, E. Carl Uehlein, Jr., D. Quinn Mills, Edward F. Carlough, John W. Healy, II, Robert A. Georgine, William Sidell, and Donald H. Rumsfeld, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 2:59 pm to 3:50 pm.
  • 659-022 2:59 PM · 58 sec — United States Secret Service agents and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:59 pm and 3:50 pm.
  • 088-004 3:50 PM — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 3:50 pm on January 28, 1972 and 1:30 pm on January 31, 1972.
  • 659-013 3:50 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:50 pm to 3:52 pm.
  • 659-014 3:52 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:52 pm and 4:06 pm.

All 37 conversations from January 28, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 659-011, January 28, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/659-011 (accessed September 18, 2026).