Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 668 › Conversation 668-009

Nixon & Tkach on Military promotion and Major General

Wednesday, February 9, 1972 · 8:44 AM–8:45 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Tkach, Walter R.Conversation668-009 on Tape 668 (tape position 00:41:19–00:42:53)StartWednesday, February 9, 1972 at 8:44 AMEndWednesday, February 9, 1972 at 8:45 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 668-009 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with his personal physician, General Walter R. Tkach, to personally inform him of his recent promotion to major general. The President briefly noted that the paperwork had cleared his desk, confirming the advancement despite bureaucratic delays. This short interaction served as an informal notification regarding Tkach's career progression within the military medical corps.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.5 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 100.6 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 7.1 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 00:41:19 into the tape and ends around 00:42:53.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

41:31I just filed or signed something which made you a major general.
41:37So you're all, so I don't spend money, though.
41:40They told me it takes months.
41:43Yeah, well, I think they came across my desk.

NARA Description

On February 9, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Walter R. Tkach met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:44 am to 8:45 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 668-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 668-9

Date: February 9, 1972
Time: 8:44 am - 8:45 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Gen. Walter R. Tkach.

[See Conversation No. 20-80; one item has been withdrawn from the conversation]

Also recorded on February 9, 1972

  • 020-078 8:39 AM · 37 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John M. Zwach talked on the telephone from 8:39 am to 8:40 am.
  • 668-007 8:39 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John M. Zwach met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:39 am to 8:40 am.
  • 020-079 8:40 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:40 am and 8:44 am.
  • 668-008 8:40 AM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:40 am and 8:44 am.
  • 020-080 8:44 AM · 44 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Walter R. Tkach talked on the telephone from 8:44 am to 8:45 am.
  • 668-010 8:45 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:45 am and 9:19 am.
  • 668-011 8:45 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:45 am and 9:19 am.
  • 668-012 8:45 AM · 1 hr 46 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), Ronald L. Ziegler, Rose Mary Woods, Manolo Sanchez, White House operator, Stephen B. Bull, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:45 am and 10:40 am.

All 53 conversations from February 9, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 668-009, February 9, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/668-009 (accessed October 2, 2026).