Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 702 › Conversation 702-004

Nixon & Andrews on National character and Great Society

Tuesday, April 4, 1972 · 3:12 PM–3:45 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Andrews, John K., Jr.Conversation702-004 on Tape 702 (tape position 00:39:26–00:43:00)StartTuesday, April 4, 1972 at 3:12 PMEndTuesday, April 4, 1972 at 3:45 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 702-004 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and John K. Andrews, Jr. engage in a philosophical discussion regarding the decline of character and leadership within the American business and intellectual elite. They reflect on societal shifts since 1954, specifically critiquing the implementation of Great Society programs and the deterioration of the family structure as obstacles to national progress. Nixon expresses frustration with the lack of support from mainstream media and the intellectual community for his executive decisions, particularly regarding foreign policy challenges like Cambodia.

  • National character
  • Great Society
  • Business elite
  • Family structure
  • Media relations
  • Political leadership

Audio

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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 00:39:26 into the tape and ends around 00:43:00.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
39:25There are a few of the old-timers, the guys that made it and so forth and so on, but for the most part, they're a new managerial class that have come up through the numbers, and they are playing both sides, putting a little on one horse and the other when it comes to strength and courage and guts and so forth.
39:29I'm referring particularly to the business elite in the very highest levels.
39:34Out of 10, you might find one or two that really hit.
39:38You see what I mean?
39:39Character is not necessarily found among, when you talk about the unbought grace of life and so forth, I suppose that we could say that our labor leaders didn't have much, and so forth, and our business leaders should, and they should.
39:54But I wonder, I think, what I'm wondering, I suppose I'm searching for here is to, is for really,
40:04Where the character of this country is, where are we headed in that respect?
40:12Now, you were, I think, somewhat pessimistic in 54.
40:16So was I.
40:17How do you feel that it's a 72?
40:21Well, I feel more pessimistic, less.
40:23Now, look what's happened since 54.
40:25First, you had the Great Society, which was not a disaster.
40:30Then we had the race thing, where everybody would hog that issue for the wrong reasons.
40:36I mean, obviously you and I, as intelligent men, as I trust in good men, good men in the sense of some religious identification, the rest, we have no racial, we have no religious prejudices, whatever, and so on and so on.
40:54But I think we both have to agree that the way that we've handled
41:00Say, our black problem in this country has been certainly most depressing.
41:08And depressing not for the reason that we have it now, but perhaps because we try to do too much.
41:16And without any imagination.
41:17No imagination, that's right.
41:19And because we didn't think of the character.
41:20I mean, here's my name, right?
41:24When he puts the paper, it can't be said.
41:27Perhaps get away with it by political means.
41:29But he's right when he says the problem is the family.
41:33As far as that's concerned.
41:34When you talk about it, 55% of all children born into this group, this year, will be illegitimate.
41:42Now, they're illegitimate.
41:43A lot of white people are illegitimate, too.
41:4555% of you will be illegitimate.
41:46In New York, same thing.
41:48That's what it is.
41:51Now, you cannot build...
41:53You cannot build any kind of, you know, character in society and so forth and that.
41:59But I digress.
41:59What I'm getting back to is this.
42:02When we talk about, use these simple words, when we talk about guts and character and idealism and patriotism and honor and these things which you write about,
42:16I found that when I had to go to the mat and ask for it, on the 3rd of 69, when I made my decision, I had 350,000 people marching in the White House, and we had to make a decision on Cambodia, and we had to stand up against a number of people.
42:33We'll do it.
42:33We'll have to do it again.
42:34We'll have the campaign.
42:37Every time, I find that I get very, very little support from the media.
42:42Hardly, usually, all the opposition.
42:45I get hardly any support from the intellectual community.
42:47I have a few college friends, students, not only students, but professors and the rest of the community.
42:56The business community, except for Main Street business, and Midwest and Southern and some Western businesses, curious and silent.

NARA Description

On April 4, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and John K. Andrews, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:12 pm and 3:45 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 702-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 702-4

Date: April 4, 1972
Time: Unknown between 3:12 pm and 3:45 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with an unknown man [John K. Anrews, Jr. ?].

     Speech
          -National Catholic Education Association [NCEA]

The unknown man [Andrews?]left at an unknown time before 3:20 pm.

Also recorded on April 4, 1972

  • 701-017 1:17 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:17 pm to 1:32 pm.
  • 702-001 2:47 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:47 pm and 2:55 pm.
  • 702-002 2:47 PM · 28 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:47 pm and 3:11 pm.
  • 702-003 3:11 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:11 pm to 3:12 pm.
  • 702-005 3:12 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:12 pm and 3:45 pm.
  • 702-006 3:12 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:12 pm and 3:45 pm.
  • 702-007 3:45 PM · 1 hr 22 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Alexander P. Butterfield, John N. Mitchell, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Manolo Sanchez, Charles Lucet, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:45 pm to 5:06 pm.
  • 702-008 5:06 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:06 pm and 5:08 pm.

All 35 conversations from April 4, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 702-004, April 4, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/702-004 (accessed October 12, 2026).