Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 708 › Conversation 708-003

Nixon, Hess & Cole on Oval Office and Presidential gifts

Thursday, April 13, 1972 · 4:28 PM–4:31 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Hess, Stephen; Hess, Elena (Shayne); Hess, Charles P.; Cole, Kenneth R., Jr.; Bull, Stephen B.; White House photographerConversation708-003 on Tape 708 (tape position 00:21:45–00:25:03)StartThursday, April 13, 1972 at 4:28 PMEndThursday, April 13, 1972 at 4:31 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 708-003 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon hosted Stephen Hess and his family in the Oval Office for a brief, informal meeting. The discussion focused on pleasantries, the exchange of presidential gifts, and photographs of the Hess children. Nixon also shared personal reflections with the children regarding the value of travel, the importance of experiencing the world while young, and anecdotes concerning his recent outreach to China.

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 00:21:45 into the tape and ends around 00:25:03.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
21:41You've got to have it anyway.
21:42Thank you.
21:43You stand, or either of you on one side or the other side, each boy.
21:48That's how that sounds.
21:50That's a great thing to have, to give the grandmothers and mothers that.
21:58Thank you very much.
22:01Thank you very much.
22:04We want to give you a little something, too.
22:06We have, what do we have here?
22:07Oh, it's all pure.
22:08I said, you know, if I'm going to get shot or something, this is one of those jiggers that you do.
22:14This is the money, but that's very expensive.
22:18Very expensive.
22:20You already have much of it in front.
22:32I tell you, we have a second generation Nixon biographer, Charles.
22:38He's a writer.
22:38He's just written a biography of you, Mr. President, but I don't think it's ready for public display.
22:46I'll argue.
22:47I'll argue.
22:51I'll argue.
22:52I'll argue.
22:54I don't know.
23:10That's a good answer.
23:11This one, I showed it, and I showed it to other people in here, taking charge of this in China.
23:17And that tree is 22 meters old.
23:18That's one of those dwarf trees that never gets any bigger.
23:21It'll grow up and get straight like that.
23:24But one day, you see, because of what we've done, we, at least we started, you'll be able to do it.
23:34Want to do it with me?
23:39Or even the moon.
23:40Twitter.
23:41I don't know.
23:43Channel specials.
23:45Or Russians.
23:46I travel a lot, every time you can't find me.
23:47Sometimes you get old enough and you get through school, you can necessarily borrow money and trust.
23:54I'll tell you why.
23:55When you get too old, you've got enough money, and you get too old, you're too old to enjoy it.
23:58I see old people, you know, walking around in jeans and dresses, coming off of the tourist ships.
24:03They save their money all their lives to take a trip, and they're too old to enjoy it.
24:08So when you're young, borrow the money in the bank to take a trip.
24:16Oh, they've got to be smart to go there.
24:21Remember my girl.
24:25New man, new sign.
24:26Right.
24:27Right.
24:32Goodbye.
24:40Goodbye.
24:42All right.
25:00Is he laughing?
25:02Oh, no, no.
25:03I wanted to, just before I leave, I want to clear one other thing of mine this evening, because it's over.

NARA Description

On April 13, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen Hess, Elena (Shayne) Hess, Charles P. Hess, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., Stephen B. Bull, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:28 pm to 4:31 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 708-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 708-3

Date: April 13, 1972
Time: 4:28 pm - 4:31 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen Hess, Elena (Shayne) Hess, Charles P. Hess, James R. Hess and
Kenneth R. Cole, Jr; Stephen B. Bull and the White House photographer were present at the
beginning of the meeting.

       Greetings

       Photographs
            -Family
            -Arrangements

       Presidential gifts
             -Apollo viewer
             -Money clip
             -Compact

       Biography of the President
            -Charles P. Hess
                  -Age

       Hess children
            -Favorite school subjects
                   -The President

       Dwarf tree
            -People's Republic of China [PRC]
            -Age
            -Size

       Travel
            -Future
                  -PRC, the Moon and the Soviet Union
            -Value
            -Age factor
                  -Money

       Hess children
            -Sidwell Friends School
            -School subjects
                   -The President's daughters

Hess et al left at 4:31 pm.

Also recorded on April 13, 1972

  • 708-004 4:31 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 4:31 pm.
  • 708-005 4:31 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at 4:31 pm.
  • 708-006 4:31 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Frank DeMarco, Jr., and John W. Dean, III met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:31 pm to 4:34 pm.
  • 708-007 4:34 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:34 pm and 4:37 pm.
  • 708-008 4:34 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:34 pm and 4:37 pm.
  • 708-009 4:37 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, Henry A. Kissinger, and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:37 pm to 4:46 pm.
  • 022-123 4:38 PM · 9 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:38 pm and 4:46 pm.
  • 022-124 4:38 PM · 11 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:38 pm and 4:46 pm.

All 22 conversations from April 13, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 708-003, April 13, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/708-003 (accessed October 1, 2026).