Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 710 › Conversation 710-003

Nixon & Cox on Public appearances and Public relations

Monday, April 17, 1972 · 4:59 PM–5:02 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Cox, Tricia NixonConversation710-003 on Tape 710 (tape position 00:03:38–00:06:56)StartMonday, April 17, 1972 at 4:59 PMEndMonday, April 17, 1972 at 5:02 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 710-003 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon advises his daughter, Tricia Nixon Cox, on how to navigate a potentially contentious public appearance involving political protesters. He counsels her to remain composed and avoid making official statements if questioned about administration policy or recent announcements by the Secretary of State. The exchange concludes with a brief, supportive discussion regarding her future interest in traveling to the People's Republic of 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 00:03:38 into the tape and ends around 00:06:56.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
4:05I know.
4:07Well, you know, I hope they don't discover your name here and there, but they might.
4:22So stop the war and don't let it bother you if they do.
4:40Well, if, I don't know, if you, uh, if they, uh, if they definitely announce you're coming, isn't that correct?
4:52Well, I'm just thinking it might, uh, no, no, I'm just, if they announce you're coming, you should definitely go.
4:58We can't, uh, but you have seats in the room.
5:05Great.
5:05Just go and just keep cool with anything.
5:10Nothing may happen at all.
5:11It's something.
5:12I don't know.
5:13There are always a few radicals around.
5:15But they aren't going to introduce you, are they, or anything?
5:21Yeah.
5:21And what do you mean, if you didn't say something then?
5:28You mean, if they called on you, you mean?
5:39I see.
5:51Well, I wouldn't say anything if they asked about the announcement.
5:55You see, Secretary of State handled it very well today.
5:59I just put it out on that, too.
6:00Because he testified today and he answered all the questions.
6:06And as you say, you thought Secretary Rauchy's hand was not very well.
6:09And you stated exactly what Rauchy's thinking is and so forth.
6:11And then you look forward to going to the People's Republic of China someday.
6:13And you told me about it.
6:14I hope you can go someday.
6:15So along those lines, the very primary,
6:38have a good time what time do you be back yeah yeah it's a long way yeah too late well okay i'm sure we'll go okay you just take good care all right thanks for calling too bye

NARA Description

On April 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:59 pm to 5:02 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 710-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 710-3

Date: April 17, 1972
Time: 4:59 pm - 5:02 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Tricia Nixon Cox.

[See Conversation No. 23-10]

Also recorded on April 17, 1972

  • 331-010 3:55 PM · 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, Manolo Sanchez, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:55 pm to 4:48 pm.
  • 023-009 4:56 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:56 pm and 4:59 pm.
  • 710-001 4:56 PM · 44 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:56 pm and 4:59 pm.
  • 710-002 4:56 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:56 pm and 4:59 pm.
  • 023-010 4:59 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 4:59 pm to 5:02 pm.
  • 710-004 5:02 PM · 47 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Melvin R. Laird, and Adm. Thomas H. Moorer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:02 pm to 5:50 pm.
  • 710-005 5:50 PM · 53 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:50 pm and 11:59 pm.
  • 023-011 5:56 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:56 pm and 8:11 pm.

All 48 conversations from April 17, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 710-003, April 17, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/710-003 (accessed October 12, 2026).