Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 718 › Conversation 718-012
Nixon, Sanchez & Woods on J. Edgar Hoover and John Connally
Wednesday, May 3, 1972 · 12:18 PM–12:35 PM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon met with his personal aide Manolo Sanchez and secretary Rose Mary Woods to discuss Sanchez’s upcoming knee surgery and recovery timeline. The President and Woods also reviewed various administrative tasks, including correspondence regarding gifts from John Connally, letters from schoolchildren, and condolence messages for the families of J. Edgar Hoover and others. Additionally, they coordinated the preparation of the President’s eulogy for Hoover and addressed general White House scheduling and office logistics.
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.5 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 60.1 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 02:26:18 into the tape and ends around 02:43:00.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
Download transcript (.txt) ·JSON data · Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
2:28:19Yes, sir.
2:28:20What they do now?
2:28:22.
2:28:22. .
2:28:46And they said they'd take out the fluid and they put it in the vessel.
2:28:52It was good.
2:28:52It had nothing.
2:28:53It was pure.
2:28:53It didn't have any kind of bad bacteria.
2:28:55And everything was good.
2:28:56And when are they going to operate?
2:28:5710 weeks, sir.
2:28:58How long will you be out of action?
2:29:02How much?
2:29:03Five or six weeks, sir.
2:29:05Five or six weeks in the hospital?
2:29:07No, in the hospital, seven days.
2:29:08And after in drugs, about three or four weeks.
2:29:11And two or three things.
2:29:14Take me to me it is, if you prefer.
2:29:17Twisted cabinets.
2:29:20Well, that's OK. Can't you just drive me?
2:29:23Yes, sir, I can.
2:29:24How do you know that?
2:29:27Yeah, he's a trucker.
2:32:19I was going to ask you about that beautiful decanter.
2:32:27It's in my office right now.
2:32:31I would say that CR's semester
2:33:18uh, for the, uh, presentation made, uh, to us, uh, uh, of the, uh, Magnificent Begannery.
2:33:29That was called the, uh, the finished exhibition of the, uh, the finished exhibit of the, uh, the finished exhibit of the Magnificent Begannery.
2:33:48I'm real scared.
2:33:48I'm sure I'll get this one.
2:34:24Very smart.
2:35:14Also, when we were there, I exposed them to Steve Rivers with his friend.
2:35:17They commonly got our mom as a teacher in the first and second grade class, wrote letters.
2:35:19She gave me a package.
2:35:41Did you see the very nice letters prepared by some of the students that are here?
2:35:47This is also a case of fellow members of the class that are waiting in line for any of their conferences.
2:35:58It's certainly a fine tribute to their teachers, you know, or something like that.
2:36:04I think they got over it straightforward.
2:36:06Yes, they did.
2:36:12And then the PS was the next in line.
2:36:13We're going to need to drive our visit to Conner Ranch, particularly because it was not wanted to know that the other members, the younger members of
2:36:41Bob said that you had a problem with that one.
2:36:51I said you had something you wanted to talk about.
2:37:02Oh yes, I heard about it.
2:37:03I didn't think I needed to answer that couple, but that one was the... You didn't talk about it.
2:37:09She called yesterday when she had heard your statement on the air.
2:37:14She thought it was very eloquent and beautiful.
2:37:16This was right after you gave it in the morning.
2:37:19And of course she knew it, you know, very well.
2:37:22She felt very deep with it.
2:37:24She said that one time he told her about it.
2:37:27She knows what he said to her about you, but the fact was that he came back from Florida with you for some dinner that she thought it was you and Kennedy had to go to.
2:37:39He come down to Florida and come back with you for dinner?
2:37:44Well, she didn't go in a year.
2:37:46But at any rate, what he said to her after this, it sounded like it might have been that he had to go to the grid out of dinner.
2:37:53You didn't go to the grid out of dinner, Lawrence Kennedy was the president, did you?
2:37:57It was something that you and Kennedy had to appear at.
2:38:00And he said to her,
2:38:03Well, I never had any children.
2:38:04I've got it down in a second.
2:38:07Because I didn't feel I could make them hostages to my job.
2:38:11But if I could have had, or if I had had a son, I wish it could have been Dick Nixon.
2:38:18And she was so, you know, she thought that was very, very true.
2:38:23I've got it all.
2:38:25I've typed it out.
2:38:28Then there's a letter I read that they wrote to, uh,
2:38:31Mrs. Somerfield, do you want to send a typed letter to her at all?
2:38:35He sent flowers, you know, and he sent stamps.
2:38:38I could bring it if it's art.
2:38:39You could put an art on it.
2:38:40I don't really think it's necessary.
2:38:45Well, uh...
2:38:46I'll look at it.
2:38:46Oh, it should be a wine letter.
2:38:47It might as well be.
2:38:48I know her.
2:38:49I know you did before he died.
2:38:50And, uh, so I said, dear Marion, it's a good letter.
2:38:53Well, I'll take it.
2:38:54Okay.
2:38:55The other thing is, there's a letter, it's a little old now, but one to, uh, Ribicoff for his wife's death.
2:39:02We sent flowers, but you didn't know her by her first name, did you?
2:39:06You thought of her first name, and I just didn't know.
2:39:29Yeah, I mean, I thought that we might have it out there so common to see it.
2:39:36Yeah, it's very handsome.
2:39:38Boxes, it will be great when you're ready to show it.
2:39:41You know, you'll see it.
2:40:03try to work up a little eulogy.
2:40:05And they're all so hard.
2:40:07You're going to do the one at the church, aren't you?
2:40:15Yeah.
2:40:15Are they going to have one in the cabin?
2:40:17I understand they're having one that Berger sent to us.
2:40:21That's what one of the girls out there told me they heard on the radio.
2:40:34I thought your statement yesterday was just really great.
2:40:38Just wonderful.
2:40:56I hope we get something out of your work out too much.
2:40:59I hope so.
2:40:59Well, there's been so much printed and being said on the radio and everything that say you ought to be in a different town.
2:41:04Yeah, there was a lot of background on them, and they didn't feel something.
2:41:07It was bad.
2:41:58She doesn't have a bonnet, then.
2:42:57You're going to stay here very long.
2:42:58I don't want to light the fire for you.
NARA Description
On May 3, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:18 pm and 12:35 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 718-012 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 718-12
Date: May 3, 1972
Time: Unknown after 12:18-12:35 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Manolo Sanchez.
Sanchez
-Forthcoming knee operation
-Amount of recovery time
Rose Mary Woods entered at 12:19 pm.
Sanchez left at an unknown time before 12:35 pm.
Temperature in Oval Office
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 2m 42s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
*****************************************************************
Gift for John B. and Idanell B. (“Nellie”) Connally
Decanter
Letter to Cyrus R. Smith
-Copy to Connally
(rev. Dec-01)
-Gratitude for decanter
-Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
-Connally
-Commemoration of previous World's Fair
-Nixon Library
Letters to President from Mrs. John Connally III's class
-President's letter of appreciation
-Postscript
-The President’s and Mrs. Nixon's visit to Connally ranch
Adele (Langston) Rogers St. Johns's telephone call to Woods
-H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-President's statement upon J. Edgar Hoover's death
-Previous trip by President to Florida
-Gridiron Dinner
-President's appearance with John F. Kennedy
-Hoover's statement about the President
Letter to Miriam Summerfield
-Form
-President's call
-[Arthur E. Summerfield]
Letter to Senator Abraham A. Ribicoff
-Other form of condolence
Decanter
-Location
-Stephen B. Bull
-John Connally
-Sanford L. Fox
-Description
Hoover
-President's eulogy
-Location
-Warren E. Burger
-President's statement upon Hoover's death
-Eulogy
-Preparation
(rev. Dec-01)
Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Location
Temperature in Oval Office
President's schedule
Sanchez
-Forthcoming knee operation
-Recovery time
Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 12:19 pm.
Weather
The President, Woods and Sanchez left at 12:35 pm.Also recorded on May 3, 1972
- 718-010 12:14 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 12:14 pm and 12:18 pm.
- 718-011 12:14 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:14 pm and 12:18 pm.
- 718-014 12:35 PM · 43 sec — United States Secret Service agents and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:35 pm and 12:59 pm.
- 023-130 12:36 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:36 pm and 12:40 pm.
- 335-004 12:36 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:36 pm and 12:40 pm.
- 023-131 12:40 PM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield talked on the telephone from 12:40 pm to 12:41 pm.
- 335-005 12:40 PM · 37 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:40 pm and 12:41 pm.
- 023-132 12:41 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:41 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 718-012, May 3, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/718-012 (accessed September 18, 2026).