Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 719 › Conversation 719-005

Nixon alone in the Oval Office on J. Edgar Hoover and eulogy

Thursday, May 4, 1972 · 9:59 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation719-005 onTape 719 (tape position 01:17:41–01:18:10)StartThursday, May 4, 1972 at 9:59 AMEndThursday, May 4, 1972 at 9:59 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 719-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met in the Oval Office to rehearse and refine the delivery of his eulogy for J. Edgar Hoover. He practiced specific passages characterizing the late FBI Director as a national giant who set a noble standard for the country. This preparation served to finalize the formal remarks he would deliver to honor Hoover’s legacy.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.4 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 155.3 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 01:17:41 into the tape and ends around 01:18:10.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

1:17:38America's pride has always been its people, a people of good men left by the millions, of great men left by the remarkable ones, and once in a long while, of giants, who stand ahead in the shoulders of their country, setting a high and noble standard for us all.
1:17:48The end of your world is on those men.
1:17:51Your small mind will go to the point that

NARA Description

On May 4, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at 9:59 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 719-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 719-5

Date: May 4, 1972
Time: 9:59 am
Location: Oval Office

The President rehearsed a portion of his "Eulogy Delivered at Funeral Services for J. Edgar
Hoover".

[A transcript of the final eulogy appears in Public Papers of the Presidents, Richard M. Nixon,
1972, pp. 574-575]

Also recorded on May 4, 1972

  • 719-003 8:58 AM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:58 am to 9:02 am.
  • 719-004 9:06 AM · 54 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, Stephen B. Bull, Henry A. Kissinger, and John B. Connally met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:06 am to 9:59 am.
  • 023-150 9:30 AM · 38 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, President Richard M. Nixon, and John B. Connally talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:30 am and 9:35 am.
  • 719-006 9:59 AM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:59 am and 10:03 am.
  • 719-007 9:59 AM · 23 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:59 am and 10:22 am.
  • 719-008 10:22 AM · 8 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:22 am to 10:31 am.
  • 719-009 10:31 AM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:31 am and 10:41 am.
  • 719-010 10:41 AM · 3 min — Stephen B. Bull and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:41 am and 12:01 pm.

All 48 conversations from May 4, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 719-005, May 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/719-005 (accessed September 18, 2026).