Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 719 › Conversation 719-017

Nixon & Yates on Staff relations and Office maintenance

Thursday, May 4, 1972 · 12:49 PM–12:51 PM ET · Oval Office · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Yates, Nellie L.Conversation719-017 on Tape 719 (tape position 02:48:32–02:53:31)StartThursday, May 4, 1972 at 12:49 PMEndThursday, May 4, 1972 at 12:51 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 719-017 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Nellie L. Yates in the Oval Office to discuss routine administrative and social matters. The brief conversation covered the care and maintenance of a plant in the office, a missed photograph opportunity involving White House secretaries, and an exchange regarding a potential trip to Florida. The President concluded the meeting by expressing an intention to reschedule Yates for a future excursion.

Oval Office administration
Staff relations
Office maintenance
Travel planning
Social scheduling

Audio

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This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.

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Position in tape: 02:48:32 – 02:53:31

part B, 46:36

719a.mp3

719b.mp3

NARA Description

On May 4, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Nellie L. Yates met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:49 pm to 12:51 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 719-017 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 719-17

Date: May 4, 1972
Time: 12:49 pm - 12:51 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Nellie L. Yates.

     A plant
          -Growth characteristics

     Picture of secretaries
          -A telephone call
                 -Dwight L. Chapin

     President's appearance

     A trip to Florida
           -Invitation to Yates
                 -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
           -President's appearance

Yates left at 12:51 pm.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

It's going to be tough.

They're in it.

It's going to be difficult in service.

Yeah, wow.

— 1 min 34 s with no transcribed speech —

But it's an amazing thing that the...

I didn't know that the grass would grow there or something.

It must have picked up some pollen or something.

This has to be pinched off so that you can keep the tree down.

Did you get the picture with all the sectaries?

Oh, I see.

I see.

Oh, somehow.

Yeah.

We looked at him.

Did you have time to talk to him?

Uh, yeah, yeah.

We invited you to go, I think, and told, uh, told you about Halloween.

You'd never been.

He said he couldn't be, but you came back, right?

Yes.

Then we'll have you go sometime.

Good.

Thank you.

All right.

We'll meet you down there.

You're the son.

I am.

I'm all three wives.

You're not the son.

Yeah.

You keep the family all the time.

Okay, back.

Also recorded on May 4, 1972

719-013 12:22 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:22 pm and 12:28 pm.
719-014 12:22 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:22 pm and 12:28 pm.
719-015 12:22 PM · 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, Rose Mary Woods, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:22 pm and 12:47 pm.
719-016 12:47 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 12:47 pm and 12:49 pm.
719-018 12:51 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:51 pm and 12:56 pm.
719-019 12:56 PM · 26 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Frank E. Fitzsimmons, Raymond Schoessling, Joseph Trerotola, William J. McCarthy, Welon L. Mathis, Charles W. Colson, White House photographer, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:56 pm to 1:21 pm.
719-020 1:21 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 1:21 pm and 1:24 pm.
719-021 1:21 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:21 pm and 1:24 pm.

All 45 conversations from May 4, 1972 →

Nixon phone call with Woods on Speechwriting and Confidentiality October 21, 1971 · 1 min
Nixon phone call with Eisenhower on White House hospitality and John Wardlow February 22, 1973 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Sanchez on Camp David and Personal Staff December 7, 1972 · 1 min
Nixon & Eisenhower on Family dynamics May 26, 1971 · 1 min
Nixon alone in his EOB office on First Lady and White House life July 2, 1971 · 4 min
Nixon with unidentified visitors in his EOB office on White House hospitality September 15, 1971 · 11 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 719-017, 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/719-017 (accessed November 2, 2026).