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

Nixon & Yates on Oval Office administration and Staff relations

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

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Yates, Nellie L.Conversation719-017 onTape 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.

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 02:48:32 into the tape and ends around 02:53:31.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

2:48:22I think you'll hear lots of comments on that speech.
2:48:50It's going to be .
2:48:51Yeah, wow.
2:50:28But it's an amazing thing that they, I didn't know that.
2:50:54See, it must have picked up some pollen or something.
2:51:04This has to be pinched off so that you can keep the final tree down.
2:51:16Did you get the picture with all the sectaries?
2:51:20Oh, that's too bad.
2:51:24We were expecting a phone call, and I needed to send it to the office.
2:51:29Oh.
2:51:29So.
2:51:30Who from?
2:51:31Well, Mr. Powell, we were expecting him to call Mr. Chaffer.
2:51:36Oh.
2:51:37Mr. Chaffer was in the room about a minute, and he called.
2:51:39I was supposed to go get him.
2:51:41Oh, I see.
2:51:41Thank you, Mr. Chaffer.
2:51:42I see.
2:51:43I see.
2:51:44He's been good at that, too.
2:51:46Oh, somehow.
2:51:47Yeah.
2:51:55We look well.
2:51:56Did you have time to talk?
2:51:58Uh, yeah, yeah.
2:52:00We invited you to go, I think.
2:52:01I told, uh, told you that Halloween you'd never been.
2:52:03He said you couldn't, you couldn't choose.
2:52:05You came back, right?
2:52:05Yes.
2:52:06Then we'll have you go some other time.
2:52:08Good.
2:52:08Thank you.
2:52:09All right.
2:52:11We'll meet you down there.

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.

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 · 20 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 · 57 sec — 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 48 conversations from May 4, 1972 →

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 September 18, 2026).