Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 720 › Conversation 720-006

Nixon, Rauscher & Richardson on Cancer research and Health policy

Friday, May 5, 1972 · 11:40 AM–11:46 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Rauscher, Frank J.; Richardson, Elliot L.; Cole, Kenneth R., Jr.; Cavanaugh, James H.; White House photographerConversation720-006 on Tape 720 (tape position 01:27:24–01:33:59)StartFriday, May 5, 1972 at 11:40 AMEndFriday, May 5, 1972 at 11:46 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 720-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Frank J. Rauscher, Elliot L. Richardson, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., and James H. Cavanaugh to discuss the administration's cancer research program and broader legislative concerns. Nixon emphasized his commitment to concentrating resources on cancer as a model for addressing other health issues, while also instructing Rauscher on how to frame this approach publicly. The conversation concluded with Nixon expressing deep frustration regarding the current legislative climate in Congress, specifically citing difficulties with Social Security and overall spending policies.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 168.2 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 145.3 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 01:27:24 into the tape and ends around 01:33:59.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
1:27:49I'm sorry to keep you waiting.
1:27:50I've got a meeting to call before it.
1:27:52I'll just fire you.
1:27:53Well, I'm going to first talk to Frank Rock.
1:27:55Yes, you're the savior of the evening.
1:27:56I'm going to have you come here.
1:27:58I'm going to try and set up businesses.
1:28:00I'm going to try.
1:28:01I'm going to try.
1:28:03Well, this is the day you go out and tell them how you're going to do it.
1:28:06I know you now.
1:28:06It's great to have a young man like you on the show.
1:28:11Thank you for your compliment.
1:28:13Why is it distinguished as a woman with a ten-ounce standing?
1:28:16She was chosen to be a spot in something you're old for.
1:28:21Come on over here.
1:28:21What's that?
1:28:22Yes, sir.
1:28:23Press 1.
1:28:24Press 2.
1:28:24Oh, sure.
1:28:24That's what it used to be in it, too.
1:28:27Well, and, uh, say, Doctor, uh, I think you should be in the middle here.
1:28:34I'm treating the two of us.
1:28:37You're the man.
1:28:38I've got to get a move with each of that stuff.
1:28:41Yeah, that's, uh, a gift of Walter Annenberg.
1:28:43It's made by a student.
1:28:45He had, he decided to make it.
1:28:47So, we put it on the desk.
1:28:55I'm going to have to come up with a new video.
1:28:56I'm going to have to come up with a new video.
1:29:26Thank you.
1:29:42One thing that's not very bad about this, is that we have a very, very good, very good, very good, very good, very good, very good, very good, very good, very good.
1:29:59Oh, yeah.
1:30:15Thank you.
1:30:49I just felt right now.
1:30:51That's why we need you.
1:30:54I mean, we're totally back to you.
1:30:57I know you're not.
1:30:58I'm clear that the secretary's back to you.
1:31:00You won't hear from me except to, you know, our team.
1:31:07I want you, wherever you go when you make a speech, I mean, in terms of poetic license, and you can say that I, in society, you can say that I am disgusted, that I feel this way, that this is a, that the President cannot, of course, concentrate on.
1:31:22on every particular field of society.
1:31:26And every illness affects society.
1:31:33And there are so many others.
1:31:35But we have selected this as the target of it.
1:31:38And we're going after it.
1:31:39And if this kind of approach works here, we're going to try in other fields.
1:31:42That's another good point.
1:31:42So that people that are interested in heart disease and arthritis and all the rest say, why are you just doing it for cancer?
1:31:48Yes.
1:31:48But this is a program.
1:31:50It works here, this concentration of money and effort and talent works here, which I'm excellent at.
1:31:55I'll do it when I share it with you.
1:31:57All right.
1:31:57Your confidence will not be displaced.
1:32:01We'll do it.
1:32:02We're going to do it.
1:32:03Thanks very much.
1:32:05Gosh, I'm so proud of you.
1:32:07Well, we have some new presidential conflicts here.
1:32:10That's the seal.
1:32:14Thank you very much.
1:32:15Thank you.
1:32:39I can't even get along with the instructors.
1:32:41I don't know.
1:32:42I can't.
1:32:42Isn't it awkward that I do?
1:32:44Unbelievable.
1:32:45Unbelievable.
1:32:47They're total.
1:32:47I mean, my God.
1:32:48The way they handle it.
1:32:50The way they handle it.
1:32:53It is unbelievable.
1:32:55Social Security is unbelievable.
1:33:00Did you ever, did you ever stand by a trade and said that we could, you know, change the way you like to, you know, I mean, the main thing is to get responsibility out there.
1:33:06The leadership is going to see it.
1:33:07You go out there and you meet your friends out there and you talk to them.
1:33:11But that, but looking at what we're making out of the Senate, we were probably not even supporting.
1:33:19Well, there's two of them that cost $13 billion a year.
1:33:22I'm going to have an indefinite expansion of it.
1:33:25I'm going to have a subgroup of people.
1:33:27Right.
1:33:28All right.
1:33:28Good luck.
1:33:29Don't give up, though.
1:33:30Keep your spirit up.
1:33:32Okay.
1:33:32Thank you, sir.
1:33:33I'm happy.
1:33:33We're much.
1:33:35Thank you.
1:34:24Oh, sure.
1:34:2530 seconds of shot.
1:34:26Sure.
1:34:26No, it isn't.
1:34:28No, no, no.
1:34:29I have to do it.
1:34:31I mean, because there are people in the service.
1:34:35Do you want to see how many of them?
1:34:40No, I didn't get the word in.
1:34:43Did I say the accuracy?
1:34:44Okay, do you want a writer or a candidate?
1:34:51We don't have any.

NARA Description

On May 5, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Frank J. Rauscher, Elliot L. Richardson, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., James H. Cavanaugh, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:40 am to 11:46 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 720-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 720-6

Date: May 5, 1972
Time: 11:40 am - 11:46 am

Location: Oval Office

The President met with Frank J. Rauscher, Elliot L. Richardson, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., and James
H. Cavanaugh; the White House photographer and members of the press were present at the
beginning of the meeting.

      The President’s schedule
           -Previous meeting with the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board [PFIAB]

      Greetings
           -Rauscher
                -Accomplishments

      Photograph
           -Arrangements

      Steuben crystal [“Star of the President”]
           -Walter H. Annenberg gift

      [Photograph session]

      Cancer program
          -President's support
                -Instructions to Rauscher
                -New approaches
                      -Other health fields
          -Concentration of resources

      Gifts
              -Cuff links
                   -New set

      Congress
          -Duplicity
          -Health program
          -Revenue sharing
          -Welfare reform
          -Social Security
          -Spending policies

Rauscher, et al., left at 11:46 am.

Also recorded on May 5, 1972

  • 100-002 11:37 AM · 3 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 11:37 am on May 5, 1972 and 9:10 am on May 8, 1972.
  • 100-003 11:37 AM · 2 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 11:37 am on May 5, 1972 and 9:10 am on May 8, 1972.
  • 100-004 11:37 AM · 16 sec — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 11:37 am on May 5, 1972 and 9:10 am on May 8, 1972.
  • 100-005 11:37 AM · 2 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 11:37 am on May 5, 1972 and 9:10 am on May 8, 1972.
  • 100-006 11:37 AM · 1 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 11:37 am on May 5, 1972 and 9:10 am on May 8, 1972.
  • 100-007 11:37 AM · 3 min — Ronald L. Ziegler and a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 11:37 am on May 5, 1972 and 9:10 am on May 8, 1972.
  • 100-008 11:37 AM · 2 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 11:37 am on May 5, 1972 and 9:10 am on May 8, 1972.
  • 100-009 11:37 AM — George P. Shultz and a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 11:37 am on May 5, 1972 and 9:10 am on May 8, 1972.

All 54 conversations from May 5, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 720-006, May 5, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/720-006 (accessed October 10, 2026).