Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 758 › Conversation 758-014

Nixon, Carpenter & Bash on Popular culture and California

Tuesday, August 1, 1972 · 12:16 PM–12:24 PM ET · Oval Office · 8 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Carpenter, Richard; Carpenter, Karen; Bash, Sherwin; Block, Paul; Cole, Kenneth R., Jr.; Cavanaugh, James H.; White House photographerConversation758-014 on Tape 758StartTuesday, August 1, 1972 at 12:16 PMEndTuesday, August 1, 1972 at 12:24 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 758-014 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon hosted a social meeting in the Oval Office with popular musicians Richard and Karen Carpenter, accompanied by their manager Sherwin Bash and several White House staff members. The discussion focused on shared California roots, including the musicians' background in Downey and Nixon's ties to Whittier, as well as casual conversation regarding golf and the logistics of the Carpenters' touring schedule. The President concluded the brief engagement by presenting the visitors with commemorative gifts bearing the presidential seal.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Thank you.
I heard all about you.
Let's come over here and shoot this picture.
Yeah.
Thank you.
It's probably very clear.
Did you go to school there?
High school.
I was there .
Right.
I worked on the old .
Right.
You're doing a great job .
That's right.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
We don't have to wear cuffs.
You've got to have a wig.
You came out to the air one afternoon with Doc Noss and myself a few years ago.
That was a marvelous course.
I haven't played it since I left the 90s.
When I was out there, when I was out there in 65 or 66, they were redoing all the grids, all the grids.
Is that right?
All right.
All right.
All right.
All right.
All right.
All right.
All right.
All right.
Yes, it is the .
I appreciate it, but you have to run the house.
You already have to do it.
Excuse me, you were saying this earlier in regards to the peace and the justice.
Send the best to you.
Well, give them my word.
We got the small world.
You already must be doing all the roads a great deal, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, usually when you go to your stay in hotels, or that's the question.
Uh-huh.
And usually when we go to stay in a hotel, it's really a nice hotel.
When we stay there, it's terrible.
Yeah.
That's a fact.
Okay.
All right.

NARA Description

On August 1, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Richard Carpenter, Karen Carpenter, Sherwin Bash, Paul Block, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., James H. Cavanaugh, the White House photographer, and members of the press met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:16 pm to 12:24 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 758-014 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 758-14

Date: August 1, 1972
Time: 12:16 pm - 12:24 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Richard Carpenter, Karen Carpenter, Sherwin Bash, Paul Block, Kenneth
R. Cole, Jr., and James H. Cavanaugh. The White House photographer was present at the
beginning of the meeting.

             Introductions

             Arrangements for photograph session

             [Photograph session]

             California
                 -The Carpenters’ background
                      -Downey
                         -High school
                         -Earl Warren
                 -The President’s background
                      -Whittier High School

             Music

             Presentation of gifts by the President

                  -Compact
                      -Presidential seal
                  -Cufflinks

             Bash's previous meeting with the President
                 -Bel Air Country Club
                      -Jesse D. (“Don”) Knotts
                      -The President’s view
                           -Difficulty of holes

             Presentation of gifts by the President
                 -Golf balls

             Oval Office

             Regards from unknown people

             Carpenters' schedule
                 -Length of tour
                 -Hotels
                     -New Hampshire

Richard Carpenter, et al., left at 12:24 pm.

Also recorded on August 1, 1972

  • 758-011 10:33 AM · 34 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, White House operator, Charles W. Colson, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:33 am to 11:50 am.
  • 028-028 10:34 AM · 14 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:34 am and 11:03 am.
  • 028-029 11:03 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:03 am and 2:22 pm.
  • 028-058 11:03 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:03 am and 2:22 pm.
  • 758-012 11:51 AM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Samuel D. Winer, Andre LeTendre, William F. Rhatican, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:51 am to 12:14 pm.
  • 758-013 12:14 PM · 56 sec — 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 12:15 pm.
  • 758-015 12:24 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:24 pm and 12:25 pm.
  • 758-024 12:25 PM · 28 sec — United States Secret Service agents and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:25 pm and 4:53 pm.

All 73 conversations from August 1, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 758-014, August 1, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/758-014 (accessed October 1, 2026).