Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 758 › Conversation 758-017

Nixon, Cook & Friedersdorf on Busing and Republican Party

Tuesday, August 1, 1972 · 4:57 PM–5:17 PM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Cook, Richard K.; Friedersdorf, Max L.; Nidecker, John E.; Bishop, John J., Jr.; Dowd, William F.; Robison, Howard W.; Erlenborn, John N.; Zwach, John M.; Cederberg, Elford A.; Gubser, Charles S.; Crane, Philip M.; Mosher, Charles A.; Andrews, Mark; Duncan, John; Burke, J. Herbert; Findley, Paul; Kyl, John; O'Konski, Alvin E.; Myers, John T.; Lujan, Manuel, Jr.; Clawson, Delwin M.; Archer, William, Jr.; Snyder, M. Gene; Case, Clifford P.; Hatfield, Mark O.; Biester, Edward G., Jr.; Brown, Garry E.; Conte, Silvio O.; Davis, Glenn R.; Derwinski, Edward J.; Dickinson, William L.; Hosmer, Craig; Martin, David T.; Minshall, William E.; Nelsen, Ancher; Rhodes, John J.; Ruppe, Philip E.; Sandman, Charles W., Jr.; Saylor, John P.; Scherle, William J.; White House photographerConversation758-017 on Tape 758StartTuesday, August 1, 1972 at 4:57 PMEndTuesday, August 1, 1972 at 5:17 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 758-017 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with a large group of Republican Congressmen and candidates, along with White House staff, primarily to coordinate strategy regarding anti-busing legislation. The discussion focused on the current status of busing bills in the Rules and Education and Labor Committees, including the feasibility of a constitutional amendment versus a moratorium. Nixon and the legislators explored pushing an 'affirmative standards' bill through the House to pressure the Senate, while strategically maneuvering against liberal opposition to strengthen the Republican position on the issue.

Audio

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NARA Description

On August 1, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Richard K. Cook, Max L. Friedersdorf, John E. Nidecker, and incumbent Republican Congressmen and candidates, including John J. Bishop, Jr., William J. Dowd, Howard W. Robison, John N. Erlenborn, John M. Zwach, Elford A. Cederberg, Charles S. Gubser, Philip M. Crane, Charles A. Mosher, Mark Andrews, John J. Duncan, J. Herbert Burke, Paul Findley, John Kyl, Alvin O'Konski, John T. Myers, Manuel Lujan, Jr., Delwin M. Clawson, William Archer, Jr., M. Gene Snyder, Clifford P. Case, Mark O. Hatfield, Edward G. Biester, Jr., Garry E. Brown, Silvio O. Conte, Glenn R. Davis, Edward J. Derwinski, William L. Dickinson, Craig Hosmer, David T. Martin, William E. Minshall, Ancher Nelsen, John J. Rhodes, Philip E. Ruppe, Charles W. Sandman, Jr., John P. Saylor, William Scherle, and White House photographer, met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:57 pm to 5:17 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 758-017 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 758-17

Date: August 1, 1972
Time: 4:59 pm - 5:17 pm
Location: Oval Office

Unknown men [White House photographers?] met.

             The President’s forthcoming photograph session with Congressmen and
             Congressional candidates
                 -Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins
                 -Technical problems
                     -Film speed
                 -Arrangements
                     -Jack [unknown last name]

The President met with Richard K. Cook, Max L. Friedersdorf, John E. Nidecker, John Bishop,
Bill Dowd, Howard Robinson, John N. Erlenborn, John Zwach, Elford Cederberg, Charles S.
Gubser, Philip M. Crane, Charles Mosher, Mark Andrews, John J. Duncan, J. Herbert Burke,

Paul Findley, John Kyl, Alvin O'Konski, John T. Myers, Manuel Lujan, Jr., Del Clawson, Bill
Archer, M.G. Snyder, Clifford P. Case, Mark O. Hatfield, Edward G. Biester, Gary Brown,
Silvio O. Conte, Glenn R. Davis, Edward J. Derwinski, William L. Dickinson, Craig Hosmer,
Dave Martin, William E. Minshall, Ancher Nelsen, John Rhodes, Philip E. Ruppe, Charles
Sandman, John Saylor, and William Scherle. The White House photographer was present at the
beginning of the meeting.

*****************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 16m 12s    ]

Bishop, et al., except Cook, Friedersdorf and Nidecker, left at 5:14 pm.

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2

*****************************************************************

             Congress
                -Busing
                     -Rules Committee
                         -Constitutional amendment
                         -Moratorium
                     -Education and Labor Committee
                         -Bill Palmer [?]
                              -Affirmative standards bill
                     -Constitutional amendment
                         -Possibility of passage
                     -Democrats
                     -Speaker of the House [Carl B. Albert]
                         -Gerald R. Ford
                     -Moratorium
                     -Affirmative standards bill
                         -Senate

                          -Possibility of House passage
                      -Liberal Democrats
                          -Michigan
                          -Indiana

Cook, Friedersdorf and Nidecker left at 5:17 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.

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10 minutes late, Jack.
And what time he does that, what?
He's short of 11.
They reported out the constitutional amendment and they postponed action on the moratorium.
Now they're attempting to go to Congress, attempting to exert pressure.
we can probably
But if they're going to screw around and give us a half-assed busting bill, right?
No, I would have nothing to have that bad.
What we're not trying to do is to try to get more of our hand on the standards bill, which is pretty legit, through the House and dump it on the last of the Senate.
We may still be able to get the permanent standards bill through the House.
What?
Yeah, that one.
That one.
That one.
That one.
That one.
That one.
That one.
to get well with another drone deal.
They say, I don't work against musking.
I would just as well stick with where they are so that our police then can go in like in Michigan, places like Indiana and take care of them.

Also recorded on August 1, 1972

  • 028-034 4:33 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 4:33 pm.
  • 028-035 4:33 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:33 pm and 5:20 pm.
  • 028-036 4:33 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:33 pm and 5:20 pm.
  • 758-016 4:53 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Robert J. Brown, Stanley S. Scott, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:53 pm and 4:57 pm.
  • 758-018 5:17 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:17 pm and 5:20 pm.
  • 758-019 5:17 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:17 pm and 5:20 pm.
  • 028-037 5:20 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Edward J. Kiernan talked on the telephone from 5:20 pm to 5:21 pm.
  • 758-020 5:20 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Edward J. Kiernan met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:20 pm to 5:21 pm.

All 46 conversations from August 1, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 758-017, 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/758-017 (accessed November 2, 2026).