Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 765 › Conversation 765-020

Nixon, Patterson & White House photographer on Boxing and Presidential PR

Tuesday, August 8, 1972 · 12:17 PM–12:24 PM ET · Oval Office · 7 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Patterson, Floyd; Patterson, Floyd (Mrs.); Patterson, Janene; Patterson, Jennifer; Cashen, Henry C., II; White House photographerConversation765-020 on Tape 765StartTuesday, August 8, 1972 at 12:17 PMEndTuesday, August 8, 1972 at 12:24 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 765-020 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon hosted professional boxer Floyd Patterson and his family in the Oval Office for a brief courtesy visit, which included a photo session with a White House photographer. The discussion focused on Patterson's upcoming fight, his training regimen, and the broader history of collegiate and professional boxing. Nixon expressed appreciation for Patterson's career and his positive influence as a role model for young people, concluding the meeting by presenting the family with gifts.

  • Floyd Patterson
  • Boxing
  • Presidential PR
  • Sports
  • Muhammad Ali

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Where's Jackson?
How are you?
I'm glad to see you.
I've been watching you for a while.
This is your wife, ma'am.
Well, hi.
How are you?
I'm glad to see you.
You're two little girls.
I haven't heard your name.
Which one's Jennifer?
Jennifer.
Jennifer.
This is Jennifer.
This is Jennifer.
All little girls are shy.
All right, let's see.
Good shit.
We can take a family shot now, Mr. President.
All right.
We'll give you copies of this so you can have them for your son.
OK. Now we're going to get over here.
You and your dad here.
Well, thank you for the invite.
All that road work.
We should be lucky.
Thank you.
Thank you.
All right.
What was the frame of yours here?
But that was very good.
Come on over here.
Yeah, come on over.
He was talking about when he was interviewing me about baseball.
Did you cover it?
Did you ever see it?
You know, I've never seen it.
I mean, I followed the sports for many, many years.
We used to follow the Duke.
Duke, in fact, in the old days, had great boxing, fine boxing.
But, you know, first year old college students.
West Virginia, Syracuse.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, I was going to say.
I'm just wondering what I was going to say.
Joe Lewis is a college student.
Sure, but you have to be up or anything.
But you are able to relax when you have it.
Really?
Well, the thing is, you've been a great president of the sport.
You've been a great president of the sport.
I'm back.
A lot of young people can always say, well, there's a champion.
We might be like them.
We can't.
Each of your .
For you, you have a pen.
They'll appreciate more when we get older.
Thank you.
Good luck.
There's one point I'll watch.
I'll get a video tape.

NARA Description

On August 8, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Floyd Patterson, Mrs. Floyd Patterson, Janene Patterson, Jennifer Patterson, Henry C. Cashen, II, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:17 pm to 12:24 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 765-020 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 765-20
Date: August 8, 1972
Time: 12:17 pm- 12:24 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Floyd Patterson, Mrs. Floyd Patterson, Janene Patterson, Jennifer
Patterson and Henry C. Cashen II; the White House photographer and members of the press were
present at the beginning of the meeting.

       Greetings and introductions

       Photograph session
            -Arrangements
            -Copies

       Floyd Patterson’s forthcoming fight [with Muhammad Ali]
            -Training

       Sports
             -Baseball
                   -The President’s interview with Clifford Evans, June 30, 1972
             -Professional boxing
             -Amateur boxing
                   -Collegiate-level
                         -Leading schools
                               -Duke University
                                     -Unknown person

                                 -West Virginia University
                                 -Syracuse University
               -Boxing
                    -Archie Moore
                    -Joe Louis
                    -Floyd Patterson's career
                          -Example to young people

       Gifts
               -Cuff links
                     -Presidential seal
               -Pins

Floyd Patterson et al. left at 12:24 pm.

Also recorded on August 8, 1972

  • 765-017 12:13 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:13 pm.
  • 765-018 12:13 PM · 42 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:13 pm to 12:16 pm.
  • 765-019 12:16 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:16 pm and 12:17 pm.
  • 029-043 12:24 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:24 pm and 12:26 pm.
  • 765-021 12:24 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:24 pm to 12:26 pm.
  • 029-044 12:26 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 12:26 pm to 12:27 pm.
  • 765-022 12:26 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:26 pm to 12:27 pm.
  • 765-023 12:27 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:27 pm and 12:31 pm.

All 79 conversations from August 8, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 765-020, August 8, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/765-020 (accessed October 9, 2026).