Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 773 › Conversation 773-009

Nixon, Tower & Baker on 1972 Presidential Campaign and Vietnam War

Friday, September 8, 1972 · 11:32 AM–11:39 AM ET · Oval Office ·6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Tower, John G.;  Baker, Howard H., Jr.;  Timmons, William E.;  Atkins, Oliver F. ("Ollie")Conversation773-009 onTape 773StartFriday, September 8, 1972 at 11:32 AMEndFriday, September 8, 1972 at 11:39 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 773-009 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Senators John Tower and Howard Baker, William Timmons, and photographer Ollie Atkins to discuss 1972 campaign strategies and a photograph session. The participants analyzed the political landscape in Tennessee, focusing on local congressional candidates and polling data regarding George McGovern. Nixon emphasized that the Vietnam War remained a potent campaign issue that would work to his advantage if framed effectively against Democratic opponents.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hi, my honor.
How are you, sir?
There's a two callers.
Thank you.
Who's on the duty?
I am.
All right.
All right.
Let's see.
Should we do it?
We want to see it.
All right.
Get out here.
I'll be one.
I think it's something with the main thing.
You've got to get on.
You've got to run it.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I haven't.
I don't know what you're talking about.
I don't know what you're talking about.
I reckon we'll take the same picture.
Oh, yeah, we've got the stills first.
Absolutely, absolutely.
We've got a congressional candidate who's running the congressional list.
Thanks, sir.
I don't know about people, but Norman Thomas practically got more votes than that.
I think that Thomas was working there.
Well, I think it's a good point.
Well, it is, but it's, uh, there isn't a lot of government.
Right this minute.
I don't think you're...
I mean, yeah.
Can you compare what I suppose takes the Dix-Johnson's line?
Uh, he doesn't take any line at the moment.
He's trying to disqualify the governor.
He'll be a loyal Democrat and all that.
Well, let him disqualify the governor.
Yeah, he, my man says that he's going to vote for the governor and not support him.
Well, that's what I'm trying to say.
I'm already about to get out of the way.
Actually, listen, be sure if they come up with a warning, you just got to...
The war issue is very much on our side.
Anybody who picks, they put a hard line on that, on our side.
It's just devastating.
That's why we've got to respond to this.
We'll get people to vote with us.
If you put a war on defense, and particularly where it has to do with the institution of Congress, government, or putting it on defense, not just
Thank you.
I think I'll start right there, so you guys don't have to worry about me.
I've been sitting here for a couple of years, and I've been watching this on my phone.
Yeah.
I've been watching this on my phone.
Whatever's worth, it's probably not worth much.
My visualization is that all of these will take about three weeks, but not as great as the test you came up with.
Good one, Senator Lubbs.
Thank you, Dan.
That's right.
It gives you, as we're about to say, a bit worse direction for people to get out.
Where we want to kind of see it becomes, it'd be great if we had a multiple admittance, but if we can't do that, that's quite possible.
Turn out a little piece of metal, doesn't it?
It's possible, it's such a big system.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On September 8, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, John G. Tower, Howard H. Baker, Jr., William E. Timmons, and Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:32 am and 11:39 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 773-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 773-9

Date: September 8, 1972
Time: Unknown between 11:32 am and 11:39 am.
Location: Oval Office

The President met with John G. Tower, Howard H. Baker, Jr., William E. Timmons and Oliver
F. (“Ollie”) Atkins.

             [Photograph session]
                 -1972 campaign

             Congressional action
                -Edward W. Brooke amendment
                     -Debt ceiling
                     -Senate

                                        (rev. Oct-06)

             Vietnam
                 -Bombing and mining
                     -Poll results
                     -Barry M. Goldwater

             Congressional candidate [Robin L. Beard, Jr.]
                -Timmons
                -6th Congressional district, Tennessee

             Polls
                 -Nashville, Tennessee
                 -George S. McGovern
                 -Votes
                     -Norman Thomas

             Harold (“Barefoot”) Sanders
                 -Lyndon B. Johnson
                 -McGovern
                 -Loyalty to Democratic Party

             Vietnam War
                 -Campaign issue
                     -Candidates
                 -Louis P. Harris poll
                 -US position
                     -Soviet Union
                     -Defense
                          -Jobs
                              -Unemployment
                                   -Tennessee

The President and Tower left at 11:36 am.

             1972 campaign
                 -The President's schedule
                     -Knoxville
                     -Memphis
                     -1968, 1970

[This conversation was cut off at an unknown time before 11:39 am.]

                                          (rev. Oct-06)

Also recorded on September 8, 1972

  • 773-005 11:15 AM · 48 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:15 am and 11:23 am.
  • 773-006 11:15 AM · 32 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:15 am and 11:23 am.
  • 773-007 11:23 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:23 am to 11:30 am.
  • 773-008 11:30 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Mark I. Goode met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:30 am to 11:32 am.
  • 773-010 11:44 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:44 am and 11:49 am.
  • 773-011 11:44 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:44 am and 11:49 am.
  • 773-012 11:49 AM · 20 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:49 am to 12:12 pm.
  • 773-013 12:12 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 12:12 pm and 12:14 pm.

All 44 conversations from September 8, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 773-009, September 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/773-009 (accessed September 18, 2026).