Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 780 › Conversation 780-004

Nixon with unidentified visitors in the Oval Office on White House operator

Saturday, September 16, 1972 · 9:13 AM–9:24 AM ET · Oval Office ·5 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  White House operatorConversation780-004 onTape 780StartSaturday, September 16, 1972 at 9:13 AMEndSaturday, September 16, 1972 at 9:24 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 780-004 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with the White House operator to initiate a telephone call. The sole purpose of this brief interaction was to facilitate a direct line of communication with Charles W. Colson. No further policy or administrative matters were discussed during this exchange.

Audio

Download MP3 · 0.1 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) ·JSON data · Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Thank you.

NARA Description

On September 16, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:13 am and 9:24 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 780-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 780-4

Date: September 16, 1972

                                        (rev. Oct-06)

Time: Unknown between 9:13 am and 9:24 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with the White House operator.

             Request for a call to Charles W. Colson

Also recorded on September 16, 1972

  • 780-002 9:13 AM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:13 am and 9:24 am.
  • 780-003 9:13 AM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:13 am and 9:24 am.
  • 780-005 9:13 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:13 am and 9:24 am.
  • 780-006 9:24 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:24 am to 9:26 am.
  • 780-007 9:26 AM · 53 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Charles W. Colson, Stephen B. Bull, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), Alexander P. Butterfield, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:26 am to 10:20 am.
  • 780-008 10:20 AM · 20 sec — Ronald L. Ziegler and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:20 am and 10:41 am.
  • 780-009 10:20 AM · 8 sec — Alexander P. Butterfield and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:20 am and 10:41 am.
  • 780-010 10:20 AM · 13 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:20 am and 10:41 am.

All 36 conversations from September 16, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 780-004, September 16, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/780-004 (accessed September 18, 2026).