Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 786 › Conversation 786-019

Nixon, Dent & Young on 1972 election and Republican candidates

Monday, September 25, 1972 · 12:33 PM–12:48 PM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Young, Edward; Conrad, Charles; Hackett, Luther; Linski, Martin; Povinelli, Henry; Pritchard, Joel; Thompson, Meldrim, Jr.; Hunt, William; Powell, Wesley; Belardino, Mario; Rittenband, Richard; Dent, Harry S.; White House photographerConversation786-019 on Tape 786StartMonday, September 25, 1972 at 12:33 PMEndMonday, September 25, 1972 at 12:48 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 786-019 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with a group of Republican political candidates and advisor Harry Dent to discuss campaign strategy and national policy. The discussion touched upon shared military experiences in the South Pacific during World War II, as well as current political issues in South Carolina. The participants specifically focused on the administration's foreign policy initiatives regarding China, the Soviet Union, and Japan, framing them as key themes for the upcoming election.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Really?
Is that right?
Oh, it's 1943 or 4, that period.
And you know what I was saying, New Zealanders were there.
We were scathing.
We were scathing.
They had everything in that one pile of water.
Everybody was taking that.
And you were taking that and all this turning yellow.
Yeah, yeah.
And it would take some light and you'd stand up against that tree out there with those jacket boots on.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, you know, it's hard to realize that that was 20 years ago.
Yeah, 20 years ago.
28 years ago.
Well, we have been, I'm sure.
They're going to live.
The Green Island, the Green Island Massacre.
Get the national events on there.
South Carolina, the three national events.
You know, all that sort of stuff.
We were on the right side of that.
Well, that's something else.
Any kind of apartment could be opened up in China and Russia and Japan.
That's right.
And it's going to go up.
Believe me.
And you would not afraid to go into these places.
Right.

NARA Description

On September 25, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Republican candidates including Ed Young, Charles Conrad, Luther Hackett, Martin Linski, Henry Povinelli, Joel Pritchard, Meldrim Thomson, Jr., William Hunt, Wesley Powell, Mario Belardino, Richard Rittenband, and Harry S. Dent, as well as the White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:33 pm to 12:48 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 786-019 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 786-19

Date: September 25, 1972
Time: 12:33 pm - 12:48 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Ed Young, Charles Conrad, Luther Hackett, Martin Linski, Henry
Povinelli, Joel Pritchard, Mel Thomson, William Hunt, Wesley Powell, Mario Belardino,
Richard Rittenband, and Harry S. Dent; the White House photographer was present at the
beginning of the meeting.

            Greetings

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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 11m 5s     ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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

            The President's and Young’s previous Navy service
                -Green Island
                    -P-39s
                    -1944
                    -New Zealand
                    -South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command [SCAT]
                    -Life magazine

             Issues in South Carolina
                 -National defense
                 -Permissiveness
                 -Tobacco
                      -The President’s People's Republic of China [PRC] initiative
                      -Soviet Union
                      -Japan

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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 2m 37s     ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2

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

Young et al. left at 12:48 pm.

Also recorded on September 25, 1972

  • 786-015 12:03 PM · 32 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:03 pm and 12:05 pm.
  • 105-007 12:05 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Clark MacGregor, Maurice Stans, and members of the Finance Committee of the Committee to Re-elect the President, including Clark MacGregor, Maurice H. Stans, Joyce Barbour, Paul E. Barrick, Mildred Bighinatti, Suzanne Bourbonnais, Beebe Bourne, Judy Breck, Angela Buchanan, Warren Chase, Buckley M. Byers, Arden Chambers, Constance Corby, Kathy Cerick, Jane Dannenhauer, John Russell Deane, III, Whitney de Roulet, Charles Dexter, Maureen Devlin, Yolanda Dorminy, Stanley Ebner, Thomas W. Evans, Peter J. Fokine, Elaine Hall, Judy Harbaugh, Judy Hoback, Robert Hardy, Daniel W. Hofgren, Peter A. Holmes, Carroll Holton, Christine A. Hristakos, Eveline Hyde, Erik Kuhl, Joan Kreitler, George Lynch, Charlotte Lyeth, Michael Miller, Robert L. Krattli, Karen Minor, Lee R. Nunn, Robert P. Odell, Jr., M. Elaine O'Gorman, Thomas A. Pappas, Charles ("Chip") Pashayan, Jr., Lois Rezabek, Lora Rossi, Harold B. Scott, Michael Scully, Rodney Smith, Shirley A. Straker, Kenneth K. Talmadge, Florence Thompson, Diane K. Waltman, C. Langhorne Washburn, John Tayloe Washburn, Newell P. Weed, Jr., and Barbara Zapp, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 12:05 pm to 12:18 pm.
  • 105-008 12:18 PM — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 12:18 pm on September 25, 1972 and 11:03 am on September 29, 1972.
  • 786-016 12:18 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:18 pm and 12:22 pm.
  • 786-017 12:18 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:18 pm and 12:22 pm.
  • 786-018 12:22 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:22 pm to 12:32 pm.
  • 786-020 12:48 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:48 pm.
  • 786-021 12:49 PM · 20 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Dr. Charles A. Hoffman, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., James H. Cavanaugh, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:49 pm to 1:09 pm.

All 37 conversations from September 25, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 786-019, September 25, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/786-019 (accessed October 12, 2026).