Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 791 › Conversation 791-005

Nixon, Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization & Leyden on PATCO

Tuesday, October 3, 1972 · 12:17 PM–12:24 PM ET · Oval Office ·6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization; Leyden, John F.; Poli, Robert E.; Sturgil, Robert C.; Cashen, Henry C., II; White House photographerConversation791-005 onTape 791StartTuesday, October 3, 1972 at 12:17 PMEndTuesday, October 3, 1972 at 12:24 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 791-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with leaders of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), including John F. Leyden, Robert E. Poli, and Robert C. Sturgil, to discuss the union's relationship with the administration and air traffic safety. The discussion touched upon Nixon's personal experiences with air travel and his wartime naval service involving aircraft control, as well as comparisons between aviation and automobile safety. The meeting concluded with a ceremonial presentation of presidential memorabilia to the union representatives.

PATCO
Aviation safety
Labor relations
Presidential diplomacy
Nixon military service

Audio

Download MP3 · 8.2 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).

John Lane, Mr. President.

Well, how are you, Mr. President?

I'm glad to meet you.

I'm Paul.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I'm Chris.

I'm Mr. Foster.

Oh, we've got the whole car here.

Very well, guys.

Congratulations.

Thank you very much.

You want to explain something?

I'm sure they're helping.

Yeah.

Here we are.

Thank you.

Long hours.

That's what I was going to say.

Yeah.

We want to work with you.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Yeah.

That's good.

I'm going to pick on the colleague.

We'll take one first.

All right.

Are you a viewer?

Yes, sir.

Oh, yeah.

I was just elected to office.

Did you work the coming of Andrews?

Yes.

I don't think she's least of all in the crowd.

Keep up.

That was a great moment.

Great start.

Where are we?

I don't know.

We have to do the next one.

I guess that'll be here at this moment.

All right.

See you.

Bye.

Good.

Thank you.

It was wonderful.

And because wives are always wonderful.

Right.

Here's the seal.

You can see the drawer in there.

There.

That's where the pen is.

So, uh, you can, uh, sort of not part of the domain law.

That's your, that's your, that's your, that's your, that's your, that's your, that's your, that's your,

I was in the Navy.

Airplane crashes, a hit line.

Automobiles, right at this moment, there are probably 30 people in each one of those.

That's right.

Actually, we need to keep track.

Let's see what time it is.

You mean all the destinies are out.

We need to keep track.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

This is so interesting.

This is great.

I'd like to give a little advice.

Thank you.

Good luck to you.

Thank you.

NARA Description

On October 3, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and officers of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, including John F. Leyden, Robert E. Poli, and Robert C. Sturgil, as well as Henry C. Cashen, II and the 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 791-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 791-5

Date: October 3, 1972
Time: 12:17 pm - 12:24 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with John F. Leyden, Robert E. Poli, Robert C. Sturgil and Henry C. Cashen
II; the White House photographer was present at the beginning of the meeting.

         Introductions

         Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization [PATCO]
             -Morale
                  -Comparison to 1968
             -Relationship with Administration
             -Department of Transportation

         [Photograph session]
             -Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins

         Presidential air travel
             -Peking, Moscow, Samarkand
             -Lt. Col. Ralph D. Albertazzi
                  -The President’s view
                       -Peking, Moscow
                             -Henry A. Kissinger's trips

                                        (rev. Nov-03)

         Layden
            -Cleveland
                -Schedule
                    -Andrews Air Force Base
                        -Unknown place

         Anti Ballistic Missile [ABM] Treaty

         Draft

         Presidential cuff links
             -Presidential seal

         Pins
                -Wives

         Administration’s relationship with PATCO

         The President's war service
             -Navy
             -Aircraft controllers
             -South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command [SCAT]
                 -Duties
                      -Equipment
                      -Casualties

         Airplane safety
             -Compared to automobile safety

Leyden et al. left at 12:24 pm.

Also recorded on October 3, 1972

030-042 11:56 AM · 8 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:56 am and 12:06 pm.
030-043 11:56 AM · 13 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and Frederic V. Malek talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:56 am and 12:06 pm.
791-003 11:56 AM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Manolo Sanchez, White House operator, unknown person(s), Frederic V. Malek, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:56 am to 12:06 pm.
791-004 12:07 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Joseph L. Matthews, William F. Hauck, William F. Rhatican, Melville L. Stephens, White House photographer, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:07 pm to 12:16 pm.
791-006 12:24 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:24 pm and 12:27 pm.
791-007 12:27 PM · 20 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:27 pm to 12:47 pm.
030-044 12:50 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:50 pm and 12:59 pm.
355-001 12:50 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:50 pm and 12:59 pm.

All 64 conversations from October 3, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 791-005, October 3, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/791-005 (accessed September 18, 2026).