Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 798 › Conversation 798-010

Nixon & Price on Speechwriting and Television broadcasting

Saturday, October 14, 1972 · 10:58 AM–11:01 AM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Price, Raymond K., Jr.Conversation798-010 on Tape 798StartSaturday, October 14, 1972 at 10:58 AMEndSaturday, October 14, 1972 at 11:01 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 798-010 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and speechwriter Raymond K. Price, Jr. discuss the final draft of a televised address, specifically addressing concerns regarding word count and broadcast timing requirements for the Committee to Re-elect the President. Nixon mandates changes to a personal anecdote in the speech, ordering the removal of his brother David's name to maintain anonymity and avoid press scrutiny. The two also coordinate the scheduling of upcoming meetings related to the drafting process.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yeah.
Yeah.
Ray, I just approved the final draft.
That's a very good effort.
I like that.
The reason I had the impression that it was shorter is that I didn't realize it had gone up to 2,000 words.
But we want to keep
That's what I thought.
So basically, in the future, let's run them about this one, 1700 will run.
In a 15 minute broadcast, we should go 13 and a half minutes.
Because one of the reasons it isn't like presidential, they have to have the political synopsis.
This is paid for by the committee to reelect the president.
It takes a little bit of time.
This is a change that I have made.
where I called that boy.
Now, I have stricken out the name David in both cases, the point being that I don't want him to be that identifiable, and I don't want the letter to be put out.
You understand?
What I mean is if anybody in the press asks about it, it's kind of, the point being we don't know what this boy, the brother, is up to.
So I just said, my brother,
but I want you to know why I've done that.
See, because we haven't consulted about using the letter, but we don't identify the letter.
You seem to think there's a problem there.
Very personal.
And the point is, though, I want us all to know that if they were not going to put out the letter or identify it, the only identification we have is it's from the Midwest.
Why don't we leave that in here?
Are you excited?
Well, I thought we were meeting at 7 o'clock.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Any problems?
Well, I don't need it now.
I don't need it right away.
Don't worry too much about it.
We can just move on to some of the others.
But if we can't get it done, we'll wait until next week.
OK. Fine.
We've got one hill.
OK. Fine.

NARA Description

On October 14, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:58 am to 11:01 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 798-010 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 798-10

Date: October 14, 1972
Time: 10:58 am - 11:01 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Raymond K. Price, Jr.

[See Conversation No. 31-45]

Also recorded on October 14, 1972

  • 798-005 10:39 AM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:39 am and 10:42 am.
  • 798-006 10:39 AM · 55 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:39 am and 10:42 am.
  • 031-044 10:42 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:42 am and 10:58 am.
  • 798-007 10:42 AM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, and William E. Timmons met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:42 am to 10:56 am.
  • 798-008 10:56 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:56 am and 10:58 am.
  • 798-009 10:56 AM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:56 am and 10:58 am.
  • 031-045 10:58 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. talked on the telephone from 10:58 am to 11:01 am.
  • 798-011 11:01 AM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:01 am and 11:17 am.

All 36 conversations from October 14, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 798-010, October 14, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/798-010 (accessed October 10, 2026).