Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 805 › Conversation 805-015

Nixon & Johnson on Personal support and Wheaton College

Thursday, October 19, 1972 · 12:07 PM–12:08 PM ET · Oval Office · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Johnson, James E.Conversation805-015 on Tape 805StartThursday, October 19, 1972 at 12:07 PMEndThursday, October 19, 1972 at 12:08 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 805-015 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon held a brief personal call with James E. Johnson to express condolences and encouragement regarding a difficult family situation involving Johnson's son. The President offered words of support and discussed Johnson’s upcoming speaking engagement at Wheaton College. Nixon shared a personal anecdote about his own past experience speaking at the institution to offer camaraderie.

  • Personal support
  • James E. Johnson
  • Wheaton College
  • Condolences

Audio

Download MP3 · 1.4 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Hello?
Yeah, I just wanted to tell you I heard about your boy, and I just wanted to wish you the very best.
You've done a great work, and we always want to come out.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, it's one of those things that happens, and I know that it's going to be very hard for you and your family, but just stick in there.
Yeah.
Keep the faith.
Good.
And I talked to Willie Graham the other day.
He said you were going to Wheaton.
Right.
Well, I'm glad you're going out there.
I spoke there many years ago on the Capitol when I was running for vice president.
You can say that when you speak with the president.
I spoke there many years ago before most of them were born.

NARA Description

On October 19, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and James E. Johnson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:07 pm to 12:08 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 805-015 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 805-15

Date: October 19, 1972
Time: 12:07 pm - 12:08 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with James E. Johnson.

[See Conversation No. 31-141]

Also recorded on October 19, 1972

  • 031-140 12:03 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:03 pm and 12:07 pm.
  • 805-011 12:03 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 12:03 pm and 12:07 pm.
  • 805-012 12:03 PM · 27 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:03 pm and 12:07 pm.
  • 805-013 12:03 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:03 pm and 12:07 pm.
  • 805-014 12:03 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:03 pm and 12:07 pm.
  • 031-141 12:07 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and James E. Johnson talked on the telephone from 12:07 pm to 12:08 pm.
  • 370-001 12:38 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:38 pm and 1:48 pm.
  • 370-002 12:38 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:38 pm and 1:48 pm.

All 78 conversations from October 19, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 805-015, October 19, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/805-015 (accessed October 9, 2026).