Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 817 › Conversation 817-001

Nixon with unidentified visitors in the Oval Office on 1972 Presidential…

Tuesday, November 7, 1972 · 11:50 PM–11:59 PM ET · Oval Office · 9 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); [Unknown person(s)]Conversation817-001 on Tape 817StartTuesday, November 7, 1972 at 11:50 PMEndTuesday, November 7, 1972 at 11:59 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 817-001 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with television and radio technicians in the Oval Office to coordinate the technical logistics and countdown for a televised address regarding his 1972 election victory. Following final preparations and seating adjustments, Nixon delivered a live speech expressing appreciation for his electoral support and emphasizing national unity, peace, and his goals for a second term. The brief session concluded immediately after the broadcast, with the President departing for a celebration at the Shoreham Hotel.

Audio

Download MP3 · 11.9 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Yes, sir.
We have to go now, sir.
We have to go.
Don't rush.
I've got to get to the show.
The president is ready.
Stand by, sir.
25 seconds.
All right, sir.
25 seconds.
You count it down.
I won't go home in three or four minutes.
You get home.
All right.
15 seconds.
Okay.
Gershon, you can go.
Let's see.
Stand by in 25 seconds, please.
10 seconds.
And 5.
Good evening, my fellow Americans.
Before going over to the Charlotte Hotel to address the victory celebration, which is in process there, I wanted to take a moment to say a word to all of you in this very personal way, speaking from the Oval Office.
I first want to express my deep appreciation to everyone, the millions of you who gave me your support in the election today.
And I want to express my respect
four million survivors who gave their support to Senator McGovern.
I know that after a campaign, when one loses, he can feel very, very low, and his supporters as well may feel that way.
And when he wins, as you will know when I get over to the shoreline, people are feeling very much bad.
The important thing in our process, however, is to play the game.
And in the great game of life, particularly the game of politics, what is important is that on either side, more Americans voted this year than ever before.
And the fact that you won or you lost must not keep you from keeping in the great game of politics in the years ahead, because the better competition we have between the two parties, between the two men running for office, whatever office that may be, means that
we get the better people and the better programs for our country.
And now that the election is over, it is time to get on with the great task that lies before us.
I've tried to conduct myself in this campaign in a way that would not divide our country, not divide it regionally or by parties or in any other way, because I very firmly believe that what unites America today
is infinitely more important than those things which divide us.
We are united, Americans north, east, west, and south, both parties, in our desire for peace.
Peace with honor, the kind of peace that will last.
And we are moving swiftly toward that great goal, not just in Vietnam, but a new era of peace in which the old relationships between the two superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States,
and between the world's most populous nation, the People's Republic of China, and the United States are changed so that we are on the eve of what could be the greatest generation of peace, true peace, for the whole world that man has ever known.
This is a great goal, bigger than whether we're Democrats or Republicans.
And it's one that I think you will want to work with me, with all of us, to help you achieve.
there are the goals that go with it, the prosperity without war and without inflation that we've all wanted and that we now can have, and the progress for all Americans, the kind of progress so that we can say to any young American, whatever his background, that he or she in this great country has an equal chance to go to the top at whatever field he or she may choose.
I noted in listening to the returns a few minutes ago that several commentators have reflected on the fact that this may be one of the great political victories of all time.
In terms of votes, that may be true.
But in terms of what a victory really is, a huge landslide margin means nothing at all unless it is a victory for America.
it will be a victory for america only in these next four years we all of us can work together to achieve our common great goals of peace at home and peace for all nations of the world and for that new progress and prosperity which all americans deserve i only hope that in these next four years we
can so conduct ourselves in this country, and so meet our responsibilities in the world, in building peace in the world, that years from now, people will look back to the generation of the 1970s and how we conducted ourselves, and they will say, God bless America.
Thank you very much.
I don't think he's on for a while.
Thank you.
Take care, Barbara.
Uh, he just said, hey, Ray, how you doing?
All this time.
You know what?
Yeah, that's kind of funny.
He wasn't used to it.
No.
Yeah, I enjoyed it.
Lion Man went out, I guess.
Did he go out?
I don't know where he went.
He went out there.
He did say something going down.
Right.
What are you doing there?
Yeah, because he, uh, I don't know.
I don't know, but if I focus on the scene and I sat down on it, it wouldn't matter either.

NARA Description

On November 7, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:50 pm and 11:59 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 817-001 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 817-1

Date: November 7, 1972
Time: Unknown between 11:50 pm and 11: 59 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with unknown persons (Television and radio technicians).

       The President’s desk

       The President’s forthcoming speech
              -Text
                     -Typing

       Time of day

       Readiness
             -The President

       Count-down

       The President's speech
              -Duration

       Count-down
             -Presidential seal

The President delivered remarks on being re-elected to the Presidency between 11:54 pm and
11:56 pm.

[See Public Papers of the Presidents, 1972, pp. 1139-1140]

The President left at 11:56 pm.

       The President’s motorcade

       Television line technician’s departure
                     -2-                      2

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                               Conversation No. 817-17 (cont’d)

       The President’s schedule
              -Shoreham Hotel

       The President’s recent speech
              -Filming
                      -Close-up
                      -The President’s desk
              -Sitting

The unknown technicians left at unknown time before 11:59 pm.

Also recorded on November 8, 1972

  • 033-053 12:54 AM · 28 sec — Manolo Sanchez and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:54 am and 1:00 am.
  • 033-054 12:54 AM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:54 am and 1:00 am.
  • 033-055 12:54 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:54 am and 1:00 am.
  • 388-001 12:54 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:54 am and 1:00 am.
  • 388-002 12:54 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:54 am and 1:00 am.
  • 388-003 12:54 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, White House operator, Manolo Sanchez, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:54 am and 1:00 am.
  • 033-056 1:00 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Frank L. Rizzo talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:00 am and 1:10 am.
  • 388-004 1:00 AM · 1 hr 48 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), White House operator, Charles W. Colson, and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:00 am to 3:00 am.

All 95 conversations from November 8, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 817-001, November 8, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/817-001 (accessed October 12, 2026).