Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 817 › Conversation 817-014

Nixon & Woods on White House gifts and Political contributors

Thursday, November 30, 1972 · 12:10 PM–12:15 PM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Woods, Rose MaryConversation817-014 on Tape 817StartThursday, November 30, 1972 at 12:10 PMEndThursday, November 30, 1972 at 12:15 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 817-014 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and his personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, discuss the logistics of procuring high-end gifts, specifically music boxes, for cabinet members and major political contributors. Nixon reviews song lists for the boxes and instructs Woods to coordinate orders while maintaining discretion regarding the recipients. The pair also considers the acquisition of high-quality writing pads during Woods' upcoming trip to New York to ensure appropriate presidential gift-giving materials.

  • White House gifts
  • Rose Mary Woods
  • Political contributors
  • Cabinet members
  • Procurement

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Oh, Rose, on those songs, do I just call you tomorrow and then repeat the numbers after I'm done studying them?
Yeah.
Great, great.
Well, I'll do it tomorrow.
And then she can go ahead and order the boxes because I, and if you could be thinking in terms of people, I mean, very discreetly, I don't want to be on there.
For example, I'm thinking, for example, some of the cabinet people that are leaving, I might give them to, you see.
Yeah, I'm going to give them that, but, you know, sort of an extra thing.
You know, it's a little, a little, you know, it's sort of like the tax rate, except a hell of a lot more expensive.
But I'm so glad the prices are good, $125, $150.
Good.
But you see, it's so, you might talk with a little more .
Yeah, yeah, he said .
Yeah, I've been talking to him, but he said he's out of touch, I know, for the rest of the week.
But at the end of the week, we've got to win on the names.
I'm thinking about Tom and contributors and good people like that.
And do you think we ought to perhaps... No, it's too much to give to family and people, really.
We don't give gifts anyway.
Yeah.
I think we should retain it.
I think it should be just the top ten contributors.
I think it should be the...
Okay.
And when you're in New York, if you are going to... Why don't you just drop by and get that?
It doesn't have to be the same one.
Just provide it into the paper and tear us off easily.

NARA Description

On November 30, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:10 pm and 12:15 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 817-014 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 817-14

Date: November 30, 1972
Time: Unknown between 12:10 pm and 12:15 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Rose Mary Woods.

      White House gifts
            -Music boxes
                   -Song list
                          -The President’s review
                                  -Marjorie P. Acker
                   -Orders
                          -Acker
                   -Recipients
                          -Cabinet officers
                   -Compared to ashy trays
                   -Cost
                   -Maurice H. Stans’ schedule
                          -Stans’ conversations with the President
                   -Recipients
                          -Contributors
                    -62-                     62

                  NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                           Conversation No. 817-17 (cont’d)

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

[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift during
chronological review 2007-2013]

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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 12/20/2022.
Segment will remain closed.]
[Personal Returnable]
[817-014-w001]
[Duration 13s]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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

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

       Writing pads
              -Purchase
                     -Wood’s trip to New York
                     -Quality

Also recorded on November 30, 1972

  • 817-006 11:34 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 11:34 am and 11:49 am.
  • 817-007 11:34 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Zosimo T. Monzon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:34 am and 11:49 am.
  • 817-008 11:34 AM · 51 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:34 am and 11:49 am.
  • 817-009 11:34 AM · 38 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:34 am and 11:49 am.
  • 817-012 11:49 AM · 20 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Tricia Nixon Cox, Stephen B. Bull, and Jeanne Wilson Davis met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:49 am to 12:10 pm.
  • 817-013 12:10 PM · 41 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:10 pm and 12:15 pm.
  • 817-015 12:15 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:15 pm to 12:16 pm.
  • 817-016 12:17 PM · 53 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, Nguyen Phu Duc, Tran Kim Phuong, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Stephen B. Bull, White House photographer, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:17 pm to 1:11 pm.

All 28 conversations from November 30, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 817-014, November 30, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/817-014 (accessed October 12, 2026).