Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 827 › Conversation 827-013

Nixon, Jones & Balling on White House gifts and Oval Office furnishings

Wednesday, December 20, 1972 · 2:20 PM–2:25 PM ET · Oval Office · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.; Nixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan); Jones, Edward V.; Jones, Edward V. (Mrs.); Balling, James, Jr.; Balling, James, Jr. (Mrs.); Balling, Nella; Balling, Maria; White House photographerConversation827-013 on Tape 827StartWednesday, December 20, 1972 at 2:20 PMEndWednesday, December 20, 1972 at 2:25 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 827-013 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon hosted Edward V. Jones, the James Balling, Jr. family, and a White House photographer for a brief courtesy visit in the Oval Office. During the session, the President presented the guests with official White House gifts, including Presidential Seal pins and Apollo viewmasters. The group engaged in informal conversation regarding the office's historical furnishings, such as Steuben glass and crewelwork by Julie Nixon Eisenhower, while Nixon expressed appreciation for the guests' contributions to the Committee for the Preservation of the White House.

  • White House gifts
  • Oval Office furnishings
  • Committee for the Preservation of the White House
  • First Lady Pat Nixon
  • Public relations

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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We have one of those Apollo viewers for all the children.
All right.
Ladies and gentlemen.
Well, I got to get the little jerk off.
Well, well.
This is never...
Hello, how are you?
Nice to meet you.
Hi.
Oh, good, right?
Oh, you're not high.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
All right, all right, this is hot.
No?
You were standing in front of us a few years ago.
There we go.
But his arm, he's got something strange.
Yeah, we're making copies of each one of them, each one of these pictures.
And he's got little Christmas candles for people to see.
Where are they?
This is for you.
That's a Christmas.
That's the presidential seal from the flag.
It's the same sign for boys.
This is the old one.
This is the old one.
This is the old one.
There's an Apollo binder to look like this.
You can see what it goes up and down.
Oh, that's fine.
They'll remember it years later.
You might want to see this.
This is a...
This is a stupor made especially by, I believe, Professor Hanenberg and the rest of the community.
And, uh, he spent his lessons on this.
The one I don't have at the moment, yes, but he's the man of the world.
They do beautiful food, and they have, uh, that's the White House, where the British turned 18, well, by 1830, which is how they probably looked in those days.
One of the very unusual portraits of what?
In his real uniform, you know, that's so interesting.
That's, uh, that's Julie's impression, I mean, her... No, that's not the one Julie made.
The first piece she ever made.
What's her name?
And, uh, you know, she gave it to her daddy today, and she was waiting, and we were waiting for her to come in the day after, and she was better than my dad.
I mean, isn't that nice?
Now it's him.
He didn't know how to go, he didn't know how to get up.
Well, we appreciate all of your wonderful work.
We hope you have a good one.
We wish you a great night.
I mean, these are great places out there.
You take care of yourself.
I will.
I believe you.
I believe you.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On December 20, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, Edward V. Jones, Mrs. Edward V. Jones, James Balling, Jr., Mrs. James Balling, Jr., Nella Balling, Maria Balling, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:20 pm to 2:25 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 827-013 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 827-13

Date: December 20, 1972
Time: 2:20 pm - 2:25 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

       The President’s schedule
            -Meeting with Saul Pett
            -Meeting with [Edward V. Jones and family]
                  -White House gifts
                         -Apollo viewmaster

Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon, Jones, Mrs. Edward V. Jones, James Balling, Jr., Mrs. James Balling,
Jr., Nella Balling, and Maria Balling entered and Bull left at 2:20 pm. The White House
photographer was present at the beginning of the meeting.

       Greetings
             -Introductions

       Photograph session
            -Arrangements

       [Photograph session]
            -Copies
                                               -36-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                              Conversation No. 827-13 (cont’d)

       White House gifts
            -Cuff links and pins
                  -Presidential Seal
            -Apollo viewmaster

       Oval Office
            -Furnishings
                   -Steuben glass [“Star of the President”]
                          -Walter H. Annenberg
                          -Malachite
                   -British prints of Washington, DC, circa 1830
                   -Crewelwork by Julie Nixon Eisenhower
                          -1960 election

       Committee for the Preservation of the White House
           -The President’s appreciation

       Farewells

Mrs. Nixon, et al., left at 2:25 pm.

Also recorded on December 20, 1972

  • 827-011 1:51 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:51 pm and 1:53 pm.
  • 827-012 1:53 PM · 27 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Rose Mary Woods, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:53 pm to 2:20 pm.
  • 827-014 2:25 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:25 pm and 2:35 pm.
  • 827-015 2:36 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:36 pm to 2:40 pm.
  • 827-016 2:40 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:40 pm and 2:45 pm.
  • 827-017 2:40 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:40 pm and 2:45 pm.
  • 827-018 2:45 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:45 pm to 2:46 pm.
  • 827-019 2:47 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:47 pm to 2:55 pm.

All 47 conversations from December 20, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 827-013, December 20, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/827-013 (accessed October 12, 2026).