Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 831 › Conversation 831-018

Nixon, Johnston & Atkins on Oval Office and Photography

Wednesday, January 3, 1973 · 3:05 PM–3:14 PM ET · Oval Office · 9 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Johnston, J. Bennett, III; Johnston, J. Bennett, III (Mrs.); Johnston, J. Bennett, Jr.; Johnston, J. Bennett, Jr. (Mrs.); Johnston, Mary; Johnston, Hunter; Johnston, Sally; Allums, Betsy; Allums, Bill; Timmons, William E.; Atkins, Oliver F. ("Ollie"); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation831-018 on Tape 831StartWednesday, January 3, 1973 at 3:05 PMEndWednesday, January 3, 1973 at 3:14 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 831-018 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon held a brief, social meeting in the Oval Office with Senator J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., his family, and guests. The primary purpose of the gathering was to facilitate a formal photograph session with the family, coordinated by White House photographer Oliver F. Atkins. During the visit, the President provided informal conversation regarding the history of the Oval Office, his family's philanthropic projects, and pleasantries regarding the Senator's recent election.

Audio

Download MP3 · 12.7 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Thank you.
Thank you.
Well, just a good time to start.
You're 14?
No, 13.
This is my nephew, Bill Allens.
My name is Betsy Allens.
I would agree.
They all were there, and they all got seats in the chamber.
We didn't have a chamber there.
There are not many seats there.
We had incredible luck.
We had written all the other senators and got about 40 seats.
I wanted to make a speech, but I know I didn't.
And this is mine.
This is Charlie McBride.
Oh, you're an administrator.
That's correct.
Have you been here before?
Yes, sir.
I was with Secretary Long.
Secretary Long.
Oh, you're right.
I thought, well, you've got the experience, man.
That's great.
You were with Russell Long earlier.
Oh, yes.
He's been training Russell with smart phones.
That's right.
We thought we'd try a few pictures of you and all.
My first is Senator and me together.
I think it would be a good idea.
Let's see.
So the last time I congratulated you on your side.
Thank you.
There's a license over.
All right.
We're going to make copies of each of these.
Now we're going to send it to his wife.
Are you going to post them?
That's the way we'll do it.
The little girls, I think, if you stand in front of me, honey, you want to stand next to each boy on the side, like that, and look out.
Look out.
Now, smile at those kids.
Now, all the rest of you, you children, come out, and we'll have the rest of the kids have you.
Now, I'm going to get you on the side, from that side.
There we are.
I'll look out here.
Mr. Atkins was the White House Secretary.
He was very famous.
He was the chief reporter for the Saturday Post.
I find him so good.
He'll make copies of this.
When you see that each person gets a copy, that means that each one has one.
I'd like to thank you.
You've been
And that's all that I've got.
And President Truman left the office.
He didn't have them in his library at the time, so I didn't know.
A few years ago, a couple years ago, I went out to see him.
Well, as the British artists saw it, back in 100 years ago, before the wings were gone, when the river was much closer, the river used to be very close to the White House, you see, and then they changed it to another channel.
I can't fight all of them, but you two would if I lived to a, to the Friday night or something.
Friday night.
You know, I'm a great singer.
You guys know that.
You haven't always been a, but that ain't a lie.
That ain't a lie.
That's a, we'll take this question to some other party.
Oh, that's a beautiful thing.
That's what we're gonna do tomorrow.
I'll be up in a minute.
He is an amazing man.
Oh, he was.
He had convinced me all the time that he was a strong man.
Right before he died.
Because he had a tremendous campaign face.
Great history.
He never really thought of any other.
That's the thing, he was a road starter.
I don't know.
She was making it during the 68 campaign, which indicated she was confident we were
And then she gave it to me in the morning.
And I showed it to the television.
Yes, we saw it.
And what she did was that they were so much interested, she gave it to the good husband or something.
And they took it around the country and displayed it.
And they raised over $100,000, you know, getting out the kit, selling the kits for Girl Scouts.
It's alright.
You can buy one of those kitsch arms you're giving to the girls.
Well, anyway, good luck.
And happy years, and happy retimes for all of you.
You'll like winning, of course.
You won't for a while.
Because, you know, it's sort of hard, but you'll do alright.
We like it so much.
You'll do it.
Oh, yes.
Patrick, well, you'll like it.
It's a big weight to throw.
You've got to risk it.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On January 3, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, J. Bennett Johnston, III, Mrs. J. Bennett Johnston, III, J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., Mrs. J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., Mary Johnston, Hunter Johnston, Sally Johnston, Betsy Allums, Bill Allums, William E. Timmons, Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:05 pm to 3:14 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 831-018 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 831-18

Date: January 3, 1973
Time: Between 3:05 pm and 3:14 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., Mrs. J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., Mrs. J. Bennett
Johnston, J. Bennett Johnston, III, Hunter Johnston, Mary Johnston, Sally Johnston, Betsy
Allums, Bill Allums and William E. Timmons. The White House photographer and Stephen B.
Bull were present at the beginning of the meeting.

       Greetings

       Introductions

       Senate
            -Visit to chamber

       White House visit
            -Russell Long

       Photograph session
            -Arrangements
                  -Copies
            -Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins
                  -White House photographer
                  -Saturday Evening Post
            -Copies

       Oval Office
            -Flags
            -Harry S. Truman
                   -Library
                         -Independence, Missouri
            -Painting
                   -White House

       Reception for Freshman Congress members
            -[Thomas] Hale Boggs memorial
                                               -46-

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                         Conversation No. 831-18 (cont’d)

        Tours for children

        Oval Office
             -Photograph
             -White House second floor tours

        Johnston's term
             -Length
             -1972 election

        Rose Garden
             -Tricia Nixon Cox
                   -Wedding

        Oval Office
             -Paintings
                    -George Washington
                         -Rembrandt Peale
             -Julie Nixon Eisenhower
                    -Crewelwork
                         -1968 campaign
                         -Touring exhibit
                              -Fundraising
                                    -Girl Scouts

        Washington DC
            -Living arrangements
            -Football
                  -Washington Redskins
                  -New Orleans Saints

Johnston et al., left at 3:14 pm.

Also recorded on January 3, 1973

  • 035-074 2:52 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:52 pm and 2:59 pm.
  • 831-012 2:52 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:52 pm and 2:59 pm.
  • 831-013 2:52 PM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and William E. Timmons met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:52 pm and 2:59 pm.
  • 035-075 2:59 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, and Thomas P. ("Tip") O'Neill, Jr. talked on the telephone from 2:59 pm to 3:03 pm.
  • 831-016 2:59 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Thomas P. ("Tip") O'Neill, Jr., and Gerald R. Ford met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:59 pm and 3:03 pm.
  • 831-017 3:03 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 3:03 pm and 3:05 pm.
  • 831-019 3:14 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:14 pm to 3:15 pm.
  • 831-020 3:16 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, David M. Abshire, William E. Timmons, and Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:16 pm and 3:31 pm.

All 39 conversations from January 3, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 831-018, January 3, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/831-018 (accessed October 12, 2026).