Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 851 › Conversation 851-002

Nixon alone in the Oval Office on Jane Wyman and Hollywood

Tuesday, February 6, 1973 · 4:49 PM–4:59 PM ET · Oval Office · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation851-002 on Tape 851StartTuesday, February 6, 1973 at 4:49 PMEndTuesday, February 6, 1973 at 4:59 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 851-002 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon dictates a personal letter to actress Jane Wyman to express his admiration for her performance in the film "So Big." During the dictation, Nixon critiques the declining quality of contemporary Hollywood and European cinema, contrasting it with the superior artistry of older films. He notes that he and First Lady Pat Nixon frequently rely on older movie catalogs for entertainment during their weekends at Camp David.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Here, Jane.
Thank you.
No doubt.
No doubt.
No.
movie fans, period.
The difficulty we have at present is that so many of the movies coming out of Hollywood, not to mention those that come out of Italy, could that come out of Europe?
are so inferior that we just don't enjoy the very background.
Constantly, we often, on weekends at Camp David, search through the catalogs of older movies and have lunch on them.
Very good.
We scratched the British last Saturday night.
For the first time, on that Sunday night, for the first time, we saw you.
And the burgers were so big.
It was a superb performance.
And I only wish that more movies of this quality remain today.
Thank you very much.

NARA Description

On February 6, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:49 pm and 4:59 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 851-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 851-2

Date: February 6, 1973
Time: Unknown between 4:49 pm and 4:59 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President dictated a letter to Jane Wyman.

       Movies
             -Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
             -Hollywood, Europe
                    -Inferiority
             -Older movies
                    -Camp David
                    -So Big
                    -Edna Ferber
                    -Quality

The President finished dictating at an unknown time before 4:59 pm.

Also recorded on February 6, 1973

  • 043-032 2:47 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 2:47 pm to 2:50 pm.
  • 043-033 2:50 PM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:50 pm and 11:50 pm.
  • 043-034 2:50 PM · 27 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:50 pm and 11:50 pm.
  • 409-017 2:52 PM · 1 hr 34 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, Stephen B. Bull, Henry A. Kissinger, Rose Mary Woods, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:52 pm to 4:26 pm.
  • 851-001 4:32 PM · 18 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:32 pm to 4:49 pm.
  • 851-003 4:49 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), Rose Mary Woods, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:49 pm and 5:11 pm.
  • 851-004 5:11 PM · 58 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Arthur F. Burns, George P. Shultz, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:11 pm to 6:10 pm.
  • 851-005 6:12 PM · 1 hr 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:12 pm and 7:19 pm.

All 39 conversations from February 6, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 851-002, February 6, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/851-002 (accessed October 12, 2026).