Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 911 › Conversation 911-018

Nixon, Brock & Baker on Tennessee and Centennial Celebration

Thursday, May 3, 1973 · 11:03 AM–11:10 AM ET · Oval Office · 7 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Brock, William; Baker, Howard H., Jr.; McMahan, Ronald; Waldon, C. E.; Beard, J. W.; Cheeseman, Robert; Reese, Jack; Wright, Alan; Moon, Kitty; Moore, Horace N.; Moore, Horace N. (Mrs.); Timmons, William E.; Friedersdorf, Max L.; Atkins, Oliver F. ("Ollie")Conversation911-018 on Tape 911StartThursday, May 3, 1973 at 11:03 AMEndThursday, May 3, 1973 at 11:10 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 911-018 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Senators Howard Baker and William Brock, along with a delegation of Tennessee officials and constituents, to participate in a ceremonial event. The group discussed the centennial of Martin, Tennessee, and finalized plans for the President’s potential attendance at the town's July 4th commemoration. During the session, the President accepted various gifts, including letters from schoolchildren regarding the Vietnam cease-fire, and engaged in informal photo opportunities with the visitors.

Tennessee
Centennial Celebration
Ceremonial Event
Vietnam Cease-fire
Public Relations

Audio

Download MP3 · 13.1 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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You're welcome.

Thank you.

All right, guys.

All right, now this is the name of our great state, you guys are the great senators.

I wish

You're tall enough to be here today.

I'm already asked to leave.

Go ahead and leave, Mr. President.

That's what it's like to see the array.

Yeah.

She has two big dogs.

Right, right.

I like that picture.

It's really scary.

Oh, yeah.

It's scary.

This is the heart.

We all

I really admire, you know, the teachers, mothers, fathers, and kids building it.

And they brought it to me every day through December and January.

They went out and brought the cameras and set it for everybody.

And I said,

We have a presidential seat.

All right.

Thank you.

That should be it.

Well, that was a great one.

NARA Description

On May 3, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, William Brock, Howard H. Baker, Jr., Ronald McMahan, C. E. Waldon, J. W. Beard, Robert Cheeseman, Jack Reese, Alan Wright, Kitty Moon, Horace N. Moore, Mrs. Horace N. Moore, William E. Timmons, Max L. Friedersdorf, and Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:03 am to 11:10 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 911-018 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 911-18

Date: May 3, 1973
Time: 11:03 am - 11:10 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with William E. Brock III, Howard H. Baker, Jr., Ronald McMahan, C. E.
Waldon, J. W. Beard, Robert Cheeseman, Jack Reese, Alan Wright, Kitty Moon, Horace N.
Moore, Mrs. Horace N. Moore, William E. Timmons, Max Friedersdorf, and Oliver F. (“Ollie”)
Atkins.

       Introductions
              -Greetings to Baker and Brock [?]
              -C. E. Waldon
                     -Mayor of Martin, Tennessee
                     -Centennial
              -Robert Cheeseman
                     -Martin
              -Jack Reese
              -Alan Wright
              -Fay [?] Moore
                                      -28-

             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                      Conversation No. 911-33 (cont’d)

        -Horace Moore
               -Washington, DC

Arrangements for photographs
      -Tennessee
             -Baker and Brock
             -Centennial commemoration
                     -President’s attendance
                     -July 4

President’s foreign visitors
       -Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
       -Kakeui, Tanaka
       -Haile Selassie
               -Lions
               -Dog

Presentation of gifts
       -Letters regarding Vietnam cease-fire
               -Fourth grade children
       -Photograph [?] with names

Youth
        -Teachers, parents
               -[First name unknown] Meyer [?]

Presentation of gifts by President

Congressmen
      -Investigation

President’s schedule
       -Timmons

Candidates

John B. Connally
                                             -29-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                             Conversation No. 911-33 (cont’d)

               -Party affiliation

Brock et al. left at 11:10 a.m.

Also recorded on May 3, 1973

911-017 11:01 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:01 am and 11:03 am.
911-019 11:10 AM · 32 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:10 am and 11:11 am.
911-020 11:11 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Thomas S. Foley, David J. Heerensperger, William Sterr, Jr., William Sterr, Sr., James Lucero, Frank Hewlett, William E. Timmons, Max L. Friedersdorf, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:11 am to 11:14 am.
911-021 11:16 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Samuel L. Devine, William Mnich, William E. Timmons, Max L. Friedersdorf, and Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:16 am to 11:18 am.
911-022 11:18 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:18 am and 11:19 am.
911-023 11:19 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Barry M. Goldwater, William E. Timmons, Max L. Friedersdorf, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:19 am to 11:24 am.
911-024 11:25 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Edward J. Derwinski, Mabel Liang, Yuan Liang, Mrs. Yuan Liang, William E. Timmons, Max L. Friedersdorf, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:25 am to 11:28 am.
911-025 11:28 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:28 am and 11:30 am.

All 42 conversations from May 3, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 911-018, May 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/911-018 (accessed October 15, 2026).