Note that this release is partial. On July 11, 2007, tapes 33, 388, and 813 were released. On December 2, 2008, the remaining tapes from November 1972 and December 1972 were released.

Finding Aid

• Download the complete finding aid, which includes a detailed description of the conversations, information on how the tapes were processed according to the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 (PRMPA) (44 USC 2111 note) and its implementing regulations, as well as the 2007 deed of gift, and background information on the Nixon White House Tapes.

Online Audio

All the conversations covered by this release are available online in MP3 and FLAC format:

• November 1972

Participants

• Conversations in this release involve a variety of participants including White House staff members H. R. Haldeman, Charles W. Colson, Henry A. Kissinger, Ronald L. Ziegler, John D. Ehrlichman, Leonard Garment, Harry S. Dent, Stephen B. Bull, and Alexander P. Butterfield. They also include Members of Congress, members of the Cabinet, candidates for public office, and political supporters.

Topics

• While conversations address a variety of issues and document the daily routine of the President and his staff, they especially detail discussions of the 1972 Presidential and Congressional elections and plans for the reorganization of the President’s second term administration.

• Tape subject logs, which indicate the specific topics discussed in each conversation, can be searched on this web site by going to Advanced Search and selecting "Tape Subject Logs" in the drop-down box. You may also request a free Finding Aid CD-ROM, which contains a searchable index, by contacting the Richard Nixon Presidential Library. Please contact us at the preceding link if you need any assistance in using the tapes.

Restriction History

• In July 2007 with the establishment of the Nixon Presidential Library, the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace Foundation signed a deed of gift donating large portions of previously withdrawn conversations from the White House tapes. Conversations determined to fall within the scope of the Nixon Foundation’s deed of gift, were reviewed according to the terms of the deed. Accordingly, access to the Nixon materials, including the tapes, is now governed by the PRMPA, its implementing public access regulations, the 1996 Tapes Settlement Agreement, and the 2007 deed of gift.
  
  
• In the course of processing the tapes, the Nixon Presidential Materials Staff restricted a total of approximately nineteen minutes worth of conversations.
  1. According to PRMPA and the 2007 deed of gift, the archivists determined that approximately six minutes remained under the restriction category “G” and would be returned to the Nixon Estate.
  2. Under the deed of gift, the archivists withheld only three minutes for privacy.
  3. In the course of processing these recordings, the archivists determined that approximately thirteen minutes required restriction because the conversations or room noise were too unintelligible to review.
  4. The archivists withheld only twelve seconds for restriction category “A” (release would violate a federal statute or agency policy).
  5. Lastly, the archivists only restricted five seconds worth of conversation for reasons of national security (restriction category “B”).

About this Release

• spans November 3-19, 1972
• totals approximately 11½ hours
• there are 165 conversations

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