RICHARD NIXON TAPES: "This isn't a joke, is it?"

Rep. Florence Dwyer & RN
July 5, 1971
006-149
White House Telephone

President Richard Nixon calls an incredulous Rep. Florence Dwyer to wish her a happy birthday. At first, however, she thinks it must be a joke and doesn't believe that it is the president phoning her.

(Photo: Richard Nixon campaigning for senate, 1950.)

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• President
• Richard
• Nixon
• White
• House
• Tapes
• phone
• call
• telephone
• calls
• Congress
• july
• Julie
• USA
• congresswoman
• New
• Jersey

[Wizjkahna]

It becomes evident that Nixon regrets making this call.

[nixonsinatra]

She's got to be tipsy!

[PaganLiberty]

This is how my daughter would sound if Justin Bieber were to call her on her birthday.

[Sept11Discovery]

SUPPORT THE SEPT 11TH, RESEARCH AND DISCOVERY PROJECT!

[tomitstube]

just listening to these two windbag bullshit artists just warms your heart don't it?

[KennyTheDay]

this is painful. nothing worse than hearing a president squirming to get off a phone call. haha!

[louie77]

@Wizjkahna haha, yea he keeps saying "yep, ok..yep, yeah yeah. ok now, alright now, oookkk now" and she keeps blabbering on lol. Nice of him to call though

[windstorm1000]

Nice of Nixon, though, to wish her a Happy Birth Day--of courese it could be to drum up the House for his agenda, but still--shows another side of this complex man.

[windstorm1000]

This is hilarious--the nixon tapes could be so campy!! such entertainment! And this woman has to be Bette Davis's stand in.

[TheCoon71]

a little drunky!!!

[tinyflyonthewall]

Actually Nixon was pretty generous with this woman, he usually doesn't suffer fools gladly and finds an exit to many of these types of calls fairly quickly, I'm surprised he didn't wrap it up earlier, but instead found other things to add to the conversation.

She certainly sounds as though she was loaded, but it's possible she talks this way all the time, who knows?

[CounterCultureLives]

@CounterCultureLives (Response pt. 2)

For all of our problems, this is still a nation where the powers on Capitol Hill can shift from one party's favor to another, or the nation's leadership at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. can change from one party to another, without bloodshed in the streets.

As one of the finest political leaders of out time, and one of the most effective Speakers of The House, The Late, Great, Sam Rayburn used to admonish his colleagues, "Disagree without being disagreeable".