Featured Content / Listening to the Presidency

Listening to the Presidency

Candid, unscripted glimpses of American presidents

Explore audio recordings along with contextual materials from several presidential administrations. Miller Center scholars have selected and edited each recording to help visitors gain insights into the presidency.  

 

You can filter Listening to the Presidency conversations by president, topic, and keyword.  
Richard Nixon campaigning
Secret White House tapes

Hear conversations from the secret White House tapes. The Presidential Recordings Program lets users listen in on presidents and their advisers at critical historical moments.
Madeline Albright portrait
Oral histories

Review key excerpts from the Presidential Oral History Program as senior decision-makers reflect on their time in the White House.
LBJ at his desk
Sample conversation

President Johnson asks his mentor, Senator Richard B. “Dick” Russell Jr. [D–Georgia], for advice on the Vietnam War. “It’s the damned worst mess I ever saw,” Russell declares. 
Conversation Topics
President
Dean Rusk standing behind a podium next to a map of Vietnam
Lyndon B. Johnson
'The President Has This Authority'
Lyndon B. Johnson | Dean Rusk
Candid portrait of General William Westmoreland, speaking and gesturing
Lyndon B. Johnson
'He Is a Master Strategist'
Lyndon B. Johnson | Henry R. Luce
Lyndon Johnson standing in front of a bank of microphones giving a press conference
Lyndon B. Johnson
'What I’m Really Worrying About'
Lyndon B. Johnson | McGeorge 'Mac' Bundy
Cartha D. "Deke" DeLoach, Mr. Eldon James, and President Lyndon B. Johnson sit in Oval Office
Lyndon B. Johnson
'That Scares Me'
Lyndon B. Johnson | Cartha D. 'Deke' DeLoach
LBJ standing very close to Richard Russell
Lyndon B. Johnson
'A Wasteful Thing'
Lyndon B. Johnson | Richard B. 'Dick' Russell Jr.
President Lyndon Johnson talks with former President Dwight Eisenhower
Lyndon B. Johnson
'I Didn’t Say I’d Use Atomic Bombs'
Lyndon B. Johnson | Dwight D. Eisenhower
Robert McNamara sitting and talking to LBJ standing
Lyndon B. Johnson
'A Paragraph on Nonproliferation'
Lyndon B. Johnson | Robert McNamara
Nick Katzenbach and LBJ sitting and talking
Lyndon B. Johnson
'It’s Just So Unfair'
Lyndon B. Johnson | Nicholas deB. 'Nick' Katzenbach
LBJ sipping through a straw while Lady Bird and Luci stand by his bed
Lyndon B. Johnson
'Don’t Let Them Get You Down'
Lyndon B. Johnson | Clare Booth Luce
Gerald Ford and LBJ
Lyndon B. Johnson
'It’s for the Economy'
Lyndon B. Johnson | Gerald R. 'Jerry' Ford Jr.
LBJ and advisors sitting around a table
Lyndon B. Johnson
'Reports of Heavy Fighting'
Lyndon B. Johnson | Dean Rusk
LBJ and former President Dwight Eisenhower sitting in chairs
Lyndon B. Johnson
'We Made a Little Progress There'
Lyndon B. Johnson | Dwight D. Eisenhower
LBJ sitting down surrounded by aides
Lyndon B. Johnson
'We’ll Find Some Central Theme'
Lyndon B. Johnson | J. Edgar Hoover
John Lindsay sits in the Oval Office with President Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
'This Country’s in Trouble'
Lyndon B. Johnson | John V. Lindsay
LBJ standing and talking in front of a photo of the USS Pueblo
Lyndon B. Johnson
'We Just Have Got to Act Quickly'
Lyndon B. Johnson | Robert McNamara
US soldiers during Tet Offensive
Lyndon B. Johnson
'It’s Largely a Propaganda Effort'
Lyndon B. Johnson | Robert McNamara