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. 
President
Conversation Topics
President Ronald Reagan and Mexican president Miguel de la Madrid outside the White House during a visit.
Ronald Reagan
'Very Good Friends with Common Interests'
Ronald W. Reagan | Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado
People holding up Clinton Gore campaign signs
Bill Clinton
'Bus Trip Phenomenon'
Bruce Reed | Frank Greer | Leon Panetta
Brent Scowcroft makes notationss in the Oval Office with President George H. W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle
George H. W. Bush
'What We Sought in Eastern Europe'
Brent Scowcroft
President Bush rubs his eyes as Brent Scowcroft talks on the phone and John Sununu stands by
George H. W. Bush
'A Hard Kind of Negotiation'
John H. Sununu
President Ronald Reagan meeting with Martin Anderson in the Oval Office.
Ronald Reagan
'Warmly Ruthless'
Martin Anderson
The aftermath of the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan outside the Washington Hilton Hotel
Ronald Reagan
'You Stay Here Until I Tell You to Leave'
Max Friedersdorf
President Ronald Reagan meets with Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger in the Oval Office.
Ronald Reagan
'You Could Have Said Yes'
Caspar Weinberger
Hillary Clinton presents on healthcare
Bill Clinton
'A Health Care Leadership Conundrum'
Peter Edelman
Robert Byrd standing by as Jay Rockefeller is sworn in by President George H.W. Bush
Bill Clinton
'The Last Bit of Skill'
Eli Jay Segal
Memorial for the Rwanda Genocide
Bill Clinton
'That’s Not Our Problem'
William Perry
President Bill Clinton on the phone in the Oval Office alongside Buddy the dog
Bill Clinton
'Who Are You Looking For?'
Kris Engskov
L. Paul Bremer III shakes hands with American military member while walking at the Baghdad International Airport.
George W. Bush
'Never a Typical Day'
L. Paul Bremer III
Ryan Crocker, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, speaks to a crowd of more than 200 people at the official opening of the Sadr City Rusafa Water Treatment Facility
George W. Bush
'A Hard People'
Ryan Crocker
President George H. W. Bush sitting across from President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev at the Malta Summit in 1989
George H. W. Bush
'Doesn’t Malta Sound Great in November?'
Timothy J. McBride
Secretary of State Colin Powell talking to President George H. W. Bush and others in the Oval Office
George H. W. Bush
'Internalizing the Arguments'
Colin Powell
George H. W. Bush giving a thumbs up at a podium with Barbara Bush standing next to him
George H. W. Bush
'Campaigning versus Governing'
Colin Powell