'Pawn Stars' boss Rick Harrison refuses to buy recording of JFK's angry conversation with seller himself
The guest wanted $100,000 but was not able to get an offer, through no fault of his own.
Sept. 18 2025, Published 11:45 a.m. ET
The sellers on "Pawn Stars" usually walk in with items with historical significance that someone left for them, or something that they bought a while back. There have been instances when Rick Harrison brought in legends, who the items originally belonged to, for authenticating them. But one guest brought something extremely rare, and it was the recording of an agitated John F Kennedy, speaking to the seller himself.
The guest said that he worked the graveyard shift in the Pentagon. He also had a couple of letters from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dated May 21, 1963. The letter confirmed that the guest had taken part in a conversation with the President at approximately 0120 EDT on May 13, 1963. Kennedy was trying to connect to the Army War Room, and it took him much too long for his liking.
The President tried to blame the delay on the Pentagon, but this guest said to him that it was someone else in the White House who had connected to an incorrect number earlier. Basically, he refuted the President’s criticism right then and there. One simply doesn’t talk back to a President, but this guest was not going to take the fall for something he did not do.
The guest said that Kennedy was concerned about the people of Birmingham, Alabama. Thousands had rioted, and there had been reports of explosions in the city, which was connected to the motel that Martin Luther King Jr. had stayed in. In April of 1963, Dr. King had been arrested while protesting against segregation, which did not sit well with a lot of people. Harrison said that this was the time when people saw how bad things were, on national TV.
When it was time to place a value on the tape, the guest said that he wanted $100,000 for the rare piece of history. That was a gigantic sum of money that Harrison was hesitant to even talk about at first. So, he called up Mark Hall-Patton of the Clark County Museum to take a listen to it and ascertain its value. The two drove to the museum, and they all listened to the tape, which was quite intriguing.
The President was clearly agitated that it took him seven whole minutes to reach the War Room. “Evidently, someone at the White House pushed the wrong button, sir. That’s the only explanation,” the guest said to Kennedy. As great as the tape was, Hall-Patton believed that the White House had started recording phone calls at the time and that this would be in the national archives or in the Kennedy Library.
As a result, it did not have much value as a collector’s item. As much as it pained Harrison, he said that he could not offer a deal for it. The guest was also surprised to learn the fact that this conversation was already available elsewhere.
More on Market Realist