{"conversationCode":"009-120","tapeNumber":9,"conversationNumber":120,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-009-120","startDateTime":"1971-09-22T20:53:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-09-22T20:54:00.000Z","startDate":"22-Sep-1971","startTime":"4:53 PM","endDate":"22-Sep-1971","endTime":"4:54 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Buchanan, Patrick J.;","description":"On September 22, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan talked on the telephone from 4:53 pm to 4:54 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 009-120 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":2,"chronRelease":"Second Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"26-Oct-2000","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 9-120\n\nDate: September 22, 1971\nTime: 4:53 pm - 4:54 pm\n\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nThe President talked with Patrick J. Buchanan.\n\n[See Conversation No. 279-24]\n\n     Engine\n          -William D. Ruckelshaus\n          -Robert P. Griffin\n          -Announcement\n               -Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]\n               -William E. Timmons\n               -John C. Whitaker","filename":["009-120.mp3"],"tapeStart":"03:36:13","tapeEnd":"03:37:12","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Buchanan, Patrick J."],"prevCode":"009-119","nextCode":"009-121","transcript":[{"start":1.82,"end":29.19,"text":"yeah yes sir on that question on ruckelshaus's new engine uh i think i mean they don't have to worry about griffin on that i just do they do they think they'd like to have it announced out there i think uh what i got when my guy was inquiring about the epa stuff was that it was going to come out in a day or two so i assume i thought it might be a good thing for us to drop in response to a question you know just let it drop right in the press's lap"},{"start":30.52,"end":30.89,"text":"Fine."},{"start":31.12,"end":35.81,"text":"Why don't you check with, well, who is it over there that's in charge of that?"},{"start":35.83,"end":37.27,"text":"Ruckelshaus would be the guy."},{"start":37.29,"end":43.78,"text":"Yeah, Ruckelshaus, but you better check with... Tim and Jermaine on the... No, no, no, no, no, no, not the Congress."},{"start":44.75,"end":47.11,"text":"Whitaker, I think, is the staff man, isn't he?"},{"start":47.13,"end":48.41,"text":"Yeah, that's right, that's right."},{"start":48.47,"end":51.28,"text":"Why don't you just see if there's any reason why we shouldn't do it that way?"},{"start":51.64,"end":52.1,"text":"Okay, fine."},{"start":52.12,"end":56.04,"text":"I mean, I don't see any gain, I mean, I think any gain to put it out here or something."},{"start":56.08,"end":56.46,"text":"We'll see."},{"start":56.94,"end":57.42,"text":"Okay."},{"start":57.45,"end":57.65,"text":"Okay."},{"start":57.69,"end":58.61,"text":"Right on, Bob."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Patrick Buchanan discuss the public relations strategy for the announcement of a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) engine initiative. Nixon advises against a formal White House rollout, suggesting instead that the information be released casually in response to a press inquiry. Buchanan is tasked with consulting William Ruckelshaus and John Whitaker to evaluate the viability and potential risks of this low-profile approach.","topics":["Environmental Protection Agency","Public Relations","William D. Ruckelshaus","John C. Whitaker","Government Communications"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-05T23:00:32.033Z"},"topicSlugs":["environmental-protection-agency","public-relations","william-d-ruckelshaus","john-c-whitaker","government-communications"],"audioDurationSec":59,"audioFiles":[{"file":"009-120.mp3","bytes":1426284,"durationSec":59.35,"bitrate":192251,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:21.709Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/009-120.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/009-120","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/9/conversation-009-120","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}