{"conversationCode":"036-122","tapeNumber":36,"conversationNumber":122,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-036-122","startDateTime":"1973-01-30T23:56:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1973-01-30T23:57:00.000Z","startDate":"30-Jan-1973","startTime":"6:56 PM","endDate":"30-Jan-1973","endTime":"6:57 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Brennan, Peter J.;","description":"On January 30, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Peter J. Brennan talked on the telephone from 6:56 pm to 6:57 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 036-122 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":"5.3","chronRelease":"Fifth Chronological Release: Part III","chronReleaseDate":"23-Jun-2009","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 36-122\n\nDate: January 30, 1973\nTime: Between 6:56 pm and 6:57 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nThe President talked with Patrick J. Buchanan.\n\n[See Conversation No. 406-28]\n\n       Information on civilians killed by Communists in Vietnam War\n             -New York Times","filename":["036-122.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Brennan, Peter J."],"prevCode":"036-121","nextCode":"036-123","transcript":[{"start":1.38,"end":18.64,"text":"Get me an estimate of the number of civilians, the times that are distorted and very poorly done, but the number of civilians, and this includes assassinated, killed, et cetera, et cetera, by the North Vietnamese in the 10 years of the war."},{"start":19,"end":19.91,"text":"And the VC, right."},{"start":20.27,"end":20.87,"text":"You see what I mean?"},{"start":20.89,"end":21.17,"text":"Yes, sir."},{"start":21.19,"end":25.75,"text":"What I mean, Pat, is there are so many civilians who have been killed."},{"start":26.88,"end":27.54,"text":"You see what I mean?"},{"start":27.9,"end":28.89,"text":"Right, right."},{"start":28.91,"end":33.94,"text":"I'm looking at the goddamn assassination thing, but I mean when they shell and unlock, they're killing civilians deliberately, right?"},{"start":34.2,"end":34.42,"text":"Right."},{"start":35.11,"end":35.97,"text":"Okay, sir."},{"start":35.99,"end":36.15,"text":"Bye-bye."},{"start":36.35,"end":38.16,"text":"Fine, rather than just aiming a military target, see?"},{"start":38.56,"end":39.2,"text":"Okay, fine, sir."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon directed Patrick J. Buchanan to gather data on civilian casualties attributed to North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces during the Vietnam War. This request was intended to counter what the President perceived as biased and distorted reporting by the New York Times regarding war atrocities. Nixon specifically sought evidence of deliberate targeting and assassinations to highlight the enemy's disregard for civilian life.","topics":["Vietnam War","Patrick J. Buchanan","Media bias","Civilian casualties","Propaganda","New York Times"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T05:06:36.320Z"},"topicSlugs":["vietnam-war","patrick-j-buchanan","media-bias","civilian-casualties","propaganda","new-york-times"],"audioDurationSec":46,"audioFiles":[{"file":"036-122.mp3","bytes":1106169,"durationSec":45.96,"bitrate":192544,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:29.542Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/036-122.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/036-122","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/36/conversation-036-122","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}