{"conversationCode":"045-020","tapeNumber":45,"conversationNumber":20,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-045-020","startDateTime":"1973-04-26T23:49:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1973-04-26T23:50:00.000Z","startDate":"26-Apr-1973","startTime":"6:49 PM","endDate":"26-Apr-1973","endTime":"6:50 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.;","description":"On April 26, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 6:49 pm to 6:50 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 045-020 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":"5.5","chronRelease":"Fifth Chronological Release: Part V","chronReleaseDate":"21-Aug-2013","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 45-20\n\nDate: April 26, 1973\nTime: 6:49 pm - 6:50 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nThe President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler.\n\n[See also Conversation No. 431-9L]\n\n     Ziegler’s forthcoming telephone call to John W. Dean, III","filename":["045-020.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Ziegler, Ronald L."],"prevCode":"045-019","nextCode":"045-021","transcript":[{"start":1.11,"end":5.52,"text":"Hold on your Dean call until I call you back."},{"start":5.54,"end":8.47,"text":"I want to think just a little bit more about that, okay?"},{"start":8.49,"end":8.75,"text":"Yes, sir."},{"start":8.87,"end":11.74,"text":"I have a call in to him, and I won't be available when he calls back."},{"start":11.92,"end":13.11,"text":"Right, right, right."},{"start":13.12,"end":15.91,"text":"We may just say, well, it's nothing called by."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon instructed Press Secretary Ronald L. Ziegler to postpone his planned telephone call to John W. Dean, III. Nixon requested more time to consider the matter, noting that he would be unavailable when Dean returned his own earlier call. The President ultimately decided to delay the communication to evaluate his strategy regarding Dean during the unfolding Watergate scandal.","topics":["John W. Dean, III","Watergate scandal","White House communications","Presidential strategy"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T07:01:52.928Z"},"topicSlugs":["john-w-dean-iii","watergate-scandal","white-house-communications","presidential-strategy"],"audioDurationSec":22,"audioFiles":[{"file":"045-020.mp3","bytes":714752,"durationSec":22.25,"bitrate":256950,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:20:02.712Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/045-020.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/045-020","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/45/conversation-045-020","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}