{"conversationCode":"251-051","tapeNumber":251,"conversationNumber":51,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-251-051","startDateTime":"1971-05-04T17:12:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-05-04T17:13:00.000Z","startDate":"4-May-1971","startTime":"1:12 PM","endDate":"4-May-1971","endTime":"1:13 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Macomber, William B., Jr.;","description":"On May 4, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and William B. Macomber, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:12 pm to 1:13 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 251-051 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"EOB","recordingDevice":"Old Executive Office Building","latitudeEstimated":38.897567,"longitudeEstimated":-77.039147,"chronCode":1,"chronRelease":"First Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"5-Oct-1999","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 251-51\n\nDate: May 4, 1971\nTime: 1:12 pm - 1:13 pm\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with William B. Macomber, Jr.\n\n[See Conversation No. 42-86]","filename":["251-051.mp3"],"tapeStart":"03:12:53","tapeEnd":"03:14:15","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Macomber, William B., Jr."],"prevCode":"251-050","nextCode":"251-052","transcript":[{"start":1.03,"end":1.39,"text":"Hello?"},{"start":1.41,"end":2.79,"text":"Hello?"},{"start":2.89,"end":14.1,"text":"Bill, I just wanted you to know that I thought that was a fine job you did yesterday of grabbing that flag when these people tried to take it down."},{"start":14.12,"end":19.87,"text":"Now that, uh, I know all the heat people take around now, but, you know, these judges mean something."},{"start":20.01,"end":23.37,"text":"You walked out there and grabbed it, too."},{"start":23.47,"end":25.17,"text":"Didn't get scarred up?"},{"start":26.09,"end":26.19,"text":"No."},{"start":26.98,"end":28.42,"text":"Hey, I think really that you're right."},{"start":28.46,"end":31.13,"text":"They, uh, they're not, they're not interested in the fight."},{"start":31.15,"end":34.94,"text":"They just want to do damage and let people run away."},{"start":34.95,"end":36.8,"text":"You tell them I called and packed up too, will you?"},{"start":36.84,"end":38.64,"text":"All right, Bill."},{"start":38.66,"end":39.3,"text":"All right."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon called William B. Macomber, Jr. to personally commend him for his intervention during a protest the previous day where he physically prevented demonstrators from removing an American flag. Nixon expressed strong support for Macomber's actions, framing the incident as a defense of national symbols against agitators seeking only to cause damage. The brief exchange served to bolster morale and demonstrate presidential approval for Macomber's confrontational approach to the protesters.","topics":["Protest activity","American flag","William B. Macomber Jr.","Executive support","Civil unrest"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T11:48:33.154Z"},"topicSlugs":["protest-activity","american-flag","william-b-macomber-jr","executive-support","civil-unrest"],"audioDurationSec":41,"audioFiles":[{"file":"251-051.mp3","bytes":1630877,"durationSec":40.65,"bitrate":320998,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:38.006Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/251-051.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/251-051","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/251/conversation-251-051","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}