{"conversationCode":"261-034","tapeNumber":261,"conversationNumber":34,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-261-034","startDateTime":"1971-07-01T19:22:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-07-01T19:55:00.000Z","startDate":"1-Jul-1971","startTime":"3:22 PM","endDate":"1-Jul-1971","endTime":"3:55 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\");","description":"On July 1, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. (\"Bob\") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:22 pm and 3:55 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 261-034 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. 261-34\n\nDate: July 1, 1971\nTime: Unknown between 3:22 pm and 3:55 pm\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman\n\n     Request for speech draft\n         -William L. Safire\n         -Draft\n         -John K. Andrews, Jr.\n         -William H. Carruthers\n\n     President’s schedule\n          -Appointment with Henry A. Kissinger","filename":["261a.mp3","261b.mp3","261c.mp3","261d.mp3"],"tapeStart":"01:56:40","tapeEnd":"02:17:37","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\")"],"prevCode":"261-033","nextCode":"261-035","tapeTranscriptFile":"261a.mp3,261b.mp3,261c.mp3,261d.mp3","transcript":[{"start":7013.56,"end":7026.19,"text":"Could you send over the SAFAR draft to, I sent it out to the grantee, I just want to see his last draft."},{"start":7026.21,"end":7030.45,"text":"Yeah, I have, I don't mean the color cast, but I mean the last draft of his."},{"start":7033.13,"end":7037.33,"text":"Yeah, no, not the script, but what he wrote, what he suggested, just to get the remarks."},{"start":7059.13,"end":7060.19,"text":"I thought I would send it over."},{"start":7060.22,"end":7067.49,"text":"I'm just going to hang it on."},{"start":7067.51,"end":7068.03,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":7069.71,"end":7071.07,"text":"Oh, I was defeated."},{"start":7075.61,"end":7080.13,"text":"You know, okay, all right, I have, look, I don't need it, because I see I've got a second draft, which is probably as close as, and it's fine, it's fine, it's fine."},{"start":7080.15,"end":7087.59,"text":"I just, reading the entries thing, I think it comes off better than the other ones, don't you think, Sam Herman?"},{"start":7087.61,"end":7088.49,"text":"I, and the others, and so forth."},{"start":7088.51,"end":7097.81,"text":"I don't know, the more I think about it, the more it has to be winged."},{"start":7102.82,"end":7108.54,"text":"You don't know where you're going to come home."},{"start":7108.56,"end":7110.02,"text":"I know how to finish on time and all that crap."},{"start":7110.04,"end":7116.62,"text":"That's why I'll keep talking to her other than all those people."},{"start":7116.65,"end":7121.57,"text":"I've told her this before."},{"start":7121.59,"end":7124.33,"text":"I'm going to wait until I have a few of them."},{"start":7124.35,"end":7124.85,"text":"Or they can come in."},{"start":7124.87,"end":7125.65,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":7125.67,"end":7127.65,"text":"Sure, sure."},{"start":7127.67,"end":7128.67,"text":"They can do that."},{"start":7128.69,"end":7128.79,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":7128.81,"end":7130.19,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":7130.21,"end":7130.39,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":7132.02,"end":7146.26,"text":"I'm going to see Henry ."},{"start":7146.34,"end":7149.68,"text":"OK. 5, 12, 12, 9, 9, I'll finish at 6 maybe."},{"start":7149.72,"end":7149.82,"text":"OK."},{"start":7370.83,"end":7370.9,"text":"you"}],"transcriptBoundary":{"start":7000,"end":8257,"startMethod":"tape_time","endMethod":"tape_time"},"transcriptConfidence":"low","transcriptSource":"bigtape","aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discuss the status of a speech draft originally prepared by William Safire, with Nixon ultimately deciding to rely on a later version for his remarks. The President expresses a preference for a more improvisational speaking style, noting his intention to \"wing\" parts of the presentation rather than adhering strictly to a prepared script. Additionally, the pair coordinates the President’s schedule, confirming an upcoming meeting with Henry Kissinger.","topics":["Speechwriting","William Safire","Henry Kissinger","Presidential scheduling","Public speaking"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T12:20:24.770Z"},"topicSlugs":["speechwriting","william-safire","henry-kissinger","presidential-scheduling","public-speaking"],"audioDurationSec":1257,"audioFiles":[{"file":"261a.mp3","bytes":117433574,"durationSec":7339.6,"bitrate":128000,"missing":false},{"file":"261b.mp3","bytes":117441933,"durationSec":7340.12,"bitrate":127999,"missing":false},{"file":"261c.mp3","bytes":117408078,"durationSec":7338,"bitrate":128000,"missing":false},{"file":"261d.mp3","bytes":28433763,"durationSec":1777.11,"bitrate":127999,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":true,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:38.007Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/261a.mp3","https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/261b.mp3","https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/261c.mp3","https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/261d.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/261-034","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/261/conversation-261-034","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}