{"conversationCode":"281-005","tapeNumber":281,"conversationNumber":5,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-281-005","startDateTime":"1971-10-21T12:30:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-10-21T13:33:00.000Z","startDate":"21-Oct-1971","startTime":"8:30 AM","endDate":"21-Oct-1971","endTime":"9:33 AM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President);","description":"On October 21, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:30 am and 9:33 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 281-005 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"EOB","recordingDevice":"Old Executive Office Building","latitudeEstimated":38.897567,"longitudeEstimated":-77.039147,"chronCode":2,"chronRelease":"Second Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"26-Oct-2000","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 281-5\n\nDate: October 21, 1971\nTime: Unknown between 8:30 am and 9:33 am\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President rehearsed a speech.\n\n[A transcript of the final broadcast of this speech appears in Public Papers of the Presidents,\nRichard M. Nixon, 1971, pp. 1053-1057]\n\nThe President replayed his remarks on a tape recorder.","filename":["281-005-splice.mp3"],"tapeStart":"00:23:11","tapeEnd":"00:29:58","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)"],"prevCode":"281-004","nextCode":"281-006","tapeTranscriptFile":"281a.mp3,281b.mp3,281c.mp3","transcript":[{"start":1387.31,"end":1391.34,"text":"Okay."},{"start":1391.64,"end":1406.17,"text":"The fight was made by a friend."},{"start":1407.71,"end":1410.05,"text":"The President of the United States, when he is in office."},{"start":1417.51,"end":1418.61,"text":"The most important appointments."},{"start":1425.56,"end":1426.24,"text":"Before your turn."},{"start":1426.3,"end":1434.94,"text":"The President of the United States makes an average of over 5,000 appointments."},{"start":1437.32,"end":1444.89,"text":"various positions, the various government positions."},{"start":1444.91,"end":1457.8,"text":"By far the most important appointments he makes are those to the Supreme Court of the United States."},{"start":1459.26,"end":1464.66,"text":"For that reason, I would like to share with you tonight my reasons for naming"},{"start":1466.25,"end":1486.74,"text":"Selecting two individuals."},{"start":1486.79,"end":1489.69,"text":"Two individuals from the card."},{"start":1494.85,"end":1511.4,"text":"that I will be sending to the Senate tomorrow, where I approve her sentence, these words."},{"start":1511.44,"end":1521.95,"text":"And the president's come and gone, but the court, through its decisions,"},{"start":1525.76,"end":1531.25,"text":"gone forever."},{"start":1531.29,"end":1548.02,"text":"But the Supreme Court, through its decision, affects the presidents and all Americans for generations to come."},{"start":1548.06,"end":1550.6,"text":"This has come and gone."},{"start":1550.74,"end":1554.26,"text":"But the Supreme Court, through its decision,"},{"start":1555.86,"end":1557,"text":"goes on forever."},{"start":1557.06,"end":1567.94,"text":"They will be making decisions that will affect your lives and the lives of your children for generations to come."},{"start":1568.02,"end":1580.57,"text":"I'd like to share with you tonight my reasons for naming the two names, or for naming the two individuals."},{"start":1585.17,"end":1597.18,"text":"My reason is for selecting the two outstanding individuals whose names I will select in Senate law for their approving."},{"start":1598.08,"end":1611.83,"text":"For appointing to the Supreme Court the two outstanding individuals whose names I will select in Senate law for their confirmation law."},{"start":1614.49,"end":1627.51,"text":"to the Senate tomorrow for their confirmation."},{"start":1633.65,"end":1634.71,"text":"That's what I should do."},{"start":1634.73,"end":1635.63,"text":"As you might imagine."},{"start":1635.67,"end":1642.38,"text":"So, there's not just a great majority, but actually presidents and all Americans for generations to come."},{"start":1647.6,"end":1653.08,"text":"And actually, the president said, all Americans, for generations to come."},{"start":1653.18,"end":1658.15,"text":"And actually, we just have these words."},{"start":1658.29,"end":1662.79,"text":"You guys, there's a problem that's gotta go."},{"start":1668.16,"end":1671.12,"text":"This is what goes on forever, right?"},{"start":1685.12,"end":1688.87,"text":"and that the Supreme Court, through its decisions, goes on forever."},{"start":1692.61,"end":1697.37,"text":"We will make decisions which will affect your lives and the lives of your children for generations to come."},{"start":1697.39,"end":1707.3,"text":"I should like to share with you tonight my reasons for selecting officials whose names"},{"start":1711.7,"end":1737.75,"text":"I am nominated for the basis of the Supreme Court, whose names I will send to the Senate tomorrow for confirmation."},{"start":1737.99,"end":1739.88,"text":"Over the past two months,"},{"start":1741.67,"end":1759.64,"text":"scores of outstanding lawyers, the names of scores of outstanding lawyers from all over the country."},{"start":1759.66,"end":1766.62,"text":"Over the past two months, I have received thousands of letters from all over the country urging me to apply."},{"start":1771.85,"end":1774.45,"text":"Exceptional ability."},{"start":1774.63,"end":1785.43,"text":"Exceptional quality."},{"start":1785.79,"end":1794.68,"text":"Over the past two... Over the past two months."}],"transcriptBoundary":{"start":1391,"end":1794.73,"startMethod":"llm-alignment","endMethod":"llm-alignment"},"transcriptConfidence":"high","transcriptSource":"bigtape","aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon utilized time in his Executive Office Building suite to refine and rehearse a forthcoming address. He recorded his practice remarks, reviewing the delivery and content to ensure the speech was prepared for final broadcast. This session focused on polishing the rhetoric intended for a national audience regarding significant policy decisions.","topics":["Speech rehearsal","Public speaking","Executive communication","Presidential address","Media preparation"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T13:09:41.994Z"},"topicSlugs":["speech-rehearsal","public-speaking","executive-communication","presidential-address","media-preparation"],"audioDurationSec":407,"audioFiles":[{"file":"281-005-splice.mp3","bytes":6508087,"durationSec":406.73,"bitrate":128009,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T14:10:31.035Z","originalFilename":["281a.mp3","281b.mp3","281c.mp3"],"spliceSource":{"spliceType":"bigtape","sourceFiles":["281a.mp3"],"cutStart":1389.5,"cutEnd":1796.23,"adjustedStart":1389.5,"adjustedEnd":1796.23,"boundaryMethod":"llm-alignment","confidence":"high","splicedAt":"2026-09-18T14:10:31.035Z"},"transcriptPrev":{"segments":41,"replacedAt":"2026-09-18T14:14:03.602Z"},"audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/281-005-splice.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/281-005","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/281/conversation-281-005","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}