{"conversationCode":"282-031","tapeNumber":282,"conversationNumber":31,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-282-031","startDateTime":"1971-10-20T21:40:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-10-20T21:49:00.000Z","startDate":"20-Oct-1971","startTime":"5:40 PM","endDate":"20-Oct-1971","endTime":"5:49 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\");","description":"On October 20, 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 5:40 pm and 5:49 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 282-031 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. 282-31\n\nDate: October 20, 1971\nTime: Unknown between 5:40 pm and 5:49 pm\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with an unknown person [H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman].\n\n     Supreme Court appointments\n          -Ronald L. Ziegler\n               -Timing of announcement","filename":["282-031.mp3"],"tapeStart":"02:29:35","tapeEnd":"02:31:34","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\")"],"prevCode":"282-030","nextCode":"282-032","transcript":[{"start":6.77,"end":16.39,"text":"Uh, as Ziegler, I suppose, has already tagged on the other line and checked on the briefing to see whether he is a leader or whether he's still technical."},{"start":16.41,"end":20.03,"text":"I've decided to make the announcement tomorrow night, and I want to ask for 7.30 at the time."},{"start":20.05,"end":24.75,"text":"I'm going to have to go prime on this."},{"start":24.77,"end":25.95,"text":"If you want to know, I don't think so."},{"start":25.98,"end":29.48,"text":"I don't want to bother with that much."},{"start":29.5,"end":31.92,"text":"But 7.30 is there now."},{"start":31.94,"end":36.1,"text":"7.30, and I will announce the very, very"},{"start":37.3,"end":45.89,"text":"And I will announce both nominations tomorrow night at 7 p.m."},{"start":45.91,"end":46.01,"text":"Yes."},{"start":46.17,"end":66.27,"text":"And I will announce both nominations tomorrow night at 7 p.m. And I will announce both nominations tomorrow night at 7 p.m."},{"start":66.88,"end":73.85,"text":"This nomination is very close."},{"start":74.13,"end":74.19,"text":"Bye."},{"start":74.21,"end":74.47,"text":"See you later."},{"start":74.49,"end":74.65,"text":"Okay, bye."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman coordinate the final logistics for announcing two pending Supreme Court nominations. The President decides to bypass a full prime-time television address, opting instead for a 7:00 p.m. announcement the following evening. This decision finalized the timing for a sensitive political maneuver intended to manage the public reveal of his judicial selections.","topics":["Supreme Court","judicial nominations","White House communications","media strategy","presidential appointments"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T13:18:43.782Z"},"topicSlugs":["supreme-court","judicial-nominations","white-house-communications","media-strategy","presidential-appointments"],"audioDurationSec":75,"audioFiles":[{"file":"282-031.mp3","bytes":3001799,"durationSec":74.91,"bitrate":320563,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:38.615Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/282-031.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/282-031","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/282/conversation-282-031","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}