{"conversationCode":"282-040","tapeNumber":282,"conversationNumber":40,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-282-040","startDateTime":"1971-10-20T22:11:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-10-20T22:17:00.000Z","startDate":"20-Oct-1971","startTime":"6:11 PM","endDate":"20-Oct-1971","endTime":"6:17 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 6:11 pm and 6:17 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 282-040 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. 282-40\n\nDate: October 20, 1971\nTime: Unknown between 6:11 pm and 6:17 pm\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman [?]\n\n     Announcement of Supreme Court appointees\n         -Writer\n              -William L. Safire\n              -Contents of speech","filename":["282-040.mp3"],"tapeStart":"02:45:01","tapeEnd":"02:46:05","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\")"],"prevCode":"282-039","nextCode":"282-041","transcript":[{"start":0.29,"end":4.13,"text":"You have to have a very fast writer, of course, on this."},{"start":4.47,"end":7.12,"text":"It's important."},{"start":7.26,"end":11.12,"text":"I think it's better to stop by on the line."},{"start":11.14,"end":17.6,"text":"The line is you take, you don't need to know the net."},{"start":17.66,"end":20.05,"text":"There's a way to know whether it's easy to read, but it's just something to say."},{"start":20.07,"end":20.81,"text":"You have to be a writer."},{"start":20.85,"end":21.77,"text":"You have to be a reporter."},{"start":22.61,"end":25.83,"text":"You have to be a reporter."},{"start":25.85,"end":29.27,"text":"You have to be a reporter."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discussed the strategic communication and drafting process for the upcoming announcement of Supreme Court nominees. Nixon emphasized the necessity of employing a skilled writer, specifically mentioning William L. Safire, to ensure the speech is effectively crafted for public delivery. The conversation focused on the importance of selecting the right tone and reporter-like precision to articulate the appointments clearly.","topics":["Supreme Court appointments","Speechwriting","William L. Safire","Public relations","White House communications"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T13:19:33.611Z"},"topicSlugs":["supreme-court-appointments","speechwriting","william-l-safire","public-relations","white-house-communications"],"audioDurationSec":59,"audioFiles":[{"file":"282-040.mp3","bytes":2350827,"durationSec":58.62,"bitrate":320824,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:38.615Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/282-040.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/282-040","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/282/conversation-282-040","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}