{"conversationCode":"285-018","tapeNumber":285,"conversationNumber":18,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-285-018","startDateTime":"1971-10-07T16:16:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-10-07T16:27:00.000Z","startDate":"7-Oct-1971","startTime":"12:16 PM","endDate":"7-Oct-1971","endTime":"12:27 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Safire, William L.;","description":"On October 7, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:16 pm to 12:27 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 285-018 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. 285-018\n\nDate: October 7, 1971\nTime: 12:16 pm - 12:27 pm\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with William L. Safire.\n\n[See Conversation No. 10-127]","filename":["285-018.mp3"],"tapeStart":"02:58:44","tapeEnd":"02:59:28","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Safire, William L."],"prevCode":"285-017","nextCode":"285-019","transcript":[{"start":0.12,"end":22.18,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":22.2,"end":24.22,"text":"And I'll leave out the text that is given to the press, the letters, and that section of the letters."},{"start":24.24,"end":26.28,"text":"It's far more effective for me to just do it if I need to, but I don't have the last minute certainty."},{"start":26.3,"end":27.39,"text":"And the letters will cut down when they have to print."},{"start":27.41,"end":28.49,"text":"And the letters will get out to the side of our story."},{"start":28.51,"end":28.59,"text":"See?"},{"start":29.14,"end":38.27,"text":"Straighten and have that face on."},{"start":38.29,"end":38.76,"text":"That's what I'm saying."},{"start":38.77,"end":38.88,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":38.9,"end":39.22,"text":"See what I mean?"},{"start":39.24,"end":39.44,"text":"That's it."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and speechwriter William Safire discussed the strategic presentation of correspondence to the press to maximize political impact. The President instructed Safire to prioritize the core message by selectively withholding certain letters or texts to ensure the administration's narrative remains clear and compelling. This meeting focused on refining media management techniques to control public perception and avoid potential dilution of the President's key talking points.","topics":["Media relations","Political strategy","Public relations","Message management","Correspondence"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T13:27:43.811Z"},"topicSlugs":["media-relations","political-strategy","public-relations","message-management","correspondence"],"audioDurationSec":39,"audioFiles":[{"file":"285-018.mp3","bytes":1583872,"durationSec":39.45,"bitrate":321213,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:38.615Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/285-018.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/285-018","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/285/conversation-285-018","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}