{"conversationCode":"309-008","tapeNumber":309,"conversationNumber":8,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-309-008","startDateTime":"1971-12-24T18:50:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-12-24T18:51:00.000Z","startDate":"24-Dec-1971","startTime":"1:50 PM","endDate":"24-Dec-1971","endTime":"1:51 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Hughes, James D. (\"Don\");","description":"On December 24, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and James D. (\"Don\") Hughes met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:50 pm to 1:51 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 309-008 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. 309-8\n\nDate: December 24, 1971\nTime: 1:50 pm - 1:51 pm\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with Gen. James D. (“Don”) Hughes.\n\n[See Conversation No. 17-9]","filename":["309-008.mp3"],"tapeStart":"01:42:00","tapeEnd":"01:42:59","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Hughes, James D. (\"Don\")"],"prevCode":"309-007","nextCode":"309-009","transcript":[{"start":0.03,"end":25.89,"text":"So, I forgot to tell you, but I want you to call out a pastor on the line, if you will, and say to your colleague, and the president of your class, that there is, that there will be an exception."},{"start":25.91,"end":27.05,"text":"And the president said that he told you to call a pastor."},{"start":27.07,"end":27.83,"text":"So, if you could, I would do the same."},{"start":27.85,"end":28.79,"text":"In fact, there is nothing I can do to cause it."},{"start":29.43,"end":32.64,"text":"All right."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon met with his military aide, General James D. Hughes, to provide specific instructions regarding a personal favor or exception for an acquaintance. The President directed Hughes to contact a pastor to communicate that an exception had been granted on his behalf. This brief exchange served to facilitate a message of authorization for the individual in question.","topics":["personal favors","military aide","clerical communication","Presidential directive"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T14:22:54.044Z"},"topicSlugs":["personal-favors","military-aide","clerical-communication","presidential-directive"],"audioDurationSec":33,"audioFiles":[{"file":"309-008.mp3","bytes":1312179,"durationSec":32.66,"bitrate":321448,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:38.956Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/309-008.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/309-008","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/309/conversation-309-008","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}