{"conversationCode":"320-024","tapeNumber":320,"conversationNumber":24,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-320-024","startDateTime":"1972-02-08T19:54:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-02-08T19:56:00.000Z","startDate":"8-Feb-1972","startTime":"2:54 PM","endDate":"8-Feb-1972","endTime":"2:56 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ruth, Earl B.;","description":"On February 8, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Earl B. Ruth met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:54 pm to 2:56 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 320-024 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"EOB","recordingDevice":"Old Executive Office Building","latitudeEstimated":38.897567,"longitudeEstimated":-77.039147,"chronCode":3,"chronRelease":"Third Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"28-Feb-2002","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 320-24\n\nDate: February 8, 1972\nTime: 2:54 pm - 2:56 pm\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with Earl B. Ruth.\n\n[See also Conversation No. 20-66]","filename":["320-024.mp3"],"tapeStart":"00:46:07","tapeEnd":"00:47:26","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Ruth, Earl B."],"prevCode":"320-023","nextCode":"320-025","transcript":[{"start":0.12,"end":15.95,"text":"So, you know, I haven't got anything important, except to say, Tim was telling me you had a birthday yesterday, and I didn't want to miss my old Tar Heel friend."},{"start":15.97,"end":19.19,"text":"I didn't realize you were such an old fella."},{"start":19.21,"end":22.59,"text":"If you keep going, you're gonna catch up with me before too long."},{"start":22.61,"end":25.84,"text":"I'm only three years ahead of you."},{"start":27.08,"end":27.66,"text":"Have a good day."},{"start":27.68,"end":28.84,"text":"If you have a good party, I hope."},{"start":30.39,"end":32.53,"text":"Great."},{"start":33.01,"end":33.71,"text":"Great."},{"start":33.73,"end":41.26,"text":"Well, we appreciate your good support."},{"start":41.28,"end":43.79,"text":"Fine."},{"start":44.09,"end":46.13,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":46.15,"end":46.25,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":46.27,"end":46.93,"text":"I understand."},{"start":47.11,"end":49.17,"text":"I understand."},{"start":50.64,"end":52.02,"text":"You know how I feel."},{"start":52.04,"end":59.47,"text":"I hate deficits as much as you do, but the main thing we're trying to do, Earl, is, of course, North Carolina is fortunately doing better on the employment side than some other states, but the main thing, we're just trying to get that stand on employment down, and this is one thing that, you know, the experts tell us to do."},{"start":59.85,"end":68.3,"text":"Believe me, you're going to see a balanced budget for a lot in this office."},{"start":68.32,"end":68.42,"text":"Okay."},{"start":68.44,"end":68.7,"text":"Thanks, Earl."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon met with Representative Earl B. Ruth for a brief courtesy call to offer birthday wishes and acknowledge their ongoing political alliance. The discussion touched upon the administration's economic policy, specifically addressing concerns regarding federal budget deficits and the broader objective of reducing unemployment. Nixon reassured Ruth of his commitment to pursuing a balanced budget while managing state-specific economic performance.","topics":["Birthday","Economic Policy","Federal Budget","Unemployment","Political Relations","North Carolina"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T14:53:38.440Z"},"topicSlugs":["birthday","economic-policy","federal-budget","unemployment","political-relations","north-carolina"],"audioDurationSec":69,"audioFiles":[{"file":"320-024.mp3","bytes":2752052,"durationSec":68.66,"bitrate":320646,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:41.568Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/320-024.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/320-024","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/320/conversation-320-024","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}