{"conversationCode":"338-023","tapeNumber":338,"conversationNumber":23,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-338-023","startDateTime":"1972-05-09T16:05:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-05-09T16:06:00.000Z","startDate":"9-May-1972","startTime":"12:05 PM","endDate":"9-May-1972","endTime":"12:06 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Radford, Arthur W.;","description":"On May 9, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Arthur W. Radford met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:05 pm and 12:06 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 338-023 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. 338-23\n\nDate: May 9, 1972\nTime: Between 12:05 and 12:06 pm\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with Adm. Arthur W. Radford.\n\n[See Conversation No. 24-52]","filename":["338a.mp3","338b.mp3"],"tapeStart":"00:51:46","tapeEnd":"00:53:08","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Radford, Arthur W."],"prevCode":"338-022","nextCode":"338-024","tapeTranscriptFile":"338a.mp3,338b.mp3","transcript":[{"start":3086.39,"end":3086.67,"text":"Hello?"},{"start":3089.87,"end":3090.05,"text":"Hello?"},{"start":3090.07,"end":3104.52,"text":"Well, I just thought I'd let you know that, uh, when I made this decision, I thought, well, this is what our director would recommend."},{"start":3104.54,"end":3112.2,"text":"It's gonna take time, uh, as all these things do, but, uh, we just couldn't stand by it."},{"start":3112.9,"end":3120.76,"text":"to grow up in South Vietnam and dig for our people."},{"start":3120.78,"end":3129.23,"text":"We risked the election to bring some of the rest, but the election is worth more than the United States."},{"start":3129.29,"end":3130.41,"text":"It's going great out there."},{"start":3130.47,"end":3131.53,"text":"You know, they laid those mines."},{"start":3131.57,"end":3133.09,"text":"They told me I got a report from a later owner."},{"start":3133.67,"end":3134.37,"text":"They didn't."},{"start":3134.41,"end":3138.91,"text":"They lose money and lay it up."},{"start":3138.99,"end":3139.21,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":3146.44,"end":3155.32,"text":"It just helps everyone out, doesn't it?"}],"transcriptBoundary":{"start":3069.25,"end":3178.375,"startMethod":"silence","endMethod":"silence"},"transcriptConfidence":"high","transcriptSource":"bigtape","aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon consulted Admiral Arthur W. Radford regarding his recent, politically risky decision to escalate military action in Vietnam through the mining of North Vietnamese harbors. Nixon expressed confidence that the strategic move was necessary despite the potential domestic fallout and highlighted the importance of protecting American interests. The discussion centered on the military effectiveness of the mining operation and its broader geopolitical implications.","topics":["Vietnam War","Operation Pocket Money","Naval blockade","Military strategy","Domestic politics"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T15:59:44.510Z"},"topicSlugs":["vietnam-war","operation-pocket-money","naval-blockade","military-strategy","domestic-politics"],"audioDurationSec":82,"audioFiles":[{"file":"338a.mp3","bytes":116742589,"durationSec":7313.26,"bitrate":127705,"missing":false},{"file":"338b.mp3","bytes":100655368,"durationSec":6305.43,"bitrate":127706,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":true,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:41.909Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/338a.mp3","https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/338b.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/338-023","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/338/conversation-338-023","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}