{"conversationCode":"416-038","tapeNumber":416,"conversationNumber":38,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-416-038","startDateTime":"1973-03-15T18:18:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1973-03-15T19:48:00.000Z","startDate":"15-Mar-1973","startTime":"1:18 PM","endDate":"15-Mar-1973","endTime":"2:48 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President);","description":"On March 15, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:18 pm and 2:48 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 416-038 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"EOB","recordingDevice":"Old Executive Office Building","latitudeEstimated":38.897567,"longitudeEstimated":-77.039147,"chronCode":"5.4","chronRelease":"Fifth Chronological Release: Part IV","chronReleaseDate":"8-Dec-2010","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 416-38\n\nDate: March 15, 1973\n\f                                              -45-\n\n                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM\n\n                                                               Conversation No. 416-38 (cont’d)\n\nTime: Unknown between 1:18 pm and 2:48 pm\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President dictated a letter to Robert C. (“Bob”) Wilson.\n\n******************************************************************************\n\n[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift during\nchronological review 2007-2013]\n\n       Answer to letter of March 14\n           -Appreciation for work for Republican Party\n                  -1950 campaign\n                  -1956 campaign\n                  -1960 campaign\n                  -Contribution to party\n                         -Congressional races\n           -Fortunes of Republican Party\n                  -Congressional majorities\n                  -1958 recession\n                  -1970 economic downturn\n                         -Impact on election\n                  1974 election\n                         -Republican gains\n           -Wilson’s role\n                  -Leadership\n\n*****************************************************************************","filename":["416-038.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)"],"prevCode":"416-037","nextCode":"416-039","transcript":[{"start":8.63,"end":24.5,"text":"We appreciate you for all the good times, for our party, for the summer, for Christmas, and, uh, for other things."},{"start":24.52,"end":27.01,"text":"We wish all the best to you today."},{"start":27.03,"end":27.27,"text":"We love you."},{"start":27.29,"end":27.53,"text":"We love you."},{"start":27.55,"end":27.83,"text":"We love you."},{"start":30.41,"end":45.53,"text":"It's hard to realize."},{"start":46.99,"end":54.39,"text":"And then even more exciting."},{"start":61.32,"end":82.19,"text":"We're working on the 1936 campaign."},{"start":82.2,"end":88.03,"text":"We're trying to usher in that period."},{"start":88.05,"end":89.57,"text":"We're working on the campaign schedule in 1960."},{"start":90.19,"end":107.33,"text":"to the body of Christ, in a sense."},{"start":108.6,"end":111.76,"text":"Relationship, which varies from that."},{"start":111.78,"end":114.04,"text":"To a fully relationship, which varies from that."},{"start":114.06,"end":117.69,"text":"That we have never quite been elected to a republic."},{"start":119.59,"end":136.97,"text":"And we said that our candidates that we have done better and can be done better."},{"start":137.59,"end":145.86,"text":"Results for the House that has been used over the summer period."},{"start":145.88,"end":148.8,"text":"Politics and"},{"start":149.76,"end":161.02,"text":"In America, they're just running against us."},{"start":162.2,"end":167.81,"text":"They're too young for us to, you know, relate to each other."},{"start":167.83,"end":173.44,"text":"The recession made it too big for us."},{"start":173.46,"end":174.32,"text":"One, there was a difficult economy in 1970."},{"start":174.34,"end":176.14,"text":"We had to go on, which thwarted our efforts to overcome through the pandemic."},{"start":178.18,"end":193.62,"text":"I believe we can lay this on the foundation to win the House in 1974."},{"start":193.64,"end":198.16,"text":"We're in the same boat now."},{"start":198.18,"end":200.38,"text":"We wish the Republican members of our Republican candidates all the best."},{"start":200.41,"end":206.71,"text":"And I'm sure life is very easy to see if you're as successful as your chance will be."},{"start":206.73,"end":207.29,"text":"We wish you the best."},{"start":211.56,"end":221.12,"text":"I have a wish for more scientists to be in the department."},{"start":221.14,"end":224.22,"text":"It's a wonderful leadership, which I'm so proud of."},{"start":224.24,"end":224.72,"text":"I'm very proud of it."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon dictated a letter to Republican Representative Robert C. Wilson to express gratitude for his long-standing leadership and service to the party. The discussion reviewed past political challenges, including the economic downturns of 1958 and 1970, while analyzing the party’s historical performance in congressional campaigns. Ultimately, the President used the correspondence to foster morale and set an optimistic strategic foundation for potential Republican gains in the 1974 midterm elections.","topics":["Republican Party strategy","1974 midterm elections","Robert C. Wilson","Campaign history","Economic policy"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T18:57:49.409Z"},"topicSlugs":["republican-party-strategy","1974-midterm-elections","robert-c-wilson","campaign-history","economic-policy"],"audioDurationSec":230,"audioFiles":[{"file":"416-038.mp3","bytes":1660928,"durationSec":229.53,"bitrate":57888,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:46.739Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:43:36.562Z","transcriptGapSeconds":86,"transcriptGapShare":0.37,"transcriptQuality":"incomplete","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/416-038.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/416-038","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/416/conversation-416-038","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}