{"conversationCode":"438-004","tapeNumber":438,"conversationNumber":4,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-438-004","startDateTime":"1973-05-17T17:32:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1973-05-17T17:33:00.000Z","startDate":"17-May-1973","startTime":"1:32 PM","endDate":"17-May-1973","endTime":"1:33 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.;","description":"On May 17, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:32 pm to 1:33 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 438-004 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"EOB","recordingDevice":"Old Executive Office Building","latitudeEstimated":38.897567,"longitudeEstimated":-77.039147,"chronCode":"5.5","chronRelease":"Fifth Chronological Release: Part V","chronReleaseDate":"21-Aug-2013","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 438-4\n\nDate: May 17, 1973\nTime: 1:32 pm - 1:33 pm\nLocation: Old Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler.\n\n[See Conversation No. 46-92]","filename":["438-004.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Ziegler, Ronald L."],"prevCode":"438-003","nextCode":"438-005","transcript":[{"start":0.22,"end":0.62,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":1.12,"end":9.8,"text":"Were you able ever to get to Howard Smith by any chance?"},{"start":9.82,"end":11.64,"text":"Fine."},{"start":11.66,"end":11.82,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":12.32,"end":12.54,"text":"Fine."},{"start":12.56,"end":13.24,"text":"You might talk to him."},{"start":13.26,"end":20.86,"text":"And when you do, you could just say that the President is deeply grateful that he stayed long enough to call once he sees him."},{"start":20.88,"end":22.14,"text":"And I'm glad to talk to him about it."},{"start":30.44,"end":45.12,"text":"If I didn't see that, what'd he do?"},{"start":45.14,"end":50.01,"text":"What'd he say?"},{"start":50.03,"end":50.23,"text":"All right."},{"start":50.25,"end":50.45,"text":"All right."},{"start":50.47,"end":51.65,"text":"That's right, that's right."},{"start":51.67,"end":52.41,"text":"Don't worry about it now."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler discuss the necessity of contacting Howard Smith to convey the President's personal gratitude. The brief exchange focuses on coordinating this outreach, with Nixon emphasizing his appreciation for Smith's past actions. Ziegler is tasked with facilitating this communication to ensure the sentiment is properly relayed.","topics":["Howard Smith","Presidential communication","Public relations","Political outreach","Gratitude"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T20:08:11.463Z"},"topicSlugs":["howard-smith","presidential-communication","public-relations","political-outreach","gratitude"],"audioDurationSec":60,"audioFiles":[{"file":"438-004.mp3","bytes":1918976,"durationSec":59.85,"bitrate":256490,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:20:04.739Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/438-004.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/438-004","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/438/conversation-438-004","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}