{"conversationCode":"439-026","tapeNumber":439,"conversationNumber":26,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-439-026","startDateTime":"1973-05-21T21:28:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1973-05-21T21:29:00.000Z","startDate":"21-May-1973","startTime":"5:28 PM","endDate":"21-May-1973","endTime":"5:29 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.;","description":"On May 21, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:28 pm to 5:29 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 439-026 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":"Abuse of Governmental Power Release","aogpSegment":"Segment 0","lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 439-26\n\nDate: May 21, 1973\nTime: 5:28 pm - 5:29 pm\nLocation: Old Executive Office Building\n\nPresident talked with Ronald L. Ziegler.\n\n[See Conversation No. 46-132]","filename":["439-026.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Ziegler, Ronald L."],"prevCode":"439-025","nextCode":"439-027","transcript":[{"start":0.03,"end":12.04,"text":"So, Tyron, on your editing, there's one other point that's related on your first agent."},{"start":12.05,"end":13.68,"text":"The other side, I said, Charlie, you get the answer."},{"start":13.7,"end":16.82,"text":"And I think it's very important that the first sentence always was a change."},{"start":17.11,"end":18.75,"text":"I just like to think allegations are on the rise and have to escalate."},{"start":21.41,"end":35.5,"text":"I don't even hear the proof."},{"start":35.52,"end":38.68,"text":"I think allegations are on the ground, but I believe the president should stick with the whole matter and not require things like that."},{"start":38.7,"end":45.61,"text":"You see, the point, the moment, if there's, you know, I don't know if there's a move to camp, but I don't know if there's a move to pick out, and I don't want them to pick out things like that to say, it's like Henry's comment, you know, that he spoke to the editors out there, that he"}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler discuss the management of public perceptions and media narratives regarding ongoing investigations. The President emphasizes the importance of controlling the framing of allegations to avoid political vulnerability. This brief exchange reflects the administration's strategic focus on shaping the press response to minimize further scrutiny.","topics":["Public relations","Media management","Watergate investigations","Political strategy","Crisis communication"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T20:13:33.939Z"},"topicSlugs":["public-relations","media-management","watergate-investigations","political-strategy","crisis-communication"],"audioDurationSec":60,"audioFiles":[{"file":"439-026.mp3","bytes":1935360,"durationSec":60.37,"bitrate":256452,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:20:04.739Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/439-026.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/439-026","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/439/conversation-439-026","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}