{"conversationCode":"440-039","tapeNumber":440,"conversationNumber":39,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-440-039","startDateTime":"1973-05-24T17:39:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1973-05-24T17:40:00.000Z","startDate":"24-May-1973","startTime":"1:39 PM","endDate":"24-May-1973","endTime":"1:40 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Arends, Leslie C.;","description":"On May 24, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Leslie C. Arends met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:39 pm to 1:40 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 440-039 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. 440-39\n\nDate: May 24, 1973\nTime: 1:39 pm - 1:40 pm\nLocation: Old Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with Leslie C. Arends.\n\n[See Conversation No. 39-5]","filename":["440-039.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Arends, Leslie C."],"prevCode":"440-038","nextCode":"440-040","transcript":[{"start":14.51,"end":17.03,"text":"doesn't mean much to them."},{"start":17.27,"end":23.62,"text":"And whenever you think in the middle of the world, how is our morale today?"},{"start":23.68,"end":28.05,"text":"They're beginning to pick up."},{"start":28.07,"end":34.25,"text":"That statement is getting around in the way they're reading, and I hope they are."},{"start":34.27,"end":34.53,"text":"Right?"},{"start":34.55,"end":44.38,"text":"One point that ought to be made very strongly in this list that's very attractive to you when you have a situation where there's intentional brutal violence,"},{"start":48.33,"end":48.83,"text":"for you."},{"start":48.85,"end":50.15,"text":"I've got no chance with you."},{"start":50.17,"end":51.95,"text":"No soldier with you."},{"start":51.97,"end":55.86,"text":"And these guys are going to be in that damn pig pen and hammer."},{"start":55.88,"end":56.96,"text":"Get that as hard, will you?"},{"start":60.54,"end":60.8,"text":"Good."},{"start":61.69,"end":70.16,"text":"Put her out of the water."},{"start":70.18,"end":75.27,"text":"Thank you."},{"start":75.28,"end":76.75,"text":"If you really come to a fight school, I think I'm done with you."},{"start":76.77,"end":76.87,"text":"Okay."},{"start":76.89,"end":76.97,"text":"Bye."},{"start":78.01,"end":80.44,"text":"Thank you."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Representative Leslie C. Arends briefly discussed the state of political morale and the importance of maintaining a firm stance regarding instances of intentional, brutal violence. Nixon emphasized the necessity of addressing such misconduct aggressively to ensure public support and effective leadership. The conversation concluded with an exchange of mutual resolve regarding their political strategy.","topics":["Political morale","Public policy","Violence","Legislative strategy"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T20:18:55.884Z"},"topicSlugs":["political-morale","public-policy","violence","legislative-strategy"],"audioDurationSec":85,"audioFiles":[{"file":"440-039.mp3","bytes":2725888,"durationSec":85.11,"bitrate":256232,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:20:04.739Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/440-039.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/440-039","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/440/conversation-440-039","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}