Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 451 › Conversation 451-017

Nixon White House recording on Microgrid and BLS majority

Thursday, February 18, 1971 · 3:40 PM–3:52 PM ET · Oval Office · 40 sec

Participants[Unknown person(s)]Conversation451-017 on Tape 451 (tape position 03:23:40–03:24:17)StartThursday, February 18, 1971 at 3:40 PMEndThursday, February 18, 1971 at 3:52 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 451-017 ↗

AI Summary

This brief and largely unintelligible interaction involves two unidentified individuals discussing administrative or technical concerns, specifically referencing a "microgrid" and "BLS majority." The conversation concludes with a participant expressing the intent to step away and return within ten minutes. Due to the high volume of background noise and unclear audio, the substantive purpose of the meeting remains inconclusive.

Audio

Download MP3 · 0.9 MB

This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.

Listen to the full tape segment

Position in tape: 03:23:40 – 03:24:17

part B, 1:22:30

451a.mp3

451b.mp3

451c.mp3

NARA Description

On February 18, 1971, unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:40 pm and 3:52 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 451-017 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 451-17

Date: February 18, 1971
Time: Unknown between 3:40 pm and 3:52 pm
Location: Oval Office

An unknown woman met with an unknown person

******************************************************************************

[Previous archivists categorized this section as unintelligible. It has been rereviewed and
released 08/05/2019.]
[Unintelligible]
[451-017-w001]
[Duration: 36s]

     Candice [surname unknown]’s boyfriend

******************************************************************************

The unknown people left at an unknown time before 3:52 pm

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Now, we don't do that, you know what I mean?

This is, uh, this is, uh, this is the microchip, the BLS majority.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay.

Let me guess, there's probably a lot of drugs in the street.

Or what would you like?

Would you sign back?

Would you like to go to jail now?

Or be free?

Or are you?

Alright, alright, alright.

Also recorded on February 18, 1971

451-013 2:32 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:32 pm and 3:32 pm.
451-014 3:32 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 3:32 pm.
451-015 3:32 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Mark I. Goode, and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:32 pm to 3:40 pm.
451-016 3:40 PM · 23 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:40 pm and 3:52 pm.
451-018 3:52 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Mark I. Goode met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:52 pm to 3:55 pm.
451-019 3:55 PM · 1 hr 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, George P. Shultz, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:55 pm to 4:52 pm.
451-020 5:10 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:10 pm to 5:14 pm.
451-021 5:14 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:14 pm and 5:25 pm.

All 24 conversations from February 18, 1971 →

Nixon White House recording on Cabinet Room and Withdrawn material January 3, 1972 · 5 min
Nixon with unidentified visitors in his EOB office on Old Executive Office… January 11, 1972 · 1 min
Bull on Oval Office February 19, 1971 · 8 min
Nixon White House recording on Oval Office March 2, 1971 · 3 min
Nixon with unidentified visitors in the Oval Office on Oval Office meetings July 12, 1973 · 2 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 451-017, February 18, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/451-017 (accessed November 2, 2026).