Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 460 › Conversation 460-029

United States Secret Service agents on Media strategy and Vietnam War

Friday, February 26, 1971 · 6:45 PM–11:59 PM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsUnited States Secret Service agentsConversation460-029 on Tape 460 (tape position 05:14:18–05:15:51)StartFriday, February 26, 1971 at 6:45 PMEndFriday, February 26, 1971 at 11:59 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 460-029 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417176071 ↗

AI Summary

In this Oval Office meeting, President Nixon meets with aides to discuss media strategy, public opinion polling, and the political management of sensitive foreign policy issues, including the situation in Laos and Vietnam. Nixon emphasizes his preference for low-key communication, cautioning against staff members like Henry Kissinger appearing on television, and stresses the need to maintain a composed, presidential demeanor despite public controversy. The conversation also touches on potential diplomatic letters to Soviet leadership and the tactical management of domestic political issues like public housing and upcoming elections.

Audio

Download MP3 · 2.2 MB

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

Listen to the full tape segment

Position in tape: 05:14:18 – 05:15:51

part C, 42:00

460a.mp3
460b.mp3
460c.mp3

NARA Description

On February 26, 1971, United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:45 pm and 11:59 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 460-029 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 460-29

Date: February 26, 1971
Time: Unknown between 6:45 pm and 11:59 pm
Location: Oval Office

Unknown men [Secret Service] met

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

[Previous archivists categorized this section as unintelligible. It has been rereviewed and
cleared for release. The withdrawal is now categorized as a PRMPA Federal Statute (A) and
was reviewed under deed of gift 11/06/2019.]
[Federal Statute]
[460-029-w001]
[Duration: 1m 32s]

     The President [?]

     The President’s location [?]

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

Recording was cut off at an unknown time before 11:59 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).

No, no, no, no, no, no.
It's not a black cat.
It wasn't like, no, no, no, there was a Kevin.
I mean, no, no, no, there was a Kevin who saluted with his left hand.
Now, God damn it, there were at least eight staff people in that room.
Everybody laughed when he said it.
And then his brother said it.
He said that I was the one.
And this is what I thought they were going to find out.
It wasn't that easy.
slew with his left hand on something.
And second, he said, he said, this is mine.
He was reciting his name in a quiet voice.
And the little boy spoke up real loud and said, no, his name is Skinner.
Now tell somebody to search his memory.
It's on the right side of about the third down as they went down on the left side.
It was a white kid.
Was he about that age, six or eight years young?
The incident was so amusing.
That's the whole point.
If anybody didn't get there on time, it'd be an argument.

Also recorded on February 26, 1971

  • 460-021 3:52 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:52 pm and 3:54 pm.
  • 460-022 3:54 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:54 pm to 4:01 pm.
  • 460-023 4:01 PM · 1 hr 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry Brandon, unknown person(s), Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins, Manolo Sanchez, Stephen B. Bull, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:01 pm to 5:08 pm.
  • 460-024 5:08 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:08 pm and 5:15 pm.
  • 460-025 5:15 PM · 31 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:15 pm to 5:45 pm.
  • 460-026 5:45 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:45 pm and 5:47 pm.
  • 460-027 5:47 PM · 20 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:47 pm to 6:08 pm.
  • 460-028 6:09 PM · 36 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, Frederic V. Malek, Richard Ferry, White House operator, and William P. Rogers met in the Oval Office of the White House from 6:09 pm to 6:45 pm.

All 30 conversations from February 26, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 460-029, February 26, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417176071). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/460-029 (accessed November 2, 2026).