Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 493 › Conversation 493-017
Nixon White House recording on Political leadership and Accountability
Thursday, May 6, 1971 · 1:06 PM–4:15 PM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
An unidentified group met with President Nixon in the Oval Office to discuss an individual's decisive leadership and firm stance on a recent action. The participants praised this person's willingness to accept responsibility for their choices without hesitation or wavering. The discussion reflects an internal evaluation of a political figure's character and their accountability regarding a specific decision.
- Political leadership
- Accountability
- Decision-making
- Presidential meetings
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.6 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 160.2 MB
This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 03:34:12 into the tape and ends around 03:34:29.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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
NARA Description
On May 6, 1971, unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:06 pm and 4:15 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 493-017 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 493-17 Date: May 6, 1971 Time: Unknown between 1:06 pm and 4:15 pm Location: Oval Office Unknown people entered ****************************************************************************** BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1 [Non-historical] [Duration: 10s ] END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1 ****************************************************************************** The unknown people left at an unknown time before 4:15 pm
Also recorded on May 6, 1971
- 493-011 12:10 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Thomas C. Korologos, Max L. Friedersdorf, William E. Timmons, Richard A. Moore, Clark MacGregor, White House photographer, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:10 pm and 12:15 pm.
- 493-012 12:15 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, Arte Johnson, Mrs. Arte Johnson, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:15 pm to 12:22 pm.
- 493-013 12:22 PM · 38 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:22 pm.
- 493-014 12:22 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John B. Connally, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:22 pm to 12:32 pm.
- 493-015 12:32 PM · 31 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, Stephen B. Bull, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:32 pm and 1:06 pm.
- 493-016 1:06 PM · 37 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:06 pm and 2:30 pm.
- 042-100 1:49 PM · 45 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 1:49 pm to 1:50 pm.
- 042-101 1:50 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:50 pm and 2:24 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 493-017, May 6, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/493-017 (accessed October 3, 2026).