Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 496 › Conversation 496-002

Nixon White House recording on Oval Office and Audio quality

Monday, May 10, 1971 · 8:00 AM–12:46 PM ET · Oval Office · 26 sec

Participants[Unknown person(s)]Conversation496-002 on Tape 496 (tape position 00:07:35–00:09:15)StartMonday, May 10, 1971 at 8:00 AMEndMonday, May 10, 1971 at 12:46 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 496-002 ↗

AI Summary

This recording captures a brief, unidentified interaction in the Oval Office between the President and one or more unknown participants. Due to the poor quality of the audio and significant background noise, the substance of the exchange remains largely indecipherable. No specific policy decisions or significant developments can be discerned from the minimal audible transcript.

Audio

Download MP3 · 1.0 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

That's good.
That's good.

NARA Description

On May 10, 1971, unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:00 am and 12:46 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 496-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 496-002

Date: May 10, 1971

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

Time: Unknown between 8:00 am and 12:46 pm
Location: Oval Office

Unknown persons met.

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

[Previous archivists categorized this section as unintelligible. It has been rereviewed and
released 05/17/2019.]
[Unintelligible]
[496-002-w001]
[Duration: 25s]

[This portion of the tape is mostly tape noise with some muffled background conversation. ]

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

The unknown persons left at an unknown time before 12:46 pm

Also recorded on May 10, 1971

  • 496-001 8:00 AM · 4 min — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:00 am and 12:46 pm.
  • 496-003 8:00 AM · 9 min — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:00 am and 12:46 pm.
  • 496-004 8:00 AM · 3 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:00 am and 12:46 pm.
  • 496-005 12:46 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:46 pm to 12:48 pm.
  • 496-006 12:48 PM · 32 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:48 pm and 12:57 pm.
  • 496-007 12:48 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:48 pm and 12:57 pm.
  • 496-008 12:48 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:48 pm and 12:57 pm.
  • 496-009 12:57 PM · 30 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:57 pm to 1:30 pm.

All 26 conversations from May 10, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 496-002, May 10, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/496-002 (accessed October 3, 2026).