{"conversationCode":"498-016","tapeNumber":498,"conversationNumber":16,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-498-016","startDateTime":"1971-05-13T20:28:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-05-13T20:31:00.000Z","startDate":"13-May-1971","startTime":"4:28 PM","endDate":"13-May-1971","endTime":"4:31 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.;","description":"On May 13, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:28 pm to 4:31 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 498-016 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"OVAL","recordingDevice":"Oval Office","latitudeEstimated":38.8974,"longitudeEstimated":-77.0374,"chronCode":1,"chronRelease":"First Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"5-Oct-1999","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 498-016\n\nDate: May 13, 1971\nTime: 4:28 pm - 4:31 pm\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President met with General Alexander M. Haig, Jr.\n     Henry A. Kissinger's conversation with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin\n\n       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542\n\n     The President's schedule\n          -Forthcoming statement\n                -Dean G. Acheson, William P. Rogers\n                      -Possible statement by the President endorsed by former Cabinet officers\n\n     [Unintelligible]\n\nThe President and Haig left at 4:31 pm","filename":["498-016.mp3"],"tapeStart":"05:11:15","tapeEnd":"05:13:11","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Haig, Alexander M., Jr."],"prevCode":"498-015","nextCode":"498-017","transcript":[{"start":1.28,"end":15.48,"text":"Are they in there?"},{"start":15.5,"end":17.04,"text":"Yes, sir."},{"start":17.06,"end":18.82,"text":"Everyone's in there."},{"start":22.57,"end":28.33,"text":"Now what we intend to do is for you to table this."},{"start":28.35,"end":29.84,"text":"We intend to put out this statement"},{"start":30.76,"end":37.51,"text":"And Dean Acheson will say that he would like to go around and support that statement."},{"start":37.53,"end":45.15,"text":"And when he has concluded them, then we would push the statement under your signature with the endorsing individuals."},{"start":45.41,"end":52.92,"text":"And that will be a host of the former secretaries of state, former secretaries of state, by you, to be signed by you."},{"start":60.49,"end":80.64,"text":"Beware."},{"start":80.66,"end":81.42,"text":"Don't let any of these save your boss."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Alexander Haig discussed a strategic plan to secure public support for a forthcoming presidential statement by utilizing endorsements from former Cabinet members. The discussion focused on coordinating these endorsements, specifically involving Dean Acheson and William P. Rogers, to bolster the administration's position. Haig outlined the procedure for staging these endorsements to ensure maximum political impact for the President's signature.","topics":["Dean Acheson","William P. Rogers","Public relations","Presidential statements","Cabinet endorsements"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T22:15:45.078Z"},"topicSlugs":["dean-acheson","william-p-rogers","public-relations","presidential-statements","cabinet-endorsements"],"audioDurationSec":86,"audioFiles":[{"file":"498-016.mp3","bytes":3456313,"durationSec":86.26,"bitrate":320550,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:49.346Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:43:51.224Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/498-016.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/498-016","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/498/conversation-498-016","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}