Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 502 › Conversation 502-001

Nixon & Acheson on Foreign Policy and World War II

Thursday, May 20, 1971 · 7:21 AM–8:05 AM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Acheson, Dean G.Conversation502-001 on Tape 502 (tape position 00:04:13–00:10:58)StartThursday, May 20, 1971 at 7:21 AMEndThursday, May 20, 1971 at 8:05 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 502-001 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon dictated a formal memorandum addressed to Dean G. Acheson to express national appreciation for his long-standing contributions to American foreign policy. The discussion reflected on Acheson's pivotal role in the post-World War II era, referencing his seminal work, *Present at the Creation*. Nixon emphasized the importance of Acheson's service across multiple administrations, formally documenting the nation's debt to his diplomatic legacy.

Audio

Download MP3 · 4.9 MB

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 82% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
This is Levine Anderson.
He's a secretary.
He was in the Senate on the 12th.
I mean, for having been interpreted in the morning.
Yes.
I mean, he has a demonstration victory.
This is a
But in a deeper sense, they represented a victory for five administrations.
World War II.
Basis and committed to.
Three characters.
Two presidents.
And now, I look back,
Three.
Say that they were at the resurrection.
That's capital P, capital R. Close quote.
The nation is in your debt.
Three.
At the creation.
This man is not in quotes.
He's using capital C. At the resurrection.
Since then, it's not a great invention.

NARA Description

On May 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Dean G. Acheson met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:21 am and 8:05 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 502-001 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 502-1

Date: May 20, 1971
Time: Unknown between 7:21 am and 8:05 am
Location: Oval Office

The President dictated a memorandum to Dean G. Acheson.

     Memo to Acheson
        -President's administration
        -World War II
        -[Unintelligible]
        -"Present at the Creation"
        -National appreciation

Also recorded on May 20, 1971

  • 502-002 8:05 AM · 35 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:05 am and 8:14 am.
  • 003-078 8:16 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George W. Ball talked on the telephone from 8:16 am to 8:19 am.
  • 502-003 8:16 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George W. Ball met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:16 am to 8:19 am.
  • 003-079 8:19 AM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:19 am and 11:50 am.
  • 502-004 8:19 AM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:19 am and 8:32 am.
  • 502-005 8:32 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:32 am and 8:38 am.
  • 502-006 8:38 AM · 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Stephen B. Bull, and Marjorie P. Acker met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:38 am to 9:02 am.
  • 058-004 9:02 AM · 43 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, and the Cabinet members, including William P. Rogers, John B. Connally, Melvin R. Laird, John N. Mitchell, Winton M. ("Red") Blount, Jr., William T. Pecora, Clifford M. Hardin, James T. Lynn, Laurence H. Silberman, Elliot L. Richardson, George W. Romney, James M. Beggs, George P. Shultz, Robert H. Finch, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George H. W. Bush, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, Henry A. Kissinger, Clark MacGregor, Peter M. Flanigan, Herbert G. Klein, Dr. Edward E. David, Jr., Raymond K. Price, Jr., Alexander P. Butterfield, Ronald L. Ziegler, William E. Timmons, Charles W. Colson, John A. Scali, Richard A. Moore, Harry S. Dent, Leonard Garment, John W. Dean, III, Frederic V. Malek, Robert J. Brown, Robert J. Dole, Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, Gerald C. Smith, Arthur J. Sohmer, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, Virginia H. Knauer, and Arnold R. Weber, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 9:02 am to 9:48 am.

All 48 conversations from May 20, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 502-001, May 20, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/502-001 (accessed October 9, 2026).