{"conversationCode":"502-001","tapeNumber":502,"conversationNumber":1,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-502-001","startDateTime":"1971-05-20T11:21:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-05-20T12:05:00.000Z","startDate":"20-May-1971","startTime":"7:21 AM","endDate":"20-May-1971","endTime":"8:05 AM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Acheson, Dean G.;","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.","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. 502-1\n\nDate: May 20, 1971\nTime: Unknown between 7:21 am and 8:05 am\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President dictated a memorandum to Dean G. Acheson.\n\n     Memo to Acheson\n        -President's administration\n        -World War II\n        -[Unintelligible]\n        -\"Present at the Creation\"\n        -National appreciation","filename":["502-001.mp3"],"tapeStart":"00:04:13","tapeEnd":"00:10:58","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Acheson, Dean G."],"prevCode":"501-031","nextCode":"502-002","transcript":[{"start":0.12,"end":24.95,"text":"This is Levine Anderson."},{"start":24.97,"end":25.31,"text":"He's a secretary."},{"start":25.33,"end":25.99,"text":"He was in the Senate on the 12th."},{"start":26.01,"end":27.03,"text":"I mean, for having been interpreted in the morning."},{"start":27.05,"end":27.13,"text":"Yes."},{"start":27.15,"end":27.93,"text":"I mean, he has a demonstration victory."},{"start":27.95,"end":28.13,"text":"This is a"},{"start":29.09,"end":56.64,"text":"But in a deeper sense, they represented a victory for five administrations."},{"start":56.66,"end":56.92,"text":"World War II."},{"start":56.94,"end":57.4,"text":"Basis and committed to."},{"start":57.42,"end":57.76,"text":"Three characters."},{"start":57.78,"end":58.08,"text":"Two presidents."},{"start":60.26,"end":88.95,"text":"And now, I look back,"},{"start":90.92,"end":115.81,"text":"Three."},{"start":115.83,"end":116.61,"text":"Say that they were at the resurrection."},{"start":116.63,"end":117.45,"text":"That's capital P, capital R. Close quote."},{"start":117.47,"end":118.02,"text":"The nation is in your debt."},{"start":118.03,"end":118.16,"text":"Three."},{"start":118.17,"end":118.5,"text":"At the creation."},{"start":118.52,"end":119.04,"text":"This man is not in quotes."},{"start":119.06,"end":119.9,"text":"He's using capital C. At the resurrection."},{"start":123.59,"end":125.94,"text":"Since then, it's not a great invention."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"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.","topics":["Dean Acheson","Foreign Policy","World War II","Presidential Administration","Diplomatic History","Present at the Creation"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T22:24:33.059Z"},"topicSlugs":["dean-acheson","foreign-policy","world-war-ii","presidential-administration","diplomatic-history","present-at-the-creation"],"audioDurationSec":129,"audioFiles":[{"file":"502-001.mp3","bytes":5156362,"durationSec":128.77,"bitrate":320357,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:49.685Z","transcriptGapSeconds":106,"transcriptGapShare":0.82,"transcriptQuality":"incomplete","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/502-001.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/502-001","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/502/conversation-502-001","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}