{"conversationCode":"508-002","tapeNumber":508,"conversationNumber":2,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-508-002","startDateTime":"1971-06-02T12:55:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-06-02T13:20:00.000Z","startDate":"2-Jun-1971","startTime":"8:55 AM","endDate":"2-Jun-1971","endTime":"9:20 AM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President);","description":"On June 2, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:55 am and 9:20 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 508-002 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. 508-002\n\nDate: June 2, 1971\nTime: Unknown between 8:55 am and 9:20 am\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President dictated a letter to an unknown shortstop\n\n     Ronald L. Ziegler\n\n     Unknown shortstop’s batting problems\n         -President’s political career\n\n       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542","filename":["508-002.mp3"],"tapeStart":"00:01:02","tapeEnd":"00:06:28","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)"],"prevCode":"508-001","nextCode":"508-003","transcript":[{"start":0.89,"end":24.25,"text":"I saw a shortstop who has not had a hit in 44 times in the bat."},{"start":24.27,"end":25.49,"text":"Standing from around the cigarette and using the first thing."},{"start":25.51,"end":25.69,"text":"Airplane."},{"start":28.22,"end":29.12,"text":"Good luck the next time you come off the bat."},{"start":29.14,"end":30.68,"text":"In my own career, I have experienced long periods when"},{"start":37.12,"end":42.62,"text":"It's regardless of how hard I try."},{"start":45.31,"end":45.79,"text":"Get a home run."},{"start":46.01,"end":46.58,"text":"You are?"}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon dictates a letter to an unidentified professional shortstop struggling with an extended hitting slump. Drawing a parallel to his own political career, the President offers encouragement regarding the necessity of perseverance during periods of professional failure. Nixon frames the letter as a gesture of support, urging the athlete to maintain confidence despite his current lack of performance.","topics":["Richard Nixon","sports","motivation","political career","correspondence"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T22:34:57.442Z"},"topicSlugs":["richard-nixon","sports","motivation","political-career","correspondence"],"audioDurationSec":47,"audioFiles":[{"file":"508-002.mp3","bytes":1901505,"durationSec":47.4,"bitrate":320903,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:49.683Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:43:52.789Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/508-002.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/508-002","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/508/conversation-508-002","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}