{"conversationCode":"508-009","tapeNumber":508,"conversationNumber":9,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-508-009","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 508-009 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. 508-009\n\nDate: June 2, 1971\nTime: Unknown between 8:55 am and 9:20 am\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President dictated a note to Melvin R. Laird\n\n     Attachment to formal letter\n          -Commendation for unknown person\n\nThe President dictated a letter to Laird\n\n     US military\n         -Ceremonial duties\n                 -President’s view\n\n[This conversation continues as Conversation No. 508-11]\n\n       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542","filename":["508-009.mp3"],"tapeStart":"00:16:39","tapeEnd":"00:18:40","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)"],"prevCode":"508-008","nextCode":"508-010","transcript":[{"start":9.58,"end":22.01,"text":"Dear Mel, I am enclosing a formal letter."},{"start":22.03,"end":23.23,"text":"Do you have someone to... do a job?"},{"start":23.25,"end":24.11,"text":"And I want something good for their record."},{"start":38.37,"end":55.27,"text":"During the past two and a half years, I'm honestly impressed."},{"start":55.3,"end":61.02,"text":"I'm very proud."},{"start":61.04,"end":62.19,"text":"And I'll follow in the next eight years."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon discusses a personnel matter regarding a formal letter of recommendation for an individual, identified as 'Mel.' He expresses high praise for the individual's performance over the previous two and a half years and explicitly requests a positive addition to their official employment record. The discussion reflects the President's personal interest in ensuring this associate receives formal recognition and long-term professional credit.","topics":["Personnel management","Letters of recommendation","Performance reviews","Staff recognition","Executive administration"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T22:35:37.222Z"},"topicSlugs":["personnel-management","letters-of-recommendation","performance-reviews","staff-recognition","executive-administration"],"audioDurationSec":66,"audioFiles":[{"file":"508-009.mp3","bytes":2652787,"durationSec":66.17,"bitrate":320721,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:49.683Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:43:52.791Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/508-009.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/508-009","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/508/conversation-508-009","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}