Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 540 › Conversation 540-014
United States Secret Service agents on Secret Service and White House security
Tuesday, July 20, 1971 · 8:05 AM–10:23 AM ET · Oval Office · 3 min
AI Summary
Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office to coordinate security logistics and site inspections. The discussion involved brief administrative updates regarding building access, specifically concerning the Executive Office Building and a potential situation located in the basement. These exchanges served to facilitate routine protective operations and internal security checks.
- Secret Service
- White House security
- Executive Office Building
- protective operations
- logistics
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 3 minutes of this recording (about 83% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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NARA Description
On July 20, 1971, United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:05 am and 10:23 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 540-014 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 540-14
Date: July 20, 1971
Time: Unknown between 8:05 am and 10:23 am
Location: Oval Office
Unknown men (Secret Service agents) entered.
******************************************************************************
[Previous archivists categorized this section as unintelligible. It has been rereviewed and
cleared for release. The withdrawal is now categorized as a PRMPA Federal Statute (A) and
was reviewed under deed of gift 01/21/2020.]
[Federal Statue]
[540-014-w001]
[Duration: 3m 24s]
An unknown man talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 8:05 am and
10:23 am.
[Conversation No. 540-14A]
General conversation
Executive Office Building [EOB] [?]
Door check [?]
[End of telephone conversation]
An unknown man talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 8:05 am and
10:23 am.
[Conversation No. 540-14B]
Possible situation
-Basement
-[Unintelligible name]’s location [?]
[End of telephone conversation]
******************************************************************************
The recording was cut off at an unknown time before 10:23 am.Also recorded on July 20, 1971
- 065-001 7:35 AM — unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 7:35 am and 8:05 am.
- 065-002 7:35 AM · 2 hr 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William P. Rogers, and Republican Congressional leaders, including Hugh Scott, John C. Stennis, Robert P. Griffin, Margaret Chase Smith, Gordon L. Allott, Norris Ctton, Peter H. Dominick, Gerald R. Ford, Leslie C. Arends, John B. Anderson, Richard H. Poff, Barber B. Conable, Jr., John J. Rhodes, Robert C. ("Bob") Wilson, Robert T. Stafford, H. Allen Smith, Robert J. Dole, Henry A. Kissinger, Clark MacGregor, John D. Ehrlichman, George P. Shultz, William E. Timmons, Kenneth E. BeLieu, Richard K. Cook, Harry S. Dent, Herbert G. Klein, Patrick J. Buchanan, Bryce C. Harlow, and Ronald L. Ziegler, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 7:35 am and 10:23 am.
- 540-001 7:35 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William P. Rogers, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:35 am and 7:53 am.
- 540-002 7:35 AM · 5 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:35 am and 7:53 am.
- 540-003 7:35 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:35 am and 7:53 am.
- 540-004 7:53 AM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 7:53 am to 8:05 am.
- 540-005 8:05 AM · 11 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:05 am and 10:23 am.
- 540-013 8:05 AM · 17 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:05 am and 10:23 am.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 540-014, July 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/540-014 (accessed October 11, 2026).