Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 573 › Conversation 573-003

United States Secret Service agents on Secret Service and White House security

Thursday, September 16, 1971 · 6:29 PM–6:31 PM ET · Oval Office · 49 sec

ParticipantsUnited States Secret Service agentsConversation573-003 on Tape 573 (tape position 01:05:45–01:06:33)StartThursday, September 16, 1971 at 6:29 PMEndThursday, September 16, 1971 at 6:31 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 573-003 ↗

Secret Service agents met briefly in the Oval Office to discuss security-related logistics or personnel movements. The conversation remained vague and informal, consisting primarily of brief exchanges regarding locations and situational assessments. The dialogue concluded abruptly after less than one minute without establishing a specific policy directive or significant administrative decision.

Download MP3 · 1.9 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Each line starts with a timestamp button; press it to play the audio from that point.

I don't think you want to get out of there.
All right.
Yeah.

On September 16, 1971, United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:29 pm and 6:31 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 573-003 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 573-3

Date: September 16, 1971
Time: 6:29 pm - unknown before 6:31 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

Unknown men [Secret Service agents] met.

**************************************************************************

[Previous archivists categorized this section as unintelligible. It has been rereviewed and
released 03/09/2020.]
[Unintelligible]
[573-003-w001]
[Duration: 48s]

       General conversation

**************************************************************************

The recording of this conversation was cut off at an unknown time before 6:31 pm.
  • 278-070 3:00 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 3:00 pm.
  • 278-072 3:41 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:41 pm to 3:43 pm.
  • 278-073 3:43 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:43 pm and 4:00 pm.
  • 573-001 4:00 PM · 56 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, Alexander P. Butterfield, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, William L. Safire, Clark MacGregor, Herbert G. Klein, Stephen B. Bull, Patrick J. Buchanan, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:00 pm to 4:58 pm.
  • 075-004 4:58 PM · 1 hr 25 min — President Richard M. Nixon and elected state and local officials, including Arch A. Moore, Jr., Richard B. Ogilvie, Thomas J. Meskill, Winfield Dunn, Warren E. Hearnes, J. James Exon, Wendall R. Anderson, Frank Licht, Luis A. Ferre, John C. West, William J. Connor, Gladys N. Spellman, Bernard Hillenbrand, Henry W. Maier, Louie Welch, John J. Gunther, Richard G. Lugar, Pat Healy, John B. Connally, James G. Martin, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, George P. Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Herbert Stein, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., Charls E. Walker, Ronald L. Ziegler, the White House photographer, and members of the press, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 4:58 pm and 7:00 pm.
  • 009-045 6:21 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 6:21 pm to 6:22 pm.
  • 573-002 6:21 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Tricia Nixon Cox met in the Oval Office of the White House from 6:21 pm to 6:29 pm.
  • 009-046 6:22 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:22 pm and 9:03 pm.

Conversation 573-003, September 16, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/573-003 (accessed September 26, 2026).