{"conversationCode":"596-016","tapeNumber":596,"conversationNumber":16,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-596-016","startDateTime":"1971-10-19T16:54:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-10-19T16:56:00.000Z","startDate":"19-Oct-1971","startTime":"12:54 PM","endDate":"19-Oct-1971","endTime":"12:56 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Mitchell, John N.;","description":"On October 19, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:54 pm to 12:56 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 596-016 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"OVAL","recordingDevice":"Oval Office","latitudeEstimated":38.8974,"longitudeEstimated":-77.0374,"chronCode":2,"chronRelease":"Second Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"26-Oct-2000","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 596-16\n\nDate: October 19, 1971\nTime: 12:54 pm - 12:56 pm\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President talked with John N. Mitchell.\n\n[See Conversation No. 11-131]","filename":["596a.mp3","596b.mp3"],"tapeStart":"02:38:44","tapeEnd":"02:40:51","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Mitchell, John N."],"prevCode":"596-015","nextCode":"596-017","tapeTranscriptFile":"596a.mp3,596b.mp3","transcript":[{"start":9524,"end":9526.21,"text":"Well, of course, he did that from a photograph."},{"start":9526.25,"end":9530.29,"text":"But don't you think that's excellent?"},{"start":9530.99,"end":9532.31,"text":"Well, I think it is."},{"start":9534.9,"end":9539.48,"text":"I mean, that's good."},{"start":9539.5,"end":9539.78,"text":"I like it."},{"start":9539.8,"end":9541.84,"text":"I also like that foot you were making in the dining room."},{"start":9541.86,"end":9543.56,"text":"And that was done for pictures."},{"start":9543.62,"end":9544.25,"text":"That was good."},{"start":9544.42,"end":9550.27,"text":"One thing I was going to say is that I don't think this picture of Eisenhower in the cabinet room is much good."},{"start":9551.11,"end":9554.29,"text":"It really isn't one of the better ones."},{"start":9554.35,"end":9559.14,"text":"I think the one they had down there at the Kennedy Center is definitely better."},{"start":9561.08,"end":9563.12,"text":"And I would like to get that one."},{"start":9563.16,"end":9565.24,"text":"I'm here to get this change."},{"start":9565.34,"end":9567.24,"text":"In other words, it has more light."},{"start":9567.46,"end":9568.74,"text":"I have more light."},{"start":9568.78,"end":9571.92,"text":"Maybe the fire is going to come on."},{"start":9572.02,"end":9573.4,"text":"Boy, I can't do that."},{"start":9573.58,"end":9576.1,"text":"I don't like this."},{"start":9577.17,"end":9580.41,"text":"I'm stupid."},{"start":9589.95,"end":9591.21,"text":"I don't care for this one either."},{"start":9591.49,"end":9593.15,"text":"It's bland."},{"start":9593.27,"end":9598.56,"text":"I don't like anything that takes all my character out of a person's face."},{"start":9598.6,"end":9602.6,"text":"I don't like pictures."},{"start":9602.76,"end":9609.37,"text":"I like movie pictures where they take every character line out of a person's face."},{"start":9637.19,"end":9639.3,"text":"Do you see a ghost on the floor now?"},{"start":9639.32,"end":9639.83,"text":"Is that a ghost?"}],"transcriptBoundary":{"start":9524,"end":9658.75,"startMethod":"tape_time","endMethod":"silence"},"transcriptConfidence":"low","transcriptSource":"bigtape","aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and John Mitchell engage in a brief, informal discussion focused on the aesthetics of portraiture displayed within the White House. The conversation centers on the President's critique of specific photographs and paintings, particularly his dissatisfaction with a bland portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower currently in the Cabinet Room. Nixon expresses a clear preference for portraits that preserve facial character and requests that the current depiction be replaced with a better-lit version seen at the Kennedy Center.","topics":["White House decor","Portraiture","Dwight D. Eisenhower","Aesthetics","Presidential preferences"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-07T00:25:47.940Z"},"topicSlugs":["white-house-decor","portraiture","dwight-d-eisenhower","aesthetics","presidential-preferences"],"audioDurationSec":127,"audioFiles":[{"file":"596a.mp3","bytes":176062588,"durationSec":7335.88,"bitrate":192001,"missing":false},{"file":"596b.mp3","bytes":130844002,"durationSec":5451.77,"bitrate":192002,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":true,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:51.635Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/596a.mp3","https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/596b.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/596-016","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/596/conversation-596-016","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}