Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 617 › Conversation 617-008

United States Secret Service agents on Secret Service

Friday, November 12, 1971 · 5:03 PM–6:22 PM ET · Oval Office · 16 sec

ParticipantsUnited States Secret Service agentsConversation617-008 on Tape 617 (tape position 00:38:26–00:38:57)StartFriday, November 12, 1971 at 5:03 PMEndFriday, November 12, 1971 at 6:22 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 617-008 ↗

AI Summary

Secret Service personnel engaged in a brief exchange within the Oval Office regarding the President's location. The discussion confirmed that Richard Nixon was situated in the Cabinet Room at the time. No further substantive policy matters or tactical decisions were recorded in this brief interaction.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Big devil.
Big devil.

NARA Description

On November 12, 1971, United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:03 pm and 6:22 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 617-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 617-008

Date: November 12, 1971
Time: Unknown between 5:03 pm and 6:22 pm
Location: Oval Office

An unknown man [Secret Service agent] talked with an unknown person.

     The President's location
          -Cabinet Room

Also recorded on November 12, 1971

  • 617-016 4:26 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Donald H. Rumsfeld, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:26 pm and 4:30 pm.
  • 617-005 4:29 PM · 26 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, Clark MacGregor, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:29 pm and 4:54 pm.
  • 617-017 4:31 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Sultan Mohammad Khan, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:31 pm to 4:39 pm.
  • 617-018 4:41 PM · 1 hr 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Elliot L. Richardson, John D. Ehrlichman, Stephen B. Bull, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., unknown person(s), and Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:41 pm to 5:55 pm.
  • 617-006 4:54 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:54 pm and 4:55 pm.
  • 617-007 4:55 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John J. McCloy, Henry A. Kissinger, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:55 pm to 5:03 pm.
  • 082-002 5:03 PM · 1 hr 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon and members of the National Security Council, including Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, William P. Rogers, Melvin R. Laird, Gen. George A. Lincoln, John N. Mitchell, John N. Irwin, II, Richard M. Helms, [Name withdrawn], Gen. John D. Ryan, Ronald I. Spiers, Gerard C. Smith, Philip J. Farley, Spurgeon M. Keeny, Jr., John J. McCloy, Gen. Royal B. Allison, J. Graham Parsons, Paul H. Nitze, Col. Richard T. Kennedy, Dr. K. Wayne Smith, Helmut ("Hal") Sonnenfedlt, Henry A. Kissinger, Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Gardiner L. Tucker, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 5:03 pm and 11:59 pm.
  • 617-019 5:55 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 5:55 pm.

All 93 conversations from November 12, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 617-008, November 12, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/617-008 (accessed October 1, 2026).