{"conversationCode":"638-012","tapeNumber":638,"conversationNumber":12,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-638-012","startDateTime":"1971-12-15T17:06:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-12-15T17:07:00.000Z","startDate":"15-Dec-1971","startTime":"12:06 PM","endDate":"15-Dec-1971","endTime":"12:07 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Volcker, Paul A.; [Unknown person(s)];","description":"On December 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Paul A. Volcker, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:06 pm to 12:07 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 638-012 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. 638-012\n\nDate: December 15, 1971\nTime: 12:06 pm - 12:07 pm\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President met with Paul A. Volcker and an unknown man.\n\n     US monetary crisis\n         -Recent history\n         -Speech\n\nVolcker and the unknown man left at 12:07 pm.","filename":["638-012.mp3"],"tapeStart":"03:16:39","tapeEnd":"03:17:58","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Volcker, Paul A.","[Unknown person(s)]"],"prevCode":"638-011","nextCode":"638-013","transcript":[{"start":0.37,"end":13.12,"text":"Paul, how many monetary crises, I don't need the exact number, but have we had in the last 10 years?"},{"start":13.14,"end":16.59,"text":"Seven or... Oh, probably seven."},{"start":16.62,"end":17.97,"text":"We've had three."},{"start":18.23,"end":20.43,"text":"We had the mark thing, we had the draft."},{"start":20.51,"end":23.11,"text":"We had a sterling thing, we had a German thing."},{"start":23.21,"end":24.85,"text":"That's two."},{"start":26.53,"end":31.01,"text":"Why don't we say we probably in this baseline is kind of a tenuous one."},{"start":31.15,"end":38.21,"text":"Over the last ten years, could I say that we've had seven major monetary crises?"},{"start":39.27,"end":41.43,"text":"Nobody can prove you're right or wrong."},{"start":41.55,"end":46.02,"text":"I'm going to say that Paul Walker tells me."},{"start":46.22,"end":47.16,"text":"I think I'll go on."},{"start":47.18,"end":47.74,"text":"Yes, sir."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon consulted Paul Volcker to determine an appropriate figure for the number of major monetary crises experienced over the previous decade to cite in an upcoming speech. Volcker and others provided estimates ranging from three to seven, prompting Nixon to settle on the higher figure of seven to bolster his narrative. The discussion concluded with the President deciding to attribute this statistic directly to Volcker's expertise.","topics":["Monetary crisis","US economy","Public speaking","International finance","Economic policy"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-07T01:34:54.052Z"},"topicSlugs":["monetary-crisis","us-economy","public-speaking","international-finance","economic-policy"],"audioDurationSec":53,"audioFiles":[{"file":"638-012.mp3","bytes":532800,"durationSec":52.86,"bitrate":80637,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:54.362Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:44:11.363Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/638-012.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/638-012","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/638/conversation-638-012","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}