{"conversationCode":"639-017","tapeNumber":639,"conversationNumber":17,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-639-017","startDateTime":"1971-12-18T22:05:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-12-18T22:12:00.000Z","startDate":"18-Dec-1971","startTime":"5:05 PM","endDate":"18-Dec-1971","endTime":"5:12 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); [Unknown person(s)];","description":"On December 18, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:05 pm and 5:12 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 639-017 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. 639-017\n\nDate: December 18, 1971\nTime: Unknown between 5:05 pm and 5:12 pm\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President talked with an unknown person.\n\n     Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr.\n\n     President’s schedule","filename":["639-017.mp3"],"tapeStart":"01:52:26","tapeEnd":"01:54:22","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","[Unknown person(s)]"],"prevCode":"639-016","nextCode":"639-018","transcript":[{"start":0.37,"end":4.07,"text":"You know, his, uh, I don't know if he's John, but his name is John A. Becker."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon consulted with General Alexander M. Haig, Jr. regarding the identity of an individual named John A. Becker. The brief exchange focused on clarifying this person's background or professional status as part of an inquiry into the President's schedule. No further policy decisions were recorded during this short administrative interaction.","topics":["Alexander M. Haig, Jr.","Presidential Schedule","John A. Becker","Personnel","Oval Office"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-07T01:36:44.429Z"},"topicSlugs":["alexander-m-haig-jr","presidential-schedule","john-a-becker","personnel","oval-office"],"audioDurationSec":23,"audioFiles":[{"file":"639-017.mp3","bytes":925696,"durationSec":23.05,"bitrate":321283,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:54.362Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:44:11.553Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/639-017.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/639-017","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/639/conversation-639-017","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}