{"conversationCode":"648-001","tapeNumber":648,"conversationNumber":1,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-648-001","startDateTime":"1972-01-17T13:58:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-01-17T14:48:00.000Z","startDate":"17-Jan-1972","startTime":"8:58 AM","endDate":"17-Jan-1972","endTime":"9:48 AM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Drury, Allen S.;","description":"On January 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Allen S. Drury met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:58 am and 9:48 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 648-001 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"OVAL","recordingDevice":"Oval Office","latitudeEstimated":38.8974,"longitudeEstimated":-77.0374,"chronCode":3,"chronRelease":"Third Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"28-Feb-2002","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 648-1\nDate: January 17, 1972\nTime: Unknown between 8:58 am and 9:48 am\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President dictated a letter to Allen S. Drury.\n\n     Drury's letter regarding press in Washington Star\n          -The President's appreciation\n          -Timing\n          -Possible effect\n                 -Drury's relations with press corps","filename":["648-001.mp3"],"tapeStart":"00:23:32","tapeEnd":"00:25:31","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Drury, Allen S."],"prevCode":"647-022","nextCode":"648-002","transcript":[{"start":1.45,"end":12.56,"text":"I appreciate your devastating and effective letter to the community."},{"start":28.91,"end":35.69,"text":"This will not make you popular with some of your"},{"start":60.02,"end":61.08,"text":"double-sided cowlings in a press cart."},{"start":61.16,"end":63.67,"text":"But those who are really honest"},{"start":90.06,"end":103.46,"text":"We'll have to admit that you hurt because you were talking truth."},{"start":103.48,"end":107.42,"text":"You were stating the truth."},{"start":107.5,"end":107.66,"text":"Great."},{"start":117.33,"end":118.15,"text":"Very good, Willie."},{"start":118.92,"end":119.28,"text":"All right."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon met with author Allen S. Drury to express his strong appreciation for a letter Drury wrote regarding the Washington press corps. Nixon praised the document as a truthful critique that would likely alienate Drury from mainstream journalists while earning respect from honest observers. The conversation served primarily as a private gesture of validation for Drury’s confrontational stance toward the media.","topics":["Allen S. Drury","Press relations","Washington Star","Media criticism","Journalistic integrity"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-07T01:50:59.866Z"},"topicSlugs":["allen-s-drury","press-relations","washington-star","media-criticism","journalistic-integrity"],"audioDurationSec":120,"audioFiles":[{"file":"648-001.mp3","bytes":1205668,"durationSec":120.15,"bitrate":80278,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:54.663Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/648-001.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/648-001","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/648/conversation-648-001","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}