{"conversationCode":"709-001","tapeNumber":709,"conversationNumber":1,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-709-001","startDateTime":"1972-04-17T13:36:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-04-17T13:58:00.000Z","startDate":"17-Apr-1972","startTime":"8:36 AM","endDate":"17-Apr-1972","endTime":"8:58 AM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President);","description":"On April 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:36 am and 8:58 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 709-001 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. 709-1\n\nDate: April 17, 1972\nTime: Unknown between 8:36 am and 8:58 am\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President dictated a memorandum for the file.\n\n*****************************************************************\n\n[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 10/04/2022.\nSegment cleared for release.]\n[Personal Returnable]\n[709-001-w001]\n[Duration: 1m 25s]\n\n     D. Roland Michener\n          -Ancestry\n               -England and Pennsylvania\n                    -Quakers\n               -The President's maternal line\n                    -Ireland and Pennsylvania\n               -James A. Michener\n                    -Background\n\n     Gordon Robertson [?]\n         -Conversation with Pierre E. Trudeau\n              -Civil service policies\n                    -Changes in administrations\n\n*****************************************************************","filename":["709-001.mp3"],"tapeStart":"00:01:46","tapeEnd":"00:03:45","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)"],"prevCode":"708-013","nextCode":"709-002","transcript":[{"start":0.15,"end":2.69,"text":"This is a Mary Hansen profile that we have inscribed."},{"start":3.25,"end":10.76,"text":"These are some random notes from a visit from the governor's family."},{"start":11.9,"end":17.36,"text":"His ancestors had come from England."},{"start":19,"end":23.37,"text":"They were English leaders in the Pennsylvania colony."},{"start":23.39,"end":28.57,"text":"And they explained the very, very interesting fact that my mother's"},{"start":30.07,"end":36.35,"text":"Ancestors came from Ireland, but that's the name of the colony."},{"start":36.97,"end":44.25,"text":"The Michener, who writes, is primarily an orphan who's adopted."},{"start":44.29,"end":49.88,"text":"But it is the same Michener family."},{"start":49.9,"end":53.92,"text":"I met Robertson, the opposite number of Bertrand, who spoke to"},{"start":54.77,"end":65.18,"text":"Trudeau about what high regard I had for training all the soldiers in the system, which provided for the continuity of dedicated civil service officers."},{"start":65.28,"end":78.46,"text":"Robertson, in Trudeau's presence, said, well, maybe it wasn't too good an idea because there needed to be changes of government in order to get rid of the spiking bureaucracy, which otherwise looked good."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon reviews genealogical background information regarding the Michener family, noting their Quaker roots and connections to his own maternal ancestry. The discussion also touches upon a recent interaction between Gordon Robertson and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau concerning the merits of a permanent civil service. Nixon and his interlocutor contemplate the tension between maintaining institutional continuity and the need for administrative changes to mitigate entrenched bureaucracy.","topics":["Genealogy","Michener family","Civil service reform","Bureaucracy","Pierre Trudeau","Gordon Robertson"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-07T03:00:59.431Z"},"topicSlugs":["genealogy","michener-family","civil-service-reform","bureaucracy","pierre-trudeau","gordon-robertson"],"audioDurationSec":85,"audioFiles":[{"file":"709-001.mp3","bytes":3401975,"durationSec":84.9,"bitrate":320550,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:55.376Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:44:20.833Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/709-001.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/709-001","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/709/conversation-709-001","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}