Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 716 › Conversation 716-006

United States Secret Service agents on Oval Office taping system

Monday, May 1, 1972 · 6:49 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsUnited States Secret Service agentsConversation716-006 on Tape 716 (tape position 02:40:29–02:41:51)StartMonday, May 1, 1972 at 6:49 PMEndMonday, May 1, 1972 at 6:49 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 716-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Secret Service agents to conduct a brief technical test of the Oval Office recording system. During the session, the participants engaged in a fragmentary discussion regarding the potential political fallout of the Vietnam War and the upcoming summit. Nixon emphasized his desire to minimize public disclosure and press coverage surrounding these sensitive foreign policy matters.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 64.5 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 02:40:29 into the tape and ends around 02:41:51.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

2:40:32But I do think that's, from the standpoint of the American public, which I'm really proud of on our end.
2:40:41We have to get back on one more path.
2:40:44Don't you agree?
2:40:45I did hate when that hurt you, and also that we don't need any pieces.
2:40:50We don't need them.
2:40:51Well, Henry said that when he's talking about this, they'll turn all the press on us and the columnists and the rest, and they're on us already.
2:40:57That's right.
2:40:58Huh?
2:40:59That's right.
2:40:59Did Hank understand?
2:41:00Yep.
2:41:03Can you imagine going to the summit after being run out of Vietnam?
2:41:11Oh, see Henry Wood.
2:41:29well for the long haul you can argue that maybe he's ready to do it but not then yeah so you approve the wild card too do you approve this agenda also i don't care just update what they say henry will be there yeah yeah yeah all right but i mean i don't i don't want any more on it i want to breathe just as little as we can all right

NARA Description

On May 1, 1972, United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at 6:49 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 716-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 716-6

Date: May 1, 1972
Time: 6:49 pm
Location: Oval Office

Unknown men [Secret Service agents] met.

     Buzzer
         -Test

The unknown agents left.

Also recorded on May 1, 1972

  • 716-005 6:48 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 6:48 pm to 6:49 pm.
  • 023-095 6:49 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:49 pm and 6:53 pm.
  • 023-096 6:53 PM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Manolo Sanchez talked on the telephone from 6:53 pm to 7:06 pm.
  • 023-097 7:06 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:06 pm and 7:07 pm.
  • 023-098 7:07 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 7:07 pm to 7:08 pm.
  • 023-099 7:09 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:09 pm and 7:11 pm.
  • 023-100 7:11 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 7:11 pm to 7:13 pm.
  • 023-101 7:13 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:13 pm and 7:18 pm.

All 19 conversations from May 1, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 716-006, May 1, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/716-006 (accessed October 9, 2026).