Vital Statistics

• Size of Collection: 3,700 hours approx.
• Begin Date: February 16, 1971
• End Date: July 12, 1973
• Processing Status: About 2,371 hours have been released. The most recent release (6/2009) consisted of conversations from January and February 1973. 
   

Secret Service Documents on Installation and Maintenance of Recording System

Scanned Secret Service documents dealing with the installation and Maintenance of Nixon's recording system are available here and here. They were declassified by the Nixon Library in June 2009.

Powers, "The History of Presidential Audio Recordings," (1996)

[Extract from John Powers, "The History of Presidential Audio Recordings and the Archival Issues Surrounding Their Use" (1996). Used with permission.]

From February 16, 1971, through July 12, 1973, President Richard Nixon secretly recorded over 3,700 hours of his meetings and conversations. Microphones were installed in the Oval Office, in Nixon's office in the Old Executive Office Building (EOB), in the Cabinet Room, and in Aspen Lodge at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland. In addition, microphones were placed in telephones in the Oval Office, the EOB office, and the Lincoln Sitting Room in the residence section of the mansion. There were two separate systems for the telephones in Aspen Lodge at Camp David. [1]

The Decision to Record

During the transition period, President Johnson offered Nixon the use of the White House Communications Center to conduct business. Soon after Johnson's offer, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover visited the President-elect in New York and advised him not to use the Communications Center because it was bugged. [2] Hoover went on to tell Nixon that Johnson recorded his telephone conversations and meetings. [3]

Following the inauguration, H. R. Haldeman, Nixon's Chief of Staff, toured his new office and found a recording system tucked in the closet. [4] Thinking that this machine was part of President Johnson's taping system, he ordered a search of the White House for hidden listening devices. According to Jack Albright, Commander of WHCA, who accompanied Nixon's electronic expert on his search, no listening devices were located. [5]

Haldeman stated that although "Nixon abhorred the idea of taping" his conversations and meetings, he nonetheless was forced into recording them for several reasons. [6] First, along with Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson, Nixon believed that recording conversations and meetings was an excellent way of ensuring historical accuracy. Haldeman stated that many people met with the President and, for one reason or another, “did not always report accurately what was said and decided privately.” [7] George Reedy, President Johnson's Press Secretary, stated that he could “well see Nixon recording,” and taping was the one way of ensuring that people he met with were “on record.” [8]

Second, Nixon preferred to meet with foreign leaders and other visitors without his aides present. According to Nixon, the presence of aides and members of the white House staff inhibited conversation. [9] Nixon felt that these one-on-one meetings provided a sense of intimacy and privacy which ensured that visitors could state their beliefs and opinions in confidence. [10] While these one-on-one meetings may have fostered frankness, they did not provide a “paper trail” documenting the discussions. Third, Nixon wanted an accurate record of his presidency for use in preparing his memoirs. Nixon was always very concerned about history. [11] “From the beginning, I [Nixon] had decided that my administration would be the best chronicled in history.” [12] In his July 16, 1973, testimony before the Senate Watergate Committee, Haldeman's chief aide, Alexander Butterfield, stated: “They [the taping system] were installed, of course, for historical purposes, to record the President's business.” [13] He then added:

They were installed to preserve history for posterity. That was always on the President's mind ... he was very conscious of our having a good system for collecting the things which transpired with regards to the affairs of the State. [14]

The recording system would not only accurately record his meetings and conversations, but also the intangibles: nuances of expressions and tones of voices. Nixon, according to Haldeman, considered these intangibles "of substantive importance and always of historical significance.” [15]

Initially, Nixon used note-takers to describe a presidential meeting by writing a ‘color’ memorandum for the record. Color memoranda were intended to describe the details of presidential meetings as completely and thoroughly as possible. However, he was not satisfied with this system. As stated earlier, he felt that note-takers inhibited conversation, describing them to Haldeman as “scribbling intruders.” [16] Moreover, the ‘color’ memorandum for the record varied widely in detail and content, depending on the note-taker. Some aides wrote more thorough and accurate accounts than others. These memos were also subject to that aide's own interpretation and often, the aide misinterpreted what was said. [17]

Nixon and Haldeman searched for a way of resolving these problems. They experimented briefly with different options, including having Lt. Gen. Vernon Walters, who was known for both his outstanding memory and writing ability, sit in on the various presidential meetings, memorizing the conversations and writing memoranda afterwards. Walters refused, telling Haldeman that “I am a Commander of troops. I am not a secretary to anybody.” [18]

As Haldeman and Nixon were wrestling with finding a solution to this problem in the winter of 1970-71, former President Johnson, through an intermediary, offhandedly offered them a solution. Apparently, he told the intermediary that Nixon had made a mistake in removing his recording system. [19] Johnson went on to say that his tapes were invaluable in helping him write The Vantage Point. [20]

The Recording System

Haldeman and Nixon discussed installing a recording system in early 1971. Nixon finally agreed. [21] Haldeman and Butterfield decided that the best solution was to install a voice-activated recording system. They felt that Nixon would forget to turn a manually controlled system on and off. In addition, they felt that the President was “far too inept with machinery ever to make success of a switch system.” [22] Butterfield ordered the head of the Technical Services Division of the Secret Service, Alfred Wong, to install a taping system that required minimal maintenance. [23]

The Secret Service designed a voice-activated recording system that operated automatically. This system was tied to the Secret Service's presidential locator system. [24] Whenever President Nixon entered a designated recording area, his electronic beeper would automatically signal the recorder to switch into record/pause mode. A Voice Operated Relay turned the recorders on as soon as the microphones picked up any sound and the machines began recording. In theory, the system would continue recording for twenty to thirty seconds after the last sound was made. [25] The Secret Service installed seven different recording stations for President Nixon. The seven stations were: the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, the White House telephone (which included Nixon's telephones in the Oval Office, his EOB office, and the telephone in the Lincoln Sitting Room in the residence), Nixon's EOB office, Aspen Lodge at Camp David, [26] the telephone on Nixon's Desk in Aspen Lodge, [27] and the telephone on a table in Nixon's study in Aspen Lodge. [28]

Each recording station had two Sony 800B recorders. A timer switched from one recorder to the other every twenty-four hours, except on weekends when one recorder ran for forty-eight hours. [29] Because Nixon and Haldeman wanted a system that required little maintenance and could record for extended periods, the Secret Service decided to use tapes that recorded at the very slow speed of 15/16 inches per second on very thin 0.5 millimeter tape. [30] Because of the slow recording speed, each reel could hold up to six and a half hours of recording time per reel.

On occasion, the Secret Service agents changed reels while a meeting was in progress. In these cases, some portions of those meetings were not recorded while the change took place. They placed the completed tape in a box and wrote the inclusive dates on it. These tapes were then placed in secure storage vaults and arranged into seven series or stations according to the recording location.

Oval Office

The Oval Office recording series contains 502 tapes which were recorded between February 16, 1971, and July 12, 1973. [31] Following Butterfield's instructions, Wong supervised the installation of the voice-activated system in the Oval Office in February 1971. In all, seven microphones were placed in the Oval Office. (See Appendix F for diagram) Five were located on the President's desk, and two were located in wall sconces near the couches by the fireplace. This arrangement allowed meetings and conversations which took place by the President's desk and by the fireplace on the opposite side of the room to be recorded clearly. Wires passed through holes cut in the floor and led to a room below the Oval Office where the recording machines were kept. [32]

Cabinet Room

There are eighty-three tapes of President Nixon's Cabinet Room meetings recorded between February 16, 1971, and July 18, 1973. At the same time Wong installed the Oval office system, Butterfield asked him to install a manually-controlled recording system in the Cabinet Room. [33] Of the seven different recording systems that Nixon used simultaneously during his presidency, only the Cabinet Room system operated manually. The Secret Service installed an on/off switch on either side of the President's place on the Cabinet Room table. [34] Butterfield also had the technicians install a switch on his desk. [35] In practice, Nixon did not activate the system himself. Rather, he had Butterfield activate the system using the switch on his desk. [36] Since this system was not tied to the presidential locator system and was not voice-activated, many non-presidential conversations and meetings were recorded accidentally when the recorder was inadvertently left on. As a result, this series of recordings contain long periods of recorded room noise, cleaning activities, such as vacuuming, and miscellaneous conversations between unknown aides, cleaning personnel, and other individuals, as well as meetings between unknown individuals. [37]

Two microphones were installed under a small table near the President's chair in the Cabinet Room. As with the Oval Office system, wires led from the microphones through a hole cut in the floor. The two Cabinet Room recording machines were located in the same room as the Oval Office recording machines. [38]

Nixon's Old Executive Office Building Office

There are two hundred and four recordings of meetings held in the President's EOB office between April 6, 1971, and July 18, 1973. In April 1971 Butterfield had the Secret Service install a voice-activated recording system in the President's hideaway EOB office. The President primarily used this office for conducting day-to-day business, such as meeting with members of the White House staff or preparing speeches. In this office, the Secret Service installed four microphones in the President's desk: three were placed on the edges of the desk and one in the kneewell. [39] Wires led from the microphones in the desk to an adjoining room used by the Secret Service where the recording equipment was located. As with the other tapes, recorded tapes were boxed and dated. Initially, they were stored in a cabinet in this room; later, they were brought to the room underneath the Oval Office for central storage. [40]

White House Telephone System

There are forty-six composite tapes documenting most of President Nixon's telephone calls between April 7, 1971, and July 18, 1973. As with the EOB office and Oval Office recording systems, the telephone recording system was tied to the presidential locator system. This system was designed to record the President's telephone calls in the Oval Office, in the hideaway EOB office, and in the Lincoln Sitting Room in the Residence section of the mansion. [41]

The Secret Service set this recording system up by placing taps on the phone lines going into the Oval Office, the EOB office and the Lincoln Sitting Room from the white House Switchboard. Telephone calls from these locations were recorded onto a single tape. The recording system for the White House telephone system was located in a room in the mansion. [42]

If a call originated from or was transferred to one of these three rooms, and the presidential locator system indicated the President was present, that call was then recorded. For this reason, there are many recorded telephone calls between individuals other than the President. In these cases, Nixon was physically located in the room, but not a party in the conversation. [43]

Like President Johnson, Nixon also had telephones installed in his offices that would ring his key aides directly. The President had direct lines to H. R. Haldeman (his chief of staff), Henry Kissinger (his national security advisor), John Ehrlichman (his chief domestic policy advisor), Alexander Butterfield (his chief administrative officer), and Steve Bull (his daily appointments secretary). Because these direct telephone lines bypassed the White House switchboard, calls made on these lines were not recorded. [44]

The Camp David Recording Systems

Like his predecessor, Nixon enjoyed getting out of Washington, D.C. Whereas Johnson used his ranch in Stonewall, Texas, to conduct business in a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere, Nixon used the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland, for the same purpose. Only a forty-five minute helicopter ride from the white House, Nixon often journeyed there on weekends. In the four weeks following his 1972 re-election, Nixon spent eighteen days there recuperating. [45] In addition, Nixon held many formal meetings at Camp David, including the 1973 visit by Soviet Union Premier Leonid Brezhnev. [46]

There were three separate recording systems installed in Aspen Lodge at Camp David. All three systems were installed by Secret Service technicians in early May 1972. The first system, the Camp David Hard wire, was designed to record meetings and conversations taking place in Aspen Lodge using a microphone hidden in the room. This system, like that in the Oval and EOB offices, was voice-activated and tied to the Presidential locator system. [47] There are fifty-seven tapes in this series, dating from May 17, 1972, to March 4, 1973. Butterfield had the Secret Service remove this system in early March 1973.

The second and third systems were attached to telephones in Aspen Lodge. The first was called the Camp David Study Table system. The microphone for this system was placed in the telephone located on the table in the President's study. There are forty tapes in this series dating between May 16, 1972, and June 21, 1973. The second was called the Camp David Study Desk system. As would be expected, the microphone was placed in the telephone located on the desk in the President's study. There are eighteen tapes in this series of recordings, dating between May 18, 1972, and June 21, 1973. These systems were also tied to the Secret Service's presidential locator system. The Secret Service technicians removed these two systems in June 1973 on Butterfield's instructions. [48] All three recording systems were Sony 800B machines. They were kept in a small room next to the President's study. Recorded tapes were collected at the end of the President's stay at Camp David and brought to the central storage area below the Oval Office. [49]

The Nature of the Recordings

For the most part, the recordings are difficult to listen to and understand. [50] There are many reasons for this. Principal among them are mechanical problems with the Sony recording machines, the microphones, and the wiring. The tapes themselves were not suited to record conversations and meetings. Background noises and intruding sounds frequently interrupted conversations. Lastly, the meetings and conversations recorded were often unstructured and free-flowing and are difficult to follow.

Each of the seven recording stations had a degree of mechanical problems. The wires connecting the microphones to the recording machines were unshielded. As a result, the recordings picked up power line hum and other electromagnetic interference. [51] The EOB tapes are the most difficult to understand because the power hum is especially evident. [52]

The voice-activated system did not operate as intended either. First, the systems were supposed to continue recording for twenty to thirty seconds after the last sound made to ensure that words were not cut off. In reality, only the oval office system operated as intended. Each station had different noise volume sensitivities as to when to begin and stop recording. Both the EOB and Camp David Hard Wire systems contain frequent machine start-up and shut-off interruptions. Generally, it took a second or two for the machines to begin recording at the proper speed. This resulted in a ‘whip’ or ‘blip’ sound at the start of most conversations or after periods of silence. As a result of these machine malfunctions, brief portions of conversations and meetings were not recorded or are unintelligible. [53]

The volume fluctuated greatly on the tapes as well. Whereas commercial recordings usually have a signal-to-noise ratio between 40 to 60 decibels, many of the Nixon tapes range between only six and ten decibels. [54] Consequently, there are many very low volume tapes among the nine hundred and fifty Nixon tapes that are difficult to hear.

For the most part, the White House Telephone tapes are audible. However, some recordings made in the Lincoln Sitting Room are not. The automatic gain control (AGC) occasionally failed on the recording machines at this location. The AGC automatically adjusted the sound levels of the differing conversations. When this failed, the person speaking from the Lincoln Sitting Room is barely audible. The person he is speaking with is completely inaudible. [55]

The Secret Service opted to use thin 0.5 millimeter analog tape that recorded at a very slow 15/16 inches per second. A single reel of tape could record up to six and a half hours of conversation. Because Nixon desired a voice-activated system which required little maintenance or supervision, the Secret Service had little alternative. The original tapes are very thin and fragile. The tape thickness and recording speed are far from ideal for use in recording spoken sound. [56]

The placement of the microphones also caused many problems. In some cases conversations are not audible because the participants who were speaking were not near the microphones. In the EOB, four microphones were installed in the President's desk. Meetings taking place near this desk are audible. However, no microphones were installed in the sitting area. As a result, conversations in this area are faint and difficult to hear. [57] The conversations recorded on the Camp David Hard wire system are also difficult to understand because the Secret Service only installed one microphone in the President's study in Aspen Lodge. [58]

Extraneous room and background noises are evident throughout the entire collection. These noises tend to obscure portions of meetings and conversations. Although the Oval Office series of recordings are the easiest to comprehend, there are some individual conversations that are difficult to understand. Because five microphones were placed in the President's desk, they picked up the sound of anyone writing on the desk, or setting down a coffee cup or a glass. Furthermore, they picked up the sound of Nixon's chair banging into the desk, his feet banging on the desk when he put his feet up, and the sound of his knees knocking against the kneewell of his desk. One microphone was placed next to the telephone. The telephone ringing frequently blocked out small portions of conversations.

Similar problems existed in the EOB and Camp David series. For example, the President kept a ticking clock on his desk in the EOB. Unfortunately, the Secret Service technicians installed one of the microphones right next to the clock and the ticking is recorded very clearly. At Camp David, the President often had a fire lit in his study while he worked. The snapping and crackling of wood burning in the fireplace interfered with the recordings of some of his conversations. [59]

There were other extraneous noises that affected the quality of the recordings. On occasion, the helicopter rotor blades from Marine One completely obliterated conversation taking place in the Oval Office .[60] Ambulance, fire engine and police sirens were also recorded on the tapes. Doors opening and closing briefly interfered with conversations.

Unlike his predecessors who consciously made the decision to record a meeting or conversation and manually controlled their recording systems, Nixon opted to use a voice-activated system that would record virtually everything that was said while he was present. This meant that, in addition to recording formal meetings, briefings, telephone conversations, and long stretches of miscellaneous room noise, informal daily meetings between Nixon and members of his immediate staff were recorded as well. These meetings were often unstructured and free-flowing. [61] Participants interrupted each other and finished each other's sentences. They answered questions before they were elucidated and repeatedly changed conversation topics. Moreover, participants alluded to conversations and meetings that took place at unknown times in the past. These factors, at times, render some conversations difficult to interpret.

As a result of all of these factors, the overall quality of the recordings are relatively poor. Machine malfunctions, volume fluctuations, inferior equipment and tape quality, and extraneous noise all hinder the intelligibility of the tapes. In addition, the voices in the meetings and conversations themselves, sometimes further obscured what was being said.

Nixon Tapes Released to the Public

To date, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) have released sixty-three hours of Watergate-related conversations to the public. [62] The Watergate trial tapes were released in 1980. These consist of twelve and a half hours of segments of conversations and meetings which were introduced as evidence by the Watergate Special Prosecution Force (WSPF) and played in court during the Watergate trials of members of Nixon's staff. [63] In 1991, NARA released the second segment of Watergate-related conversations. This group consisted of forty-seven and one half hours of segments of conversations and meetings subpoenaed by the WSPF but never used in court. Staff members of the WSPF prepared transcripts for most of the conversations and meetings included in these two file segments. [64]

The third public release of Nixon's White House tapes consisted of segments of Watergate-related conversations for the months of May and June 1972 which total three hours. These conversations, although not subpoenaed by the WSPF, were determined by the Nixon Project archivists to contain Watergate-related information. Although there are no transcripts for these segments, the National Archives did prepare descriptive tape logs to correspond to the conversation. The tape logs include the date, time, location, names of conversation participants, and an outline of the contents of the conversation.

One of the factors of the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 is that the National Archives give priority in processing and releasing materials relating to abuses of governmental power, commonly referred to as “Watergate.” [65] After the release of the WSPF tapes, the Archives decided to review and propose for release additional tape segments of conversations determined to be Watergate-related. The Archives released the May-June 1972 segments and their corresponding tape logs in 1993 and plans on releasing all remaining Watergate-related segments as early as November 1996.

Notes:
[1] A History of the White House Tapes, Nixon Presidential Materials Project (NLNP), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), March, 1995.
[2] Telephone interview with Albright, December 12, 1995.
[3] Ibid. See also: H. R. Haldeman, “The Nixon White House Tapes The Decision to Record Presidential Conversations,” Prologue, National Archives and Records Administration, Summer 1988, Volume 20, Number 2, p. 80. Albright recalled that he was informed of Hoover's conversation with President-elect Nixon. He, in turn, informed President Johnson, who ordered him to remove all traces of the different recording systems in the white House. This order was carried out over the weekend of December 28, 1968.
[4] Haldeman's first office was located next to the Little Lounge next to the Oval Office. During 1968, it was James Jones' office.
[5] Telephone interview with Albright, December 12, 1995. The recording machine left in Haldeman's new office was used to duplicate Johnson's public statements.
[6] "The Nixon White House Tapes..." p. 80.
[7] Ibid. pp. 80-81.
[8] Telephone interview with Reedy, August 16, 1995.
[9] Richard M. Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon, Grosset and Dunlop (New York: 1978) pp. 500-501.
[10] "The Nixon White House Tapes..." p. 81.
[11] Nixon, pp. 500-501. See also: Telephone interview with Reedy, August 16, 1995; "Watergate Reminiscences," p. 1250; "The Nixon White House Tapes..." p. 81; White House Tapes: Scope and Content Note, NLNP, NARA, undated.
[12] Nixon, p. 500. See also: "The Nixon White House Tapes..." p. 81.
[13] SSC, Book 5, p. 2075.
[14] Ibid. p. 2085.
[15] “The Nixon White House Tapes...” p. 82. 
[16] Ibid. p. 81.
[17] In his memoirs, Nixon said of the note-takers: "the quality of prose varied as much as the quality of perception," p. 501.
[18] "The Nixon White House Tapes..." pp. 82-83.
[19] There is some controversy surrounding this issue: Haldeman and Nixon believed that Johnson's system was still in place when they took office. WHCA documents make clear the fact that the system was removed prior to Nixon taking office. In either case, Nixon wrote that he "abhorred" the idea of secretly taping conversations and had the system removed.
[20] Nixon, p. 501. See also: “The Nixon White House Tapes...” p. 83.
[21] "The Nixon White House Tapes..." p. 83.
[22] Ibid. p. 84. See also: “Watergate Reminiscences,” pp. 1250-1253.
[23] Telephone interview with Alfred Wong, Chief of Technical Services, United States Secret Service, December 4, 1995.
[24] The Presidential locator system is designed so that the Secret Service knows where the President is at all times. Typically, this is an electronic device that the President wears at all times.
[25] White House Tapes Scope and Content Note, p. 3. As will be explained in greater detail later, this did not work as intended: each recording system had different sensitivities, resulting in constant machine shutdown and start-up, resulting in inconsistencies.
[26] Ibid. This was called the Camp David Hard Wire system.
[27] Ibid. This was called the Camp David Study Desk system. 
[28] Ibid. This was called the Camp David Study Table system.
[29] "Processing the Nixon Tapes," Maarja Krustin, CIDS Paper, NARA, September 14, 1979, p. 3.
[30] Telephone interview with Mayn, December 19, 1995. The standard for recording spoken sound is 3 3/4 inches per second; the faster the tape speed, the better quality the sound. Unfortunately, this means limited recording time per reel. Likewise, the standard for tape thickness is 1.5 millimeter, not 0.5 millimeter tape.
[31] Telephone interview with Anita Happoldt, NLNP Archivist, NARA, January 3, 1996. Nixon ordered all the taping systems removed on July 18, 1973, two days after Butterfield's revelation. There are no recordings between July 13, 1973, and July 18, 1973, because Nixon was in Walter Reed Army Hospital for treatment for pneumonia.
[32] White House Tapes: Scope and Content Notes, p. 5. 
[33] Telephone interview with Wong on December 4, 1995. 
[34] Like President Johnson, Nixon had control boxes installed throughout the White House. The Cabinet Room control box could activate the recording system, page his assistant, Steve Bull, and page his personal valet, Manolo Sanchez. 
[35] White House Tapes: Scope and Content Notes, p. 5. 
[36] SSC, Book 5, p. 2076 and p. 2080.
[37] White House Tapes: Scope and Content Notes, p. 4.
[38] A History of the white House Tapes, March 1995, p. 1. 
[39] White House Tapes: Scope and Content Notes, p. 4. See Appendix G for a diagram of the EOB office and recording system. 
[40] Ibid. p. 4.
[41] Ibid. p. 4.
[42] A History of the White House Tapes, p. 1.
[43] Haldeman often made telephone calls from the Oval Office and hideaway EOB office while he was meeting with the President. 
[44] White House Tapes: Scope and Content Notes. pp. 30-31.
[45] Breaking Cover, p. 205.
[46] Butterfield explained in his Senate testimony on July 6, 1973 that the three Camp David recording systems were removed by the Secret Service "prior to occupancy by Chiefs of State, heads of Government, and other foreign dignitaries." (SSC, Book 5, p. 2077.)
[47] A History of the White House Tapes, p. 1.
[48] Telephone interview with Happoldt on January 3, 1996. See also: SSC, Book 5, p. 2077. Butterfield testified that the Secret Service removed these three systems periodically when a foreign dignitary stayed in Aspen Lodge. 
[49] White House Tapes: Scope and Content Notes, p. 5. See also: Telephone interview with Wong on December 4, 1995.
[50] In describing the Nixon tapes, I have only used publicly available sources, including books, articles, finding aids, and tapes from the Watergate Special Prosecution Force and the Abuse of Governmental Power tapes for May and June 1972.
[51] Telephone interview with Mayn on December 19, 1995. Mayn stated that everyday items such as televisions, electric clocks, or telephones could interfere with a recording. See also: White House Tapes: Scope and Content Notes, p. 5.
[52] Telephone interview with Happoldt on January 3, 1996. 
[53] Telephone interview with Happoldt on January 3, 1996. See also: White House Tapes: Scope and Content Notes, p. 3. 
[54] General Services Administration, Report to Congress on Title I Presidential Materials and Preservation Act, Government Printing office (Washington, D.C. 1975) pp. El-E3.
[55] Telephone interview with Happoldt on January 3, 1996. See also: White House Tapes: Scope and Content Notes, p. 6. 78
[56] Telephone interview with Richard McNeil, Audiovisual Archivist, NLNP, NARA, on January 4, 1996. As will be explained in greater detail in Section two of this paper, the archival standard for voice recordings is on 1.5 mil tape, recording at 3 3/4 inches per second.
[57] White House Tapes: Scope and Content Notes, p. 24. See Appendix G for a diagram of the EOB recording system.
[58] A History of the White House Tapes, p. 1. 
[59] Telephone interview with Happoldt on January 3, 1996. See also: White House Tapes: Scope and Content Notes, p. 5. 
[60] Telephone interview with Happoldt on January 3, 1996. See also: White House Tapes: Scope and Content Notes, p. 24. The President's helicopter would wait on the South Lawn of the White House while the President completed business before boarding.
[61] Paul Schmidt, The opening of the Nixon White House Tapes: Procedures and Problems, CIDS Paper, NARA, May, 1985, p. 2.
[62] The Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act governs the review and release of Nixon's presidential materials. The Watergate definition is explained in Section II of this paper.
[63] A History of the White House Tapes, p. 2. The Nixon staffers were: H. R. Haldeman, Charles W. Colson, John D. Ehrlichman, John W. Dean, John B. Connally, Maurice H. Stans, and John N. Mitchell.
[64] Ibid.
[65] Segments of conversations determined to be Watergate-related under the Nixon Regulations, but not included in the WSPF collection, are called “Abuse of Governmental Power Segments.”