William L. Gifford served in the Nixon administration in several capacities, primarily focusing on legislative affairs. He began as a Special Assistant for Legislative Affairs at the Department of Labor. He later moved to the Office of Management and Budget and by 1973, he was appointed to a leadership role in legislative affairs at the Department of the Treasury, a position he held through the end of the administration.
On November 2, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and members of the Cabinet Committee on Executive Reorganization, including Rogers C. B. Morton, Maurice H. Stans, James D. Hodgson, Elliot L. Richardson, George W. Romney, George P. Shultz, J. Philip Campbell, David Maxwell, Frank C. Carlucci, III, Egil G. ("Bud") Krogh, Jr., William L. Gifford, Neal Ball, Geoffrey C. Shepard, Dwight A. Ink, and John D. Ehrlichman., met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 3:37 pm to 4:35 pm. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 081-004 of the White House Tapes.
On January 24, 1972, during the signing of the 1973 Budget Message, President Richard M. Nixon and staff members of the Office of Management and Budget, including Samuel M. Cohn, Mark W. Alger, Charles E. Benton, David Bray, Lawrence Breese, Velma N. Baldwin, Philip Dame, Donald A. Derman, Lynn Etheredge, C. William Fischer, James M. Frey, Wilmer Hunt, John F. Hurley, Walter W. Haase, Joseph Laitin, Susanne Lind, Hugh F. Loweth, Theodore C. Lutz, C. Peter Modlin, Jr., Philip MacDonald, Dale R. McOmber, Douglas Norwood, Wilfred H. Rommel, Wesley K. Sasaki, Glenn R. Schleede, Julius Shiskin, Richard Stubbing, Reardon Sullivan, Daniel H. Taft, Barbara Torrey, James D. Tschirigi, Milton Turen, Ellis H. Veatch, Joyce Walker, Charles Kraus, Frank C. Carlucci, III, and Raymond Clarke; and possibly William H. Kohlberg, William A. Niskanen, William H. Taft, IV, David P. Taylor, George P. Shultz, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, Arthur B. Laffer, William L. Gifford, Charles R. Perry, Dwight A. Ink, Kenneth W. Dam, Donald B. Rice, and Paul H. O'Neill, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 10:04 am and 11:59 pm. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 088-001 of the White House Tapes.
On January 26, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, and Republican Congressional leaders, including Hugh Scott, Robert P. Griffin, Norris Cotton, Gordon L. Allott, Peter H. Dominick, Barry M. Goldwater, Gerald R. Ford, Leslie C. Arends, John B. Anderson, Samuel L. Devine, Richard H. Poff, Barber B. Conable, Jr., H. Allen Smith, Robert C. ("Bob") Wilson, John W. Byrnes, Frank T. Bow, Robert J. Dole, George P. Shultz, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, Herbert Stein, John D. Ehrlichman, Clark MacGregor, William E. Timmons, Richard K. Cook, Thomas C. Korologos, Harry S. Dent, Ronald L. Ziegler, Bryce N. Harlow, Noel C. Koch, William L. Gifford, Henry A. Kissinger, and William P. Rogers, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 7:47 am and 10:02 am. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 088-002 of the White House Tapes.
On March 23, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and members of the Cost of Living Council, including John B. Connally, Herbert Stein, Donald H. Rumsfeld, J. Philip Campbell, Peter G. Peterson, James D. Hodgson, George W. Romney, George P. Shultz, Gen. George A. Lincoln, Virginia H. Knauer, Arthur F. Burns, James W. McLane, Albert E. Abrahams, Joseph Mullaney, Marvin H. Kosters, Richard B. Cheney, James Connor, Richard J. Alfultis, Donald Smith, Clark MacGregor, William L. Gifford, Charles R. Perry, and the White House photographer, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 3:02 pm and 3:56 pm. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 096-004 of the White House Tapes.
On May 30, 1972, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Robert J. McCloskey, Charles N. Brower, Reggie Thompson, Joseph Hancock, Ralph T. Smith, William L. Gifford, Charles D. Ablard, Thomas C. Korologos, Fred F. Fielding, Dr. James R. Schlesinger, and unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 12:01 am and 8:01 am. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 102-001 of the White House Tapes.
On June 21, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Nelson A. Rockefeller, John A. Volpe, Jacob K. Javits, James L. Buckley, John D. Ehrlichman, William L. Gifford, William A. Ronan, Alexander P. Butterfield, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:38 pm to 1:22 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 739-010 of the White House Tapes.
On August 8, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Republican Congressional leaders, including Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, Herbert Stein, Hugh Scott, Robert P. Griffin, Norris Cotton, Gordon L. Allott, Peter H. Dominick, Wallace F. Bennett, Milton R. Young, Gerald R. Ford, Leslie C. Arends, John J. Rhodes, Samuel L. Devine, H. Allen Smith, Robert C. ("Bob") Wilson, Barber B. Conable, Jr., Frank T. Bow, John W. Byrnes, Richard H. Poff, Robert J. Dole, Clark MacGregor, John D. Ehrlichman, Gerald L. Warren, Richard K. Cook, Thomas C. Korologos, Harry S. Dent, Patrick J. Buchanan, Herbert G. Klein, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., and William L. Gifford, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 8:02 am and 10:11 am. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 107-001 of the White House Tapes.
On October 2, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Republican Congressional leaders, including Leslie C. Arends, John B. Anderson, Samuel L. Devine, William J. ("Jack") Edwards, H. Allen Smith, John J. Rhodes, Barber B. Conable, Jr., Frank T. Bow, John W. Byrnes, Charls E. Walker, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, John D. Ehrlichman, William E. Timmons, Ronald L. Ziegler, James E. Smith, Richard K. Cook, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., and William L. Gifford, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 8:05 am and 9:34 am. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 105-010 of the White House Tapes.
On October 12, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, and Senate Republican leaders, including Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, James E. Smith, Hugh Scott, Robert P. Griffin, Norris Cotton, Peter H. Dominick, Robert J. Dole, Wallace F. Bennett, John G. Tower, John D. Ehrlichman, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., Ronald L. Ziegler, William E. Timmons, Thomas C. Korologos, William L. Gifford, Wallace H. Johnson, the White House photographer, and members of the press, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 9:06 am and 8:48 pm. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 108-002 of the White House Tapes.
On January 5, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Col. Richard T. Kennedy, William L. Gifford, Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins, Yen Chia-Kan, Tsai Wei-ping, James C. H. Shen, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:03 pm to 4:22 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 834-016 of the White House Tapes.