Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 1 › Conversation 001-120

Nixon phone call with Ziegler on Press Relations and Newspaper Editors

Friday, April 16, 1971 · 11:28 PM–11:31 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation001-120 on Tape 1 (tape position 03:58:37–04:01:49)StartFriday, April 16, 1971 at 11:28 PMEndFriday, April 16, 1971 at 11:31 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 001-120 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald L. Ziegler discussed the positive reception among newspaper editors regarding the President’s recent press conference performance. Ziegler relayed feedback from various attendees, including Robert M. White and Newbold Noyes, noting that the editors viewed the session as a masterful display despite their professional hesitation to applaud. The conversation served to gauge the press corps' reaction to the President's public messaging and to monitor the influence of his recent media appearance.

Audio

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Position in tape: 03:58:37 – 04:01:49

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Bye.
Yeah?
Mr. President, I have Mr. Ziegler, and he's still trying to find Mr. Klein for us.
Oh.
Ziegler, sir.
Hi.
Mr. President?
Yes, sir.
Hello.
Ron?
Yes, sir.
The, uh...
i'm in a phone booth here there's a reception taking place with the dance good good everyone everyone and i haven't even you know asked what did you think people were simply volunteering to me that they thought it was an excellent performance they liked it huh yes sir uh you know they didn't respond too enthusiastically but that's but but the room was not that kind of a room the thing of it is
A couple of the, Bob White, for example, told me, who's a good friend, as you know.
He's a good man, yes.
He told me that the people he has talked to, and they talked to him straight, said that overall the attitude, it was a great performance.
He said that a number of them said, you know, we didn't know whether we should have clapped or not because we're editors.
Yeah, I know.
They said that the wives were the ones who were clapping.
And he said that many of them began, you know, to clap even though they didn't know whether they should or not at a press conference.
The wives were clapping, yeah.
But, for example, Cotter from the Syracuse paper.
Syracuse, yeah, that's a good paper.
He's a good man and thought it was great, white.
Newbold Noyce said there's never been anything like it.
Was he pleased?
Absolutely.
He's a nice guy.
A couple of people have said it was a virtuoso performance.
And everyone says that the questions were good and the president handled them beautifully.
There were good questions.
A lot of them... Tell, tell, I want you to go up to Otis Chandler and tell him he asked great questions.
Will you do that?
Yes, sir.
But a lot of them are talking about the way you handled the Hoover thing.
And there's overall...
supportive the way you handled it.
Yeah, but I said, well, after all, you can't put the old man out, you know, and you kick him in the ass.
That's right.
But a lot of them are talking about the figures you used.
Mm-hmm.
You know, the 300 and the 50 and the less than before and so forth.
Yeah, and incidentally, they hope they all notice that that 61, 62, 63, when Bobby Kennedy was the Attorney General.
They got that.
They got that.
Yeah.
McKnight, the next president.
Yeah.
From Charlotte?
Yes, yes.
How is he?
Excellent.
Everyone who I've talked to, and I've talked to a great number here, even Art Buchwald thought it was great.
What did Buckwall say?
He thought it was great.
He said, Buckwall said that, you know, it was a great performance.
Why don't you get a hold of Bill Buckley and see what he thought?
I'm looking for him.
I don't see him here.
Let me know if you find him and call me back, will you?
Well, Herb's here, too.
Would you like to talk to him?
I want to talk to Herb, yeah.
He's down there now.
Have him call me back.
But you get a hold of...
Buckley, because I think it's interesting, because he's a hardliner, and see what Buckley thought, you know.
Okay, I'll try and find him here.
Fine, fine.
If I don't, I'll talk to you later.
Dr. Lukash, please.
Yes, sir.

NARA Description

On April 16, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 11:28 pm to 11:31 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 001-120 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 1-120

Date: April 16, 1971
Time: 11:28 pm - 11:31 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

     Ronald L. Ziegler
          -Herbert G. Klein’s location

The President talked with Ziegler at 11:28 pm.

     President's interview with newspaper editors
           -Reaction
                 -Robert M. White, II
                 -Wives
                 -William D. Cotter
                 -Newbold (“Newby”) Noyes, Jr.
           -Questions
           -Message for Otis Chandler
           -J. Edgar Hoover
                 -Figures
                       -Robert F. Kennedy
           -Reaction
                 -Felix R. McKnight
                 -Art Buchwald
           -Ziegler's possible conversation with William F. Buckley, Jr.
           -Klein

Also recorded on April 17, 1971

  • 001-112 11:01 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 11:01 pm to 11:03 pm.
  • 001-113 11:04 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 11:04 pm.
  • 001-114 11:05 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 11:05 pm to 11:09 pm.
  • 001-115 11:09 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 11:09 pm.
  • 001-116 11:10 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone at 11:10 pm.
  • 001-117 11:10 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:10 pm and 11:22 pm.
  • 001-118 11:10 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:10 pm and 11:22 pm.
  • 001-119 11:22 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 11:22 pm to 11:27 pm.

All 49 conversations from April 17, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 001-120, April 17, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/001-120 (accessed October 23, 2026).