Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 12 › Conversation 012-016

Nixon phone call with Ziegler on John N. Mitchell

Wednesday, October 20, 1971 · 5:40 PM–5:49 PM ET · White House Telephone · 12 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); [Unknown person(s)]; White House operator; Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation012-016 on Tape 12 (tape position 00:35:10–00:35:22)StartWednesday, October 20, 1971 at 5:40 PMEndWednesday, October 20, 1971 at 5:49 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 012-016 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417191547 ↗

A 12-second recording. What it contains is described by the archivists' log below; no AI summary is shown for recordings this short.

Audio

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NARA Description

On October 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), White House operator, and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:40 pm and 5:49 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 012-016 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 012-016

Date: October 20, 1971
Time: Unknown between 5:40 pm and 5:49 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President conferred with an unknown person.

[See Conversation No. 282-32A]

     Manolo Sanchez

The President talked with the White House operator.

     Request for call to John N. Mitchell

The President conferred with Ronald L. Ziegler.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Just let her lie.
All right.
Yes, please.
Mr. Attorney General, please.
Thank you, sir.

Also recorded on October 20, 1971

  • 012-015 5:33 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 5:33 pm to 5:40 pm.
  • 282-030 5:33 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:33 pm to 5:40 pm.
  • 282-031 5:40 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:40 pm and 5:49 pm.
  • 282-032 5:40 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, Manolo Sanchez, White House operator, and John N. Mitchell met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:40 pm and 5:49 pm.
  • 012-017 5:49 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 5:49 pm to 5:50 pm.
  • 012-018 5:50 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:50 pm and 6:05 pm.
  • 282-033 5:53 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:53 pm to 6:05 pm.
  • 282-034 5:53 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:53 pm and 6:05 pm.

All 81 conversations from October 20, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 012-016, October 20, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417191547). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/012-016 (accessed November 2, 2026).