Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 15 › Conversation 015-165

Nixon phone call with Ziegler on People's Republic of China

Monday, November 29, 1971 · 5:35 PM–5:39 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation015-165 on Tape 15 (tape position 04:31:26–04:35:46)StartMonday, November 29, 1971 at 5:35 PMEndMonday, November 29, 1971 at 5:39 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 015-165 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler discuss the positive media reception to the announcement of the upcoming presidential trip to the People's Republic of China and the accompanying news coverage. They review strategy for further public disclosures, coordinating with Henry Kissinger to provide background details on international relations while managing potential domestic distractions. Additionally, the pair touch upon congressional reaction to tax legislation and briefly note miscellaneous news stories regarding the President's recent California trip and the health of football player Sonny Jurgensen.

Audio

Download MP3 · 2.5 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Yeah.
Yes, sir.
Did they get the story right or right with your one-line announcement?
Yes, sir.
Yeah.
It is moving, I think, very well.
They expected it, of course, but the date was probably a little earlier than they thought.
Well, they were surprised.
Yeah, that's what I said.
And they didn't necessarily expect it today.
Yeah.
They knew it would come sometime soon.
Before Wednesday, right.
So now that's...
But it's moving.
And you said all details will be answered tomorrow.
Right.
What I said was within the next 24 hours, we would be giving the other surrounding details, like the length of the trip and the stops and so forth.
Then I referred to...
It'll create a great deal of interest.
I'll tell you, what they're going to be very surprised about is the length.
Yeah.
And the stops, I think.
Seven weeks.
Seven days.
Right.
But it's playing very well.
I referred just very briefly to what you had said in July.
Mm-hmm.
We're running for peace, yeah.
Right.
Good.
And also indicated that the reason you're going is to, as you said at that time, is to seek normalization of relations.
Right, right, right, right.
Well, Henry is doing a background, or this is the right time for him.
Don't you think he can cover all the other trips?
He can cover this one, India, Pakistan, and so forth.
And it will allow him to do something that I couldn't have done.
It will allow him to limit himself to that and not get into all the domestic things that we don't want to have override this.
I mean, I think he'll get a good story.
Don't you think so?
Yes, sir.
I think it's the right time to do it.
The only other point I referred to, you know, I read the one-sentence announcement, made it clear that that was the extent of the joint announcement.
I indicated that the president's purpose for the meeting was to seek a new direction in our relations between the two countries and then the isolation of the two great peoples from each other.
So those are the only two quotes I gave him.
And then they're filling in from your past statements or from what Henry said.
So it's played all right.
It played very well.
As a matter of fact, the tax bill is playing well, too.
Oh, I was going to say if I knew it would, I don't.
I don't know if you've seen the star.
It didn't knock the market down, at least.
No, the market's great today.
It stayed up, but it may go down a little more.
It'll probably knock it tomorrow, but we'll see.
What are the Democrats saying as a result of it?
Well, they say, but key Democrats in Congress said it probably would not be possible to pass another tax bill before adjournment.
Mr. Mills told reporters it would be almost impossible to push a new bill through before the end of this year.
So they may get a surprise if they don't get moving.
You mean the special session?
Yes, sir.
You're damn right you're going to get a surprise.
But I'm not referring to that.
We shouldn't be hinting at it.
Let's wait until we come and see the whites of their eyes.
Right.
I think this will play well on TV tonight.
Of course, the banner and the star says, Nixon warns on tax bill.
It's played very heavily on the wires and on radio today, and I think that combined with the China announcement tonight on TV should give us a good night on TV.
Right, right, right.
No other news of consequence today, huh?
Not really.
Those are the two.
They had a good time in California, didn't they?
Well, they had a lot of news.
They had big stories.
They were on the front page every day.
Good stories, that's right.
And the Bob Hope thing was a nice color story.
Yes, sir.
Here, I want to get that.
The only other thing in the star this afternoon is the fact that Jurgensen's arm isn't rebroken.
It's only bruised.
Yeah.
I talked to Alan about it.
He told me he thought it was a muscle.
Oh, I did?
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Okay, sir.
Right, bye.

NARA Description

On November 29, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 5:35 pm to 5:39 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 015-165 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 15-165

Date: November 29, 1971
Time: 5:35 pm - 5:39 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler.

[See also Conversation No. 306-10M]

     The President's People's Republic of China [PRC] trip
          -Announcement
               -Reaction
               -Arrangements
               -"Journey for Peace"
               -Henry A. Kissinger backgrounder
                      -India-Pakistan
               -Joint US-PRC announcement
               -Purpose of trip

     Tax Bill story
          -Reaction
                 -Washington Star
                 -Stock market
                 -Democrats
                      -Wilbur D. Mills
                      -Special session of Congress
          -Television coverage
                 -PRC trip

     The President's previous California trip
          -News reactions
               -Leslie T. (“Bob”) Hope

     Christian A. (“Sonny”) Jurgensen
          -Injury
                -Washington Star report
                -The President's conversation with George E. Allen

Also recorded on November 29, 1971

  • 015-166 5:39 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:39 pm and 5:43 pm.
  • 306-011 5:39 PM · 8 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 5:39 pm and 5:43 pm.
  • 306-012 5:39 PM · 7 sec — 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 5:39 pm and 5:43 pm.
  • 306-013 5:39 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:39 pm and 5:43 pm.
  • 306-014 5:39 PM · 24 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 5:39 pm and 6:14 pm.
  • 015-167 5:43 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 5:43 pm to 5:44 pm.
  • 015-168 5:45 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 5:45 pm.
  • 015-169 5:45 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:45 pm and 5:47 pm.

All 72 conversations from November 29, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 015-165, November 29, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/015-165 (accessed October 9, 2026).