Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 43 › Conversation 043-015

Nixon phone call with Ziegler on National Prayer Breakfast and Edward Heath

Thursday, February 1, 1973 · 6:51 PM–6:55 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation043-015 on Tape 43StartThursday, February 1, 1973 at 6:51 PMEndThursday, February 1, 1973 at 6:55 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 043-015 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler reviewed the media reception of recent administration activities, including the positive television coverage of the National Prayer Breakfast and the arrival of British Prime Minister Edward Heath. They coordinated the messaging for Nixon’s meetings with Henry Kissinger and Heath regarding international trade and economic policy. Additionally, they discussed a legal matter involving executive privilege and assessed a recent interview given by Kissinger to Marvin Kalb, agreeing to encourage Kissinger to pursue further media appearances.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Is it yours, sir?
Yes, sir.
Just to put you in, I met with the group with Kissinger, I mean, just Kissinger in it for a half hour, and I met for another hour and a half with, we went a little over that, with 432...
or 45 minutes yes and the prime minister so i want to be sure that's out because they'll know that's about economic matters monetary matters trade matters and so forth and so you could handle that all right good the uh breakfast made abc it was really great it's the one network well no it made nbc too i've seen the cbs but they use the part for
where you said the first time in 10 years a president could stand here and say there was peace, and they used the sustained ovation there.
And then the whole passage from the quote of the song through your ending with the standing ovation at the end.
It was really good on ABC.
NBC also used a part of it, not as extensive, but they used that.
They used any of Heath's arrival?
Yes, sir.
At the end of the show on ABC and some on NBC.
Did you get that, did you handle that problem with your, what's that, Patrick?
Fitzgerald, no problem at all.
I just went out and...
I wouldn't let them make a big thing.
No, they didn't, as a matter of fact.
It isn't really, it's just a question of... You said that you had been reviewing the transcript last night after the dinner when you were working on your remarks and so forth.
You want to talk about it this morning, and after the he thing, we discussed it, and you wanted me to simply say that you were, that it had never been put before you, that you had misspoken on that, misunderstood the thrust of the question, and wanted me to tell him that, and there was no problem at all.
We, by the, yeah.
The executive privilege part.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
But it was not an issue.
Well, I've talked to Clark personally, and he's in good shape.
As a matter of fact, he had called both Pat Buchanan and myself and said that he thought that you may have misunderstood what he was asking and suggested that we handle it this way.
So he's in good shape, and we're going to give him the executive privilege statement tomorrow.
I'm looking forward to that.
Good.
Fine.
finishes.
How'd it go?
You were right.
Yes, sir.
It was all right.
Marvin Kalb in the fashion that quite frankly anticipated he would.
It was not a minus by any means.
It could have been a greater plus, but it was not a minus.
He made some good points throughout the thing, but it was a dull interview.
I wouldn't tell Henry that, but I'll have to be quite frank with you.
And it was not Henry's fault as much as it was.
Just the line of the questioning was such that it didn't bring Henry out.
Marvin didn't bring him out.
That's too bad.
Sorry, with all the work he put in it, it didn't make it dull.
Well, I wouldn't ever tell him that.
Oh, you and I, no, we don't.
I know that.
But just tell him it was fine.
He tried to do his best to make some of our points.
He tried.
He made every effort to bring himself to do it.
I think you were right on the score that we talked about in the office.
The questioning did not stimulate him to the point where he could really have put a number of those things out.
Let him try with the girl now.
Right.
Yes, sir.
It doesn't do any harm.
No, no.
It was not a minus, as I say.
Good.
All right.
Fine.
Okay, sir.
Thank you.
Right.
Bye.

NARA Description

On February 1, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 6:51 pm to 6:55 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 043-015 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 43-15

Date: February 1, 1973
Time: 6:51 pm - 6:55 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler.

[See Conversation No. 409-5]

       The President's schedule
            -Meeting with Henry A. Kissinger
            -Meeting with George P. Shultz and Edward R. G. Heath
                  -Trade

       Television coverage of prayer breakfast
            -American Broadcasting Company [ABC]
            -National Broadcasting Company [NBC]
            -Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]
                                                -9-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                                 Conversation No. 43-15 (cont’d)

       Television coverage of Heath’s arrival

[A transcript of the following portion of this conversation was prepared under court order in
1980, for S.A. 11, A. Ernest Fitzgerald vs. Alexander, et al., No. 74-178 (D.D.C)]

       Kissinger’s interview with Marvin L. Kalb
             -Ziegler’s view
             -Barbara Walters
                   -Interview with Kissinger

Also recorded on February 1, 1973

  • 846-018 4:03 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:03 pm to 4:05 pm.
  • 409-001 4:08 PM · 27 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Sir Burke Trend, Henry A. Kissinger, George P. Shultz, and Edward R. G. Heath met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:08 pm to 6:05 pm.
  • 409-002 6:07 PM · 35 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:07 pm to 6:41 pm.
  • 409-003 6:47 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:47 pm to 6:49 pm.
  • 409-004 6:49 PM · 11 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 6:49 pm and 6:51 pm.
  • 409-005 6:51 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:51 pm to 6:55 pm.
  • 409-006 6:55 PM · 41 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 6:55 pm and 7:10 pm.
  • 409-007 6:55 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and United States Secret Service agents met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:55 pm and 7:10 pm.

All 27 conversations from February 1, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 043-015, February 1, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/043-015 (accessed October 1, 2026).