Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 203 › Conversation 203-022

Nixon phone call with Ziegler on Media relations and Public relations strategy

Thursday, August 17, 1972 · 3:06 PM–3:21 PM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation203-022 on Tape 203StartThursday, August 17, 1972 at 3:06 PMEndThursday, August 17, 1972 at 3:21 PMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 203-022 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler discuss media management and political strategy regarding the administration's public image. They exchange views on the inherent bias of the press corps and evaluate the tactical advantages of allowing certain political opponents to be perceived as confused or ineffective. The conversation concludes with Nixon affirming Ziegler’s recent performance and strategic approach to managing current political narratives.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 21% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Good.
Ira, how are you?
Hi.
Good.
Sure.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
.
.
.
Got it.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
I would think the press guys would, I don't know if there's any fairness in them at all, they would see that this is a bad thing for the country.
I mean, maybe we're not...
No, no, that's what you're doing.
Not your dick on our White House staff.
We have the hatchet in heaven.
All right, I'm glad you did this thing.
And if you'll pass it on to Julie.
She's the chairman of Washington.
And just, just, yeah.
All right, let's just, I mean, we just know you should let them get ground.
Wow.
We can always change our mind later.
I just don't believe we're walking into one.
We may find somebody better.
We may get a better offer.
Who knows?
We'll have an offer for him.
Don't worry.
Particularly after he makes another trip.
That's it.
Right.
And all of his trips, of course.
What the hell?
One thing about this, though, was so interesting.
Clark...
We're setting them up to blame them when things don't come off.
Do you agree?
Do you think so?
No.
I don't know.
Of course, the negative side is that people don't say, well, we shouldn't have a war to talk about and so forth.
But I suppose that the other side of that, though, is that if they weren't talking about it in a confused way, they would be attacking us in other ways.
I mean, the issue is there.
They're going to make it.
Well, you did the right thing.
I think you did the right thing.
You've done exactly what you should.
Okay.
Thanks.

NARA Description

On August 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 3:06 pm to 3:21 pm. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 203-022 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 203-22

Date: August 17, 1972
Time: 3:06 pm - 3:21 pm
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

The President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler.

[See Conversation No. 140-27; two items have been withdrawn]

Also recorded on August 17, 1972

  • 203-019 1:15 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 1:15 pm to 2:45 pm.
  • 203-020 2:45 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:45 pm and 3:06 pm.
  • 203-021 2:45 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:45 pm and 3:06 pm.
  • 140-027 3:06 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Camp David operator, and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone at Camp David from 3:06 pm to 3:21 pm.
  • 203-023 3:21 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 3:21 pm and 6:08 pm.
  • 203-024 3:21 PM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 3:21 pm and 6:08 pm.
  • 203-025 3:21 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 3:21 pm and 6:08 pm.
  • 176-004 6:08 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Camp David operator, and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone at Camp David from 6:08 pm to 6:13 pm.

All 49 conversations from August 17, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 203-022, August 17, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/203-022 (accessed October 12, 2026).