Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 246 › Conversation 246-013

Nixon & Ziegler on William L. Calley Jr. and Aubrey M. Daniel III

Wednesday, April 7, 1971 · 2:11 PM–3:10 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building ·3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation246-013 onTape 246 (tape position 03:20:13–03:24:02)StartWednesday, April 7, 1971 at 2:11 PMEndWednesday, April 7, 1971 at 3:10 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 246-013 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler discussed the political fallout surrounding Lieutenant William L. Calley Jr. and the prosecution led by Captain Aubrey M. Daniel, III. Nixon instructed Ziegler to conduct a background investigation into Daniel, specifically regarding his law school education and suspected book deals, to determine if he was politically motivated or connected to Senator Edmund Muskie. The President ultimately decided to maintain a neutral public stance to avoid appearing reactive, while directing his staff to quietly gather intelligence to manage the narrative surrounding the case.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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I have a hunch that this will follow the prosecutor and the case .
I understand he's going to be leaving the service.
My guess is he's probably made a contract for a book or something of that sort.
29 years of age.
Have a check made.
Have it made.
What law school he went to.
He sent copies of it, you know, to Muskie.
University of Richmond.
Probably University of Richmond.
That was the University of Richmond lawsuit.
Yeah, they called it that.
I don't know if you've got that information, but quietly let us find out.
And also, I think we need to find out.
What do you think he has to do with that?
Well, my point is that I want to find out so now whether, I mean, if it's about a lawyer's argument, that is possible.
But if he's out, he's going to have to write a book.
I think they ought to...
I just don't want to understand.
I just don't want to understand.
You, of course, should be able to understand what she said.
And the other hand.
I want to get on his side, or on the side of the otherness.
And I think that I was very grateful for where he said he prayed to the court and so forth.
We'll stick right where we are.
We'll handle Kelly in our own way.
But that's where I want to get on his side.
We haven't said Kelly's name.
And we haven't said who he is.
And we just don't know where to do it.
But we need to pray to the prosecutor to make it appear that we're on his side.
Very, very good.
What I meant is, whether middle or not, many, many things, if you're leading the cattle, let them think them.
Let them think them.
Don't shift that.
Not because I want to lead the cattle, but because I don't want to appear to be blind with each wind.
See?
And I think it's true.
It's very important.
All right.
Fine.
All right.
Thank you very much.

NARA Description

On April 7, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:11 pm and 3:10 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 246-013 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 246-013
Date: April 7, 1971
Time: Unknown between 2:11 pm and 3:10 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler
Vietnam
-Lieutenant William L. Calley, Jr.
-Prosecutor, Captain Aubrey M. Daniel, III
-Book contract
-Letter to President
-Motives
-Edmund S. Muskie
-Background
-Letter to the President
-Motives
-Possible White House response
-Calley
-Daniel
-Public opinion

Also recorded on April 7, 1971

  • 246-008 2:00 PM · 12 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 2:00 pm and 2:07 pm.
  • 246-009 2:00 PM · 21 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 2:00 pm and 2:07 pm.
  • 246-010 2:00 PM · 7 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 2:00 pm and 2:07 pm.
  • 246-011 2:07 PM · 57 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:07 pm to 2:11 pm.
  • 246-012 2:11 PM · 28 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 2:11 pm and 3:10 pm.
  • 246-014 2:11 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon talked with an unknown person(s) on the telephone in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time around 2:11 pm.
  • 246-015 3:10 PM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:10 pm to 3:11 pm.
  • 246-016 3:11 PM · 46 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:11 pm and 3:15 pm.

All 42 conversations from April 7, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 246-013, April 7, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/246-013 (accessed September 18, 2026).