Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 261 › Conversation 261-037
Nixon & Ziegler on Pentagon Papers and Mansfield Amendment
Thursday, July 1, 1971 · 4:25 PM–5:55 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building
AI Summary
President Nixon met with Press Secretary Ronald L. Ziegler to coordinate the administration's public messaging regarding the ongoing Paris Peace Talks, the Pentagon Papers, and the Mansfield Amendment. The discussion focused on managing press speculation and determining the appropriate government posture toward media inquiries and potential information suppression. Nixon expressed a desire to keep official statements brief and dismissive of the controversy surrounding the leaked documents.
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 112.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 112.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 112.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 4) · 27.1 MB
This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 03:31:52 into the tape and ends around 04:00:12.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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NARA Description
On July 1, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, White House operator, and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:25 pm and 5:55 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 261-037 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 261-37
Date: July 1, 1971
Time: Unknown between 4:25 pm and 5:55 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler
[The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 4:25 pm and
5:09 pm]
[Conversation No. 261-37A]
[See Conversation No. 6-81]
[End of telephone conversation]
Press briefing
-Paris talks
[The President talked with Thelma C. (Ryan) (“Pat”) Nixon between 5:09 pm and 5:10 pm]
[Conversation No. 261-37B]
[See Conversation No. 6-82]
[End of telephone conversation]
Press briefing
-Media speculation
-Paris talks
Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield amendment
-Henry A. Kissinger
-US position
-Mansfield
Pentagon Papers
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Press statement
-Kissinger
William P. Rogers
-Richard A. Moore
-John A. Scali
Suppression of information
President’s forthcoming statement in Kansas
Ziegler left at an unknown time before 5:55 pmAlso recorded on July 1, 1971
- 261-035 3:55 PM · 30 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Alexander P. Butterfield, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:55 pm to 4:25 pm.
- 006-080 4:09 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 4:09 pm to 4:11 pm.
- 006-081 4:11 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:11 pm and 5:09 pm.
- 261-036 4:25 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:25 pm and 5:09 pm.
- 261-041 5:01 PM · 2 min — 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 5:01 pm and 6:00 pm.
- 006-082 5:09 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 5:09 pm to 5:10 pm.
- 006-083 5:10 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:10 pm and 6:00 pm.
- 261-038 5:10 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:10 pm and 5:55 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 261-037, July 1, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/261-037 (accessed October 5, 2026).