Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 282 › Conversation 282-027

Nixon & Ziegler on Supreme Court and Media relations

Wednesday, October 20, 1971 · 5:20 PM–5:25 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation282-027 on Tape 282 (tape position 02:15:31–02:19:47)StartWednesday, October 20, 1971 at 5:20 PMEndWednesday, October 20, 1971 at 5:25 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 282-027 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler strategized on how to manage media speculation regarding the upcoming nomination of two Supreme Court candidates, Herschel H. Friday and Mildred L. Lillie. Nixon instructed Ziegler to maintain a vague public posture to keep the press guessing about the timing of the announcement while protecting his own credibility. They agreed that Ziegler would deflect inquiries by stating that the President had not yet made a final decision, citing the pending American Bar Association report as the primary reason for the delay.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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The AP's going to move the bulletin that reports and informs some of the sources today, saying the president's on the verge of nominating them.
They say he's probably going to move them tomorrow.
Totally loose on it.
I'd let them think that's what's going to happen.
In other words, the way I handle it, the briefing this morning, you do it tomorrow, you do it next week.
I would...
I believe that we may have an announcement tomorrow, but I can't be sure.
But I'm not going to say that.
I'm just going to leave it loose.
Possibly this week.
I'm not going to shoot this report down.
Don't shoot it down.
But I'm not going to... What?
I'm not going to shoot it down.
I'll just leave it there.
Right.
You say, well, I... You're okay.
Just let it be off on that tractor.
Well...
I'll let you know as soon as we're working on it.
I'm practically working on it today.
I'll leave them on that.
I want them to be on that trail, Ron, so I can leave it if you can, a little on that trail if you can.
I'd like to have a service.
Let the Times, the New York Times, indicate the approval of those two.
I hate to be done, but we're on a quarter of a century.
I talked to the Attorney General this morning after our discussion.
You may do it this week.
You may not.
The announcement, although I didn't refer to the list of six, may come to this room this evening.
It may not.
In other words, it's totally money, but in a positive way.
Well, you're going to keep your credibility.
I was thinking of somebody else.
One of our running leaders around here.
Don't you do it.
I want you to do it.
No, I'll do it.
You've got to do exactly what we need to do.
And we can go anywhere we want.
That's exactly what we're going to do, right?
However, if you did, if I went to Marble, if you went to Marble, it would surprise the hell out of me.
Marble?
Well, because, you know, after putting the train down, he left it loose.
But in moving it a little loose, referring to the fact that you thought the ADA report was going to come in over the weekend.
It didn't come in today.
It didn't come in today.
They feel somewhat deflected from what's going to be tomorrow, what's going to be earlier, what's going to be Friday.
Well, you can say at this moment we still don't have the ADA report.
Why should I say that?
Well, that would be a good thing you could accurately say.
Well, I just talked to the president.
And I can also say you have made a decision?
Yeah, you can say that until he gets the ADA report, he has not made a decision.
All right.
President, I just thought I would say at 5.30, just before I come over here, gentlemen, that we have not yet received the ADA report.
Just, that's all you see.
That's your leave for today.
Okay.
See my point?
Yes, sir.
And therefore, yeah.

NARA Description

On October 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:20 pm to 5:25 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 282-027 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 282-27

Date: October 20, 1971
Time: 5:20 pm - 5:25 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler.

     Supreme Court nominees
          -Associated Press [AP] story
               -Herschel H. Friday
               -Mildred L. Lillie
          -Timing of announcement
          -New York Times
          -Timing
               -John N. Mitchell
               -Ziegler’s comments
               -American Bar Association [ABA]

Ziegler left at 5:25 pm.

Also recorded on October 20, 1971

  • 282-028 5:25 PM · 17 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 5:25 pm and 5:33 pm.
  • 282-029 5:25 PM · 2 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 5:25 pm and 5:33 pm.
  • 012-015 5:33 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 5:33 pm to 5:40 pm.
  • 282-030 5:33 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:33 pm to 5:40 pm.
  • 012-016 5:40 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), White House operator, and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:40 pm and 5:49 pm.
  • 282-031 5:40 PM · 1 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 5:40 pm and 5:49 pm.
  • 282-032 5:40 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, Manolo Sanchez, White House operator, and John N. Mitchell met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:40 pm and 5:49 pm.
  • 012-017 5:49 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 5:49 pm to 5:50 pm.

All 83 conversations from October 20, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 282-027, October 20, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/282-027 (accessed September 28, 2026).