Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 326 › Conversation 326-020

Nixon & Ziegler on Economic policy and Unemployment statistics

Friday, March 24, 1972 · 2:05 PM–2:06 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation326-020 on Tape 326 (tape position 02:52:02–02:54:56)StartFriday, March 24, 1972 at 2:05 PMEndFriday, March 24, 1972 at 2:06 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 326-020 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald L. Ziegler discuss strategies to counter criticism of the administration's economic policies, specifically regarding unemployment figures. Nixon emphasizes that critics are selectively highlighting specific statistical data to allege policy failure while ignoring the broader, more positive economic trajectory. They agree to adopt a more assertive messaging strategy to defend the administration's overall economic record.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.9 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 61.1 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 02:52:02 into the tape and ends around 02:54:56.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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2:52:02It's very hard, I guess.
2:52:05Come down.
2:52:05You'll have to find a stronger way to handle problems.
2:52:13So, it's easy for a critic to pick out one figure out of a whole series and out of ten.
2:52:16That's a claim failure, but the overall picture is that it's just an awesome program, and that's what we're in for.
2:52:42That's exactly what we're doing.
2:52:44Everyone who's claimed failure of the payroll, everyone who's claimed failure of the economic policy, is basing it on 5-1.
2:52:555-6-1%.
2:52:55Nothing else they can think of.
2:52:58Hopefully, even including the 5-6-1%, it's less than a little poor overall.
2:53:05During the six months.
2:53:08But, given the six months, that's right.

NARA Description

On March 24, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:05 pm to 2:06 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 326-020 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 326-20

Date: March 24, 1972
Time: 2:05 pm - 2:06 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler.

[See Conversation No. 22-18]

Also recorded on March 24, 1972

  • 022-016 1:28 PM · 51 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 1:28 pm to 1:29 pm.
  • 022-017 1:29 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:29 pm and 2:05 pm.
  • 022-018 2:05 PM · 32 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 2:05 pm to 2:06 pm.
  • 022-019 2:06 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:06 pm and 2:22 pm.
  • 326-021 2:06 PM · 16 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 2:06 pm and 2:22 pm.
  • 022-020 2:22 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Edward J. Gurney talked on the telephone from 2:22 pm to 2:23 pm.
  • 326-022 2:22 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Edward J. Gurney met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:22 pm to 2:23 pm.
  • 328-001 2:23 PM · 3 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 2:23 pm and 2:59 pm.

All 38 conversations from March 24, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 326-020, March 24, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/326-020 (accessed October 1, 2026).