Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 329 › Conversation 329-026

Nixon & Ziegler on People's Republic of China and Bipartisan foreign policy

Tuesday, April 11, 1972 · 2:45 PM–2:55 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building ·3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation329-026 onTape 329 (tape position 01:43:10–01:46:53)StartTuesday, April 11, 1972 at 2:45 PMEndTuesday, April 11, 1972 at 2:55 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 329-026 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler discussed the public messaging surrounding a bipartisan trip to the People's Republic of China by Senators Mike Mansfield and Hugh Scott. Nixon emphasized framing the visit as an approved, bipartisan mission and confirmed he would provide a personal letter to be delivered to Chinese leadership. Additionally, the two addressed administrative concerns regarding First Lady Pat Nixon's upcoming travels, focusing on the management of her speeches and the use of White House staff.

Audio

Download MP3 · 7.8 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) ·JSON data · Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

I don't think there's any problem.

I don't think we want to say this is actually a mission, but we can say that they are

It's a bipartisan mission, and obviously we're both having the right to do it.

But it has the approval of the President, and the President, as does the President's meeting, as does the President's meeting for the House, because we consider that our China policy is one that has brought a bipartisan approval.

And they are going, for example, on a government plan.

And we will expect to get a report from them when they return.

But no special message or anything?

They will take.

I think you should just, I think, yes, we're going to send, I'll send, I'll send a letter to Henry.

I'm going to send a letter, obviously.

Well, what I would just say, the personal message in regard to Well, he will send a personal note.

to the, what is it involved, and so forth.

I'm having a discussion with the leaders.

What do they say about .

We're trying to keep .

That's a good story.

OK.

Mrs. Mixer called me yesterday, and I'm going to call her back and see what I've learned about economy.

But economy, I've thought about this, and I don't know where I would think about it.

I think two things.

There's really no need for it, but there's no harm.

And I have no objection to Chief coming back and maybe kind of come back and make some speeches.

Yes, you'd like to talk, but you'd better come back to Chief and make some speeches around it.

I thought what a great job Mrs. Mixer did.

But you control it.

You have to control it.

I promise you not to go with the spam.

I promise you to go with it.

That's what you do.

I didn't just say she could use our spam.

You see what I mean?

Right.

That's what this is.

There's no need for any spam.

Just say we're going with very,

No, I don't know.

But I think it's a good thing to have her go on.

I agree.

We're having several going on.

We're either going to the first day and then talking about it right back.

Well...

NARA Description

On April 11, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:45 pm to 2:55 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 329-026 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 329-26

Date: April 11, 1972
Time: 2:45 pm - 2:55 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler.

     The President's meeting with Michael J. Mansfield and Hugh Scott
          -Announcement
          -Mansfield's and Scott's trip to People's Republic of China [PRC]
               -Bipartisan mission
               -The President's approval
               -PRC policy
               -Report to the President
          -The President's letter to Chou En-lai
               -Public statement
                      -Personal message
                      -Mao Tse-tung
                           -Possible meeting with Mansfield and Scott

     Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon's call to Ziegler
          -Return call
          -Constance M. Stuart
          -Speeches
                -Ziegler's handling
          -Trip
                -Use of White House staff
                     -Secretaries

Ziegler left at 2:55 pm.

Also recorded on April 11, 1972

022-109 2:06 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Richard M. Helms talked on the telephone from 2:06 pm to 2:08 pm.
329-021 2:06 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Richard M. Helms met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:06 pm to 2:08 pm.
329-022 2:08 PM · 3 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 2:08 pm and 2:45 pm.
329-023 2:08 PM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:08 pm and 2:45 pm.
329-024 2:08 PM · 30 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 2:08 pm and 2:45 pm.
329-025 2:08 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:08 pm and 2:45 pm.
706-004 2:57 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:57 pm to 3:03 pm.
706-005 3:06 PM · 1 hr 59 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Peter G. Peterson, John D. Ehrlichman, Peter M. Flanigan, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., Stephen B. Bull, Manolo Sanchez, Arthur F. Burns, George P. Shultz, John B. Connally, and Frederic V. Malek met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:06 pm to 5:05 pm.

All 29 conversations from April 11, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 329-026, April 11, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/329-026 (accessed September 18, 2026).