Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 331 › Conversation 331-030

Nixon & Ziegler on Vietnam War and Public Relations

Wednesday, April 19, 1972 · 2:11 PM–2:16 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation331-030 on Tape 331 (tape position 04:19:56–04:24:18)StartWednesday, April 19, 1972 at 2:11 PMEndWednesday, April 19, 1972 at 2:16 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 331-030 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler strategize on managing public perception regarding the North Vietnamese invasion of South Vietnam. Nixon emphasizes the need to project strength, instructing Ziegler to avoid giving the impression that the administration is retreating from the conflict. Additionally, they discuss dismissing critical voices in the press, with Nixon directing Ziegler to portray these critics as irrelevant and out of touch with the reality of the situation.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 3 minutes of this recording (about 70% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
They've been doing this before.
Yeah, what ought to happen?
I think...
are they going to condemn the invasion, but not the attack?
Yeah, yeah.
How do you choose the word invasion?
Are you going to condemn the invasion of the South or not?
What do you say to that?
Well, you're, don't be concerned about freedom.
You mean you just didn't want to, I don't want to impress people that we're running away from anything.
Yeah.
Cool.
Yeah, yeah.
But I hope that you don't want to, at least the impression that
Yeah, I'm trying to be sure.
Yeah, now I'll go on 245.
Warwick.
No, no, no, no, I'm all for it.
My view is I wouldn't be afraid at all.
You know, I feel about it.
But I just wanted you to know I'm not afraid of what you can say.
You can take on it.
But I just don't want to make any more of this today.
Let it be made now and turn on.
I mean, we're out there.
I mean, the bar's going to take a few minutes.
We've got some Catholics coming in.
We've got some Catholics coming in.
We've got some Catholics coming in.
Yeah, sure.
Yeah.
I don't, and I believe, yeah, I believe, I think the government, yeah, I believe President Trump is done right now.
About a year later.
Well, they've said this before, but I don't know.
They said they're all going to do this.
Well, I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Although, maybe it's just as well that it's more advanced.
I must say.
And then they go out and it gives them a little more.
We don't consider them any more worth commenting upon or paying attention to than an editorial in the New York Times or the Washington Post.
They really aren't relevant.
As a matter of fact, if you could get that point across, it would compel Skelly to get that across.
We believe that what they say just really isn't relevant anymore.
They've lost touch with the real situation.
They failed to see what the real target was here.
OK.
I think you're right.

NARA Description

On April 19, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:11 pm to 2:16 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 331-030 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 331-30

Date: April 19, 1972
Time: 2:11 pm - 2:16 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler.

[See Conversation No. 23-35]

Also recorded on April 19, 1972

  • 023-034 1:49 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:49 pm and 2:11 pm.
  • 331-027 1:49 PM · 9 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 1:49 pm and 2:11 pm.
  • 331-028 1:49 PM · 36 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:49 pm and 2:11 pm.
  • 023-035 2:11 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 2:11 pm to 2:16 pm.
  • 023-036 2:16 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:16 pm and 2:17 pm.
  • 331-031 2:16 PM · 6 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 2:16 pm and 2:17 pm.
  • 023-037 2:17 PM · 46 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 2:17 pm to 2:18 pm.
  • 331-032 2:17 PM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:17 pm to 2:18 pm.

All 56 conversations from April 19, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 331-030, April 19, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/331-030 (accessed October 1, 2026).