Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 346 › Conversation 346-001

Nixon & Ziegler on Press conference and Media relations

Wednesday, June 28, 1972 · 10:38 AM–10:40 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation346-001 on Tape 346 (tape position 00:00:30–00:05:08)StartWednesday, June 28, 1972 at 10:38 AMEndWednesday, June 28, 1972 at 10:40 AMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 346-001 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler met to discuss the logistics and strategic timing of a forthcoming televised press conference to be held in the East Room. The discussion focused on balancing the reach of the viewing audience against potential interruptions to prime-time network programming. Nixon tasked Ziegler with finalizing the scheduling details while considering the impact of different time slots on West Coast and Midwest viewership.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.8 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 105.7 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 00:00:30 into the tape and ends around 00:05:08.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
0:31It seems to me if we're going to do it on television,
1:01Then we'd be far better off doing it at 9 o'clock.
1:05I don't want to do it yet.
1:06I want to get over with it.
1:09I want to go at 7.30 because of the...
1:12I don't want to presume that much in the prime time at this point.
1:19I prefer to go at 6.
1:19Well, we did it before 7.30.
1:20It's right after the networks.
1:21Networks are finished.
1:23You come right on.
1:24You don't interfere in any prime time.
1:26There's no problem with that.
1:29This is one point on 9 o'clock.
1:31He wouldn't be cutting into any shows at 9.
1:37I don't hold that in.
1:40Why do you cut at 7.30?
1:42Nothing.
1:44See, there's no network fee at 7.30.
1:45They like to carry it.
1:48They're going to carry it.
1:50So what's the matter?
1:50They prefer not to carry it at 7.30.
1:51No, I didn't discuss it with them.
1:52I just wanted to go over it.
1:54Advantages before we finally decided on 9 o'clock.
1:56The advantage of 9 o'clock, of course, is a larger audience.
1:59Particularly in the 6 o'clock time period on the west coast, where you get the good radio.
2:06We are in the news shows in the west at 9 o'clock.
2:10The other thing is that you are not cutting into a movie or any shows because all the networks at 9 o'clock have the programs started at that time, CBS for example, and the movie networks start at 9.
2:23I'm sure they relay that
2:24The other networks had our shows starting at 9, which I'm sure they would play, so I wanted you to be aware that we would not be cutting into a program.
2:34Well, you remember we slushed them at 30, though, and that didn't have no problem at all, delaying the show, you know.
2:40That's right.
2:45That's the beauty of that.
2:51Well, I wanted to...
2:52I don't think this one is, I mean, we can, we got this rule out going on at 9 when we want to, but I have no particular interest in this one.
2:58I mean, it's not something where we have anything in particular.
3:09Well, that's it.
3:10I just, I wanted to rephrase it because as long as you're doing it, the effort to do it before the cameras, no matter an hour or two, it's going to be much greater impact.
3:22But I think it's also important that... Now I didn't need the time over.
3:38I'll just say you'll have the press conference.
3:40Yeah, why don't you do that?
3:41Why don't we just... No, you have a press conference tomorrow.
3:44We'll be television.
3:45We'll let you know at the time.
3:47Yeah, we're working on it.
3:48I've had a 7.30 thing in the field.
3:52Well, that may be a... See, there is that.
4:00I realize that the only real losses to the west coast, the mountains, they don't matter.
4:03So you've got 730, 630.
4:04You hit 730, 630, you're hitting a very good audience.
4:11You're hitting them right out there.
4:15And we lose the west coast.
4:16You lose the west coast.
4:18Well, we don't lose the west coast.
4:20You get the news and all the rest, but you do lose a substantial amount of radio.
4:24Right.
4:24And a substantial amount of radio.
4:28Right.
4:29Well, let's think about it.
4:30That's a good idea.
4:31Well, we're going to have one of them.
4:34I'll think a little bit more about it.
4:36It'll be in the East Room.
4:37It'll be in the East Room.

NARA Description

On June 28, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 10:38 am to 10:40 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 346-001 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 346-1

Date: June 28, 1972
Time: 10:38-10:40 am
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Ronald . Ziegler.

     The President's schedule
          -Forthcoming press conference
                -Timing
                      -Television
                            -The President’s view
                            -Ziegler’s view
                            -West Coast
                            -Midwest
                            -Impact
                            -Ziegler’s announcement
                -Location
                      -East Room

Ziegler left at 10:40 am.

Also recorded on June 28, 1972

  • 026-025 10:40 AM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:40 am and 10:43 am.
  • 346-002 10:40 AM · 11 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 10:40 am and 10:43 am.
  • 026-026 10:43 AM · 43 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 10:43 am to 10:44 am.
  • 346-003 10:43 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 10:43 am to 10:44 am.
  • 346-004 10:44 AM · 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 10:44 am and 11:16 am.
  • 346-005 10:44 AM · 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 10:44 am and 11:16 am.
  • 346-006 10:44 AM · 47 sec — 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 10:44 am and 11:16 am.
  • 346-007 10:44 AM · 31 sec — 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 10:44 am and 11:16 am.

All 50 conversations from June 28, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 346-001, June 28, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/346-001 (accessed September 30, 2026).