Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 448 › Conversation 448-017

Nixon & Ziegler on Media relations and Public relations

Wednesday, July 11, 1973 · 2:28 PM–2:34 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation448-017 on Tape 448StartWednesday, July 11, 1973 at 2:28 PMEndWednesday, July 11, 1973 at 2:34 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 448-017 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler discuss media management and the administration's public messaging strategy. The President emphasizes the importance of credibility and selectively managing public statements, specifically referencing his direct intervention to suppress certain information. They briefly touch upon the current media climate and speculate on the motives behind the exclusion of figures like John Mitchell from press coverage.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 4 minutes of this recording (about 65% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
So, Ron, it occurred to me, uh, that, uh, one of our boys, uh, uh, you didn't mention the fact that I'm just a worker, but, uh, they, they should know they carry the, uh, tree peppers on a daily stream.
They're carrying them, so if I watch, I understand the reason for that, but it's just, it's just, it's just, it's just, it's just, it's just,
And anybody who's bossed into this, this is just, you know, an effort.
We're aware of the struggle, but why don't we just forget about it?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I know that you can't be, you know, you can't be obvious or mean or proud or something like that.
There are ways for us to be, not the rest of us.
I think that we are aware of the importance of truth.
You might say we're gonna score some calls Okay, all right Yeah
You might think, of course, fighting is worth it, but we probably can't do it without it.
It's not that playing about it is so important.
No, I was the one who stopped them from putting it out.
You know?
Sure.
Sure.
I didn't have to do it.
There, see, I'll do that every time.
Good.
Good!
You won't be very articulate, but you'll be very believable.
Getting worse and worse and worse.
Alright?
Cut closer, yeah?
Who's after him now?
Whiter.
Thurman.
Thurman.
Thurman.
They don't want them on there if you don't want to do that.
That's what it seems to me.
You know what?
For God's sake, can't be invited.
And why don't they want Mitchell on?
You don't know why.
They don't want good weapons on them.
Trying to get in the hell off of it.
Yeah.
Yeah, sure.
Or tomorrow, too.
Thank you.
You should know that.
How does it start?
How does it begin?
How does it end?

NARA Description

On July 11, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:28 pm to 2:34 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 448-017 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 448-17

Date: July 11, 1973
Time: 2:28 pm - 2:34 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler

[See Conversation No. 41-61]

Also recorded on July 11, 1973

  • 041-060 1:10 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:10 pm and 2:28 pm.
  • 448-015 1:20 PM · 11 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 1:20 pm and 2:51 pm.
  • 448-016 1:20 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:20 pm and 2:51 pm.
  • 041-061 2:28 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 2:28 pm to 2:34 pm.
  • 448-018 2:34 PM · 10 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 2:34 pm and 3:00 pm.
  • 448-019 2:34 PM · 15 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 2:34 pm and 3:00 pm.
  • 948-011 3:00 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:00 pm and 3:03 pm.
  • 948-012 3:03 PM · 1 hr 18 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John B. Connally, Rose Mary Woods, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:03 pm to 4:22 pm.

All 38 conversations from July 11, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 448-017, July 11, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/448-017 (accessed October 10, 2026).