Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 450 › Conversation 450-019

Nixon & Ziegler on Press relations and Media strategy

Wednesday, February 17, 1971 · 12:00 AM–4:04 PM ET · Oval Office · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation450-019 on Tape 450 (tape position 02:09:58–02:13:21)StartWednesday, February 17, 1971 at 12:00 AMEndWednesday, February 17, 1971 at 4:04 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 450-019 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler met in the Oval Office to coordinate strategy regarding the scheduling and timing of a forthcoming presidential press conference. The discussion focused on managing the logistics and public reception of this media engagement. No major policy decisions were recorded during this brief administrative consultation.

Audio

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NARA Description

On February 17, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:00 am and 4:04 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 450-019 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 450-19

Date: February 17, 1971
Time: Unknown between 12:00 am and 4:04 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler

     Forthcoming press conference
          -Timing

Ziegler left at an unknown time before 4:04 pm

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Yeah, yes sir.
We've got a little bit of a decline right here in the corner.
We're in the head of light.
Yes, there's a morning ghost standing right here.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Oh, no problem.
I'll just test it and see if it does anything.
Say hello to somebody who's standing in front of it.
Yeah, I won't get there.
And I don't think we're going to notice it.
Don't even worry about it.
It'll be a while.
I mean, it's just for a start later.
It's not a big deal.
Yeah, all right.
That's pretty good.
That's fine.
I didn't like that.
I didn't like that.

— 2 min 42 s with no transcribed speech —

Thank you.

Also recorded on February 17, 1971

  • 450-020 4:04 PM · 50 min — President Richard M. Nixon and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:04 pm to 4:51 pm.
  • 450-021 4:52 PM · 31 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Walter Scheel, William P. Rogers, Henry A. Kissinger, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:52 pm to 5:24 pm.
  • 450-022 5:25 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:25 pm to 5:26 pm.
  • 450-023 5:26 PM · 42 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, Daniel J. Evans, White House photographer, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:26 pm to 5:53 pm.
  • 450-024 5:53 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Dwight L. Chapin met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:53 pm to 5:59 pm.
  • 450-025 6:20 PM · 22 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 6:20 pm to 6:32 pm.

Cite this conversation

Conversation 450-019, February 17, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/450-019 (accessed November 2, 2026).