Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 450 › Conversation 450-025
Nixon, Haldeman & Ziegler on Media strategy and Press relations
Wednesday, February 17, 1971 · 6:20 PM–6:32 PM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon, H.R. Haldeman, and Ronald Ziegler met to discuss the logistics and optics of presidential media strategy, specifically comparing the effectiveness of controlled one-on-one sessions versus full-scale televised press conferences. The group evaluated a recent appearance, expressing satisfaction with the respectful tone and the anticipated news coverage, while weighing the heavy preparation required for broader press events. Additionally, they briefly touched upon administrative matters, including the selection of personal gifts for associates and the management of office inventory.
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 167.8 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 67.3 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 04:21:46 into the tape and ends around 04:43:45.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
4:21:46So you've got a spoke briefly, and then you hit the way out, and then you go to this side, and you know, the trick there is just to get on and get off at this point, and then you start to stammer, and then you turn to the right, and then you want to pull it from the side.
4:21:51I'll let you do that.
4:22:03Ok. Ok.
4:23:07Thank you very much.
4:26:28The more impressive the fact that you get me into the room because you can't talk about anything such as this, so it's kind of... Why do I do the...
4:27:08If you have anything that you need to worry about, go sit down.
4:27:15I'm going to get you just back tomorrow morning.
4:27:18We're going to have to go.
4:27:20We're going to have to go.
4:27:25We're going to have to go.
4:27:28We're going to have to go.
4:27:31We're going to have to go.
4:27:39Over and out.
4:27:40This is the remarks.
4:28:58Oh, that's J.O.D.O.D.O.D.O.D.O.D.O.D.O.D.O.D.O.
4:29:25The team accomplished our mission.
4:29:26I told them that we had an objective.
4:29:28If you could just call back, sign up, and we'll talk to you in a minute.
4:29:33We'll find you a positive future.
4:29:37Yeah, he said that to you.
4:30:03Why, I'm wondering if the, uh, the radiator, the fan heater is going to be released.
4:30:20We can't, I don't even consider that, in the sense of degree, when you're not missing anybody.
4:30:31You know, like, I mean, I used to like a newspaper guy or a columnist in the rest of my life.
4:30:36It was a lot less time in the sense that I've seen a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot.
4:30:50Of course, you can always get the president to say that, so that's the other thing today.
4:30:56You shouldn't just say, we'll do it anyway, we're going out too.
4:31:01It's just that the bottom of it, Aaron, gets it.
4:31:03That's true.
4:31:04There's a thing about you, you just didn't have it in press conference.
4:31:08So that you have it.
4:31:12The other thing, of course, is that you...
4:31:25Try that thing with the bill, I'll carry some time.
4:31:35You can use the carrier for some time.
4:31:37You gotta do it the same way, no notice though.
4:31:49Oh yeah, I know what time it is.
4:31:49Let's talk about how bad it is to realize.
4:31:53Well, they, they, they make all those other ones, so I said, you know, we can't do that, so we have 300 here.
4:32:13Oh, God, I didn't even know that one.
4:32:14I think we're out of fuel.
4:32:16It's all right.
4:32:16I was going to say, if there was anybody there that wouldn't normally be here, I'll obviously only want to die.
4:32:26That's where we are.
4:32:26He just won't call any enemies.
4:32:31This is the Kansas City Star.
4:32:32If I was here right now, he'd just probably start to set his ass on fire.
4:32:39You guys stay there.
4:34:34If not, I say I'm going to give each of them something because the favors they've done for us, you understand, at the office, you have to save it for the attendance of thousands of dollars over there.
4:34:49If you control people, you can hurt people, actually.
4:34:51I'm pretty sure it is.
4:34:51I'd like to find out.
4:35:02The company that we had them for made some nice glasses, one of the old-fashioned size, and one of the cocktail-sized size, which the president needs to use.
4:35:20I had a presidential seal on them, and they were old-fashioned.
4:35:27I didn't know they'd find where those came from, and see how they cost.
4:35:32I thought I wanted to grab them.
4:35:44I think I can sense something or the other, but I want to.
4:35:50Well, I want you to monitor this, because you're going to get an attack.
4:35:53What you're going to do to find the last person is that I'd like you to get an apple.
4:35:56A pen set.
4:35:57I have a pen set.
4:35:58I don't know.
4:36:00I haven't given it to us.
4:36:02I think it's just a regular pen set with a clock, so we're going to get an apple in the afternoon.
4:36:20Now I have to get something similar to get sent to Crosby.
4:36:25I don't understand.
4:36:26I'm a period of war engineer.
4:36:28See, he puts it, he calls that thing.
4:36:33Is he, is he, you know.
4:36:34Walker's getting wide out.
4:36:36So I'm going to send him a couple of engineers.
4:36:41I'm going to send him a couple of those to Crosby.
4:36:44Bob, I want to set up a blast.
4:36:4612-8-2.
4:36:48There must be something nice and very personal that he can have on his desk.
4:37:16We got some other stuff down in the attic.
4:37:20Give me a list.
4:37:20We can talk about this and then talk about the other stuff later.
4:37:30Okay, we were just talking before we went over whether this startup thing can start a lot.
4:37:38Pretty much about it.
4:37:40It is a waste to think that it is the best use of time that we're going to get these guys in the press conference like this.
4:37:49I mean, in the office.
4:37:50I know it isn't.
4:37:51But what I find is that, of course, in terms of preparation, it requires not quite as much, but all sorts of preparation.
4:37:57It's one thing to be able to talk about it, but just a little bit of a different style.
4:38:15I think it's good to do some of them.
4:38:20I think it's good to be able to break them out.
4:38:27I hate to do anything that could be done on television.
4:38:33I try not to, that's what I always say.
4:38:36I think it's good to do some of them.
4:38:45Something like this is a good thing to do at that time.
4:38:50And it was good.
4:38:52Well, I think that they deserved to be elected.
4:38:55Oh, sure.
4:38:56It is incredibly exciting.
4:38:59Well, they all were.
4:38:59I think one of them thought so about it.
4:39:01Oh, sure.
4:39:02They talked to all of them.
4:39:03They were all just delighted.
4:39:05It was great.
4:39:06Great job.
4:39:06It was good.
4:39:07Asked a lot of questions.
4:39:08Thank you.
4:39:10We had, and you did, follow up.
4:39:14Right, and that's the part at the end that looks like a follow-up on that question.
4:39:21So it's totally colluded, you know, any of that type of...
4:39:27But that is why I think this occasion, but the time frame thing, we could go out into the press and do the film.
4:39:36Let's see.
4:39:38But KG-2 would expand, rather than doing all that, it would be a full gap conference, which requires an enormous amount of preparation.
4:39:51I had, I had a prayer room, and I had two questions, and I had three, you know, and one of the first integration, and the rest of you said you were wrong, and all of us, I thank God, a lot of you, and I said, they didn't have a lot of economy, well, we got a 12-month contract, and a 12-month contract, well, that was bad, but that was, 80% of it was loss,
4:40:20Wow, it comes back.
4:40:21It's alright.
4:40:22I started to feel it pretty hard on the back.
4:40:25Anyway, no worries.
4:40:26You're not being tempted.
4:40:31You've got to be patient.
4:40:34It's not very hard.
4:40:35This is what it looks like all the way out.
4:41:12Well, I think the TV will give it pretty thorough coverage tonight.
4:41:17I think we should assess how that runs.
4:41:19Part of what we have to do on these is look at them.
4:41:24But of course, once the general pattern starts, by pattern I mean by doing the same thing for the variety of things, one-on-ones and TV news conferences occasionally in here and so forth, I think it will begin to...
4:41:41I think we'll probably get stretched here, but at least...
4:42:11No less than five minutes on each network, you know, to recap perhaps more.
4:42:15They do that right off their nose?
4:42:16Yes, sir.
4:42:16Well, they get the transcript and so forth, but they won't have the transcript that fast, though.
4:42:22No, they've got it, sure.
4:42:24Well, you're right.
4:42:26All they do is they're gone.
4:42:30You don't notice it.
4:42:32Beautiful.
4:42:33Did they bother you standing here?
4:42:36Would you rather be standing here?
4:42:41That light is perfect.
4:42:42Perfect.
4:42:47You can pick up a whisper.
4:42:48Well, you'll certainly get a, you'll certainly get a news story on it.
4:42:50The papers are, they are, we're the damn newest, but it'll be there where some of them are.
4:42:57They're, they're, I mean, that paper's there at least three things, or three of them starts in the paper.
4:43:02Absolutely.
4:43:02One on, what, Laos, one on construction trades.
4:43:07That's, that's going to be what?
4:43:09Integration.
4:43:09And the integration is likely to be at the subject of a small settlement.
4:43:21Instructions, I think I'm quite good at stuff like this.
4:43:24But they were, I think, taken by surprise, this way was good.
4:43:31All in a good manner.
4:43:32Right.
4:43:33And respectful.
4:43:35They should get down, come in, chatter, and go back like they did with Roosevelt.
NARA Description
On February 17, 1971, 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. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 450-025 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
[It appears that a meeting already in progress in a room near the Oval Office was recorded by the
Oval Office recording system]
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
-Cost of living increase
-Congressional committees
Recording was cut off at an unknown time before 8:58 amAlso recorded on February 17, 1971
- 450-019 12:00 AM · 4 min — 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.
- 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.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 450-025, 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/450-025 (accessed September 18, 2026).