Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 456 › Conversation 456-021

Nixon & Ziegler on Media relations and Governors' conference

Tuesday, February 23, 1971 · 4:08 PM–4:09 PM ET · Oval Office · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation456-021 on Tape 456 (tape position 03:35:25–03:37:36)StartTuesday, February 23, 1971 at 4:08 PMEndTuesday, February 23, 1971 at 4:09 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 456-021 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler coordinate the media strategy for the President’s upcoming appearance at the Governors’ conference. They discuss the logistics of radio and television coverage, specifically deciding against requesting formal radio time in favor of providing clips. Nixon also touches upon potential messaging regarding the political implications of a conviction to ensure the administration's stance is clearly communicated.

Media relations
Governors' conference
Public relations strategy
Television coverage
Political messaging

Audio

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NARA Description

On February 23, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:08 pm to 4:09 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 456-021 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 456-21

Date: February 23, 1971
Time: 4:08 pm - 4:09 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler

     Media coverage
         -Governors’ conference
               -President’s appearance
         -James D. Hodgson

Ziegler left at 4:09 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

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11 o'clock

I'm not going to request radio time.

I'm going to say we'll be available for live radio.

Live radio and television.

No, no.

And we'll do a clip of that.

We'll do a clip of that and a clip of television.

Okay, perfect.

Fine, fine.

I think that Governor's name was the way to handle that.

Absolutely.

We're confident that those voters stand for what is in the charging office.

In the case of conviction in it, I'm using that.

Thank you.

I love that offer.

I'm going to say, I'm going to make a phone call and say, I'm not using it.

I'm using it.

I'm not using it.

How did the other day, how did the other day?

Also recorded on February 23, 1971

456-013 2:09 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:09 pm and 3:00 pm.
456-014 2:09 PM · 27 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:09 pm and 3:00 pm.
456-016 3:00 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:00 pm to 3:05 pm.
456-017 3:05 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:05 pm to 3:08 pm.
456-018 3:08 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 3:22 pm.
456-019 3:08 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 3:22 pm.
456-020 3:22 PM · 16 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:22 pm and 4:06 pm.
456-022 4:12 PM · 1 hr 47 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), Harry S. Dent, Robert H. Finch, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:12 pm to 6:18 pm.

All 28 conversations from February 23, 1971 →

Nixon & Haldeman on John Mitchell and Media relations July 6, 1971 · 1 min
Nixon & Sanchez on Public relations strategy and Kansas City visit July 1, 1971
Nixon & Mitchell on Political appointments and Information leaks October 20, 1971 · 3 min
Nixon phone call with Ziegler on Media relations October 7, 1972 · 11 min
Nixon, Hodgson & Bull on Television coverage and Wedding June 14, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon, Ziegler & Haig on Vietnam War and Media relations April 20, 1972 · 24 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 456-021, February 23, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/456-021 (accessed November 2, 2026).