Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 460 › Conversation 460-002

Nixon, Ziegler & Bull on Welfare Reform and Media Relations

Friday, February 26, 1971 · 10:29 AM–10:36 AM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.; Bull, Stephen B.Conversation460-002 on Tape 460 (tape position 00:03:08–00:08:24)StartFriday, February 26, 1971 at 10:29 AMEndFriday, February 26, 1971 at 10:36 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 460-002 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417176017 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Ronald Ziegler and Stephen Bull to discuss media management strategies and political messaging regarding federal welfare reform. The participants reviewed the network television coverage of the President's recent film clips, specifically analyzing how to better leverage media exposure to shape public perception. Additionally, they coordinated efforts to influence John Burns's public stance on federal control of welfare and managed the President’s upcoming meeting schedule.

Audio

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NARA Description

On February 26, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:29 am to 10:36 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 460-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 460-2

Date: February 26, 1971
Time: 10:29 am - 10:36 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler

     Welfare
          -John A. Burns
          -Federal control
               -Press stories
               -Burns
                     -Forthcoming conversation with Ziegler

     Media
         -Film of 2/25
              -Use by networks

     The President’s schedule
          -National Security Council meeting
               -Ziegler’s attendance

     Public relations
          -Wilbur D. Mills
          -Film clips
                 -William L. Safire
                 -Use by networks

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 10:29 am

     The President’s schedule
          -Henry A. Kissinger
          -Melvin R. Laird

Bull left at an unknown time before 10:36 am

     Media
         -Film of 2/25
              -Use by networks
              -Advantages

Ziegler left at 10:36 am

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 23% 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.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

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Excuse me.
Yeah.
I'm going to call the chair.
I was talking to John Burris on this.
Because anyhow, we should hand him a question on the federal takeover on it.
You know, the stories on the federal takeover of .
Burns is, I think, trying to attempt to say that he even knows, indicating that he was four before, and trying to pull away from that federal takeover.
He can't.
I don't get the situation.
I did.
where he's saying that he's not- No, that's why I'm going to call him.
All right.
I'm going to ask you that question.
It's definitely mine.
It's not going to be asked.
How does he want you to handle it, mister?
Very good.
Okay.
We think he does.
It's not with the film of yesterday.
As you know, that was introduced in the report.
And I thought if you had no objections, I'd sit at the end of the meeting and get a little motion and then we'll sign it.
I think the important thing was to get the mills in.
I'm going to deal with that, but I'll come back after the fire.
They used the...
They didn't use much of the lips of the mills.
I told Satchar, I said, you know, I said, you can always figure a minute, and most of the time, usually a minute and a half, is 0 to 7.
So I did 7, and I did 9, and I did 10.
Well, this is kind of, they did not use all, all the ADC strokes that you said.
Yeah, yeah.
I'll see.
I'm ready.
I'll let it.
It's there.
It's there.
The people there at the meeting, they're still listening.
I've already canceled the meeting afterwards, so he doesn't need to speak about that.
If there's nothing else, I'll see you tomorrow.
I think ABC wrote something about what the advantage of doing that .
Oh, yes, sir.
CBS used the intro that you read, and then another copy, another take, NBC, a combination of two takes.
But what the advantage of doing what you did yesterday was that it
well then to under our control with you speaking to the to the way that they had they always looked different assumptions and they had a tool to of course so i think that was an advantage on that occasion

Also recorded on February 26, 1971

  • 459-001 9:18 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:18 am and 9:35 am.
  • 460-001 10:26 AM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:26 am to 10:27 am.
  • 460-003 10:36 AM · 46 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:36 am and 10:40 am.
  • 460-004 10:40 AM · 10 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:40 am and 12:35 pm.
  • 460-005 12:35 PM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Melvin R. Laird, Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, Henry A. Kissinger, and Nigel Henderson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:35 pm to 12:48 pm.
  • 460-006 12:48 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Patricia R. Hitt, Robert E. Hampton, Barbara B. Gunderson, Jeanne Wilson Davis, Florence Johnson Hicks, Juanita Morris Moody, Essie Davis Morgan, Rita M. Rapp, Joan Raup Rosenblatt, and George T. Bell met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:48 pm to 12:54 pm.
  • 460-007 12:54 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:54 pm.
  • 460-008 12:54 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Francis E. White, Frederick C. Wieting, Bonnie Cook, Dennis Conley, Mrs. Dennis Conley, Eva M. Johnson, and George T. Bell met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:54 pm to 1:00 pm.

All 30 conversations from February 26, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 460-002, February 26, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417176017). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/460-002 (accessed November 2, 2026).