Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 480 › Conversation 480-010
Nixon, Haldeman & Ehrlichman on Public Relations and Press Strategy
Thursday, April 15, 1971 · 12:41 PM–1:18 PM ET · Oval Office · 31 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and his senior staff, including H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, review strategies for managing press relations and controlling the public narrative regarding federal budget figures. The discussion emphasizes the importance of carefully timing news cycles—specifically balancing press conferences with television appearances—to ensure maximum impact. The group also deliberates on how to frame economic data to counter potential negative interpretations by the media and political opponents.
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
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$400, sir.
100.
You're amazing.
of the Democrats nominating Alfred Jackson.
Sir, you must see.
We're going to do the TV the following week.
Yeah.
All right.
Thank you, sir.
See you.
See you.
I don't want to waste your time.
I know.
Initially, you want to make good vaccines.
You don't get an office press conference.
You want to make a lot of news of that and die the next week with a TV press conference.
and keeping it down for one or two days.
It's really not that good.
Thank you very much.
it's just a, was anybody
they talking about?
They're trying to create
Did you explain the budget reduction in a way that was similar to the report you gave?
Or did you discuss the matter with maybe just the other figures?
Or how did you raise it?
I was very disappointed that it had been downplayed as minor figures and we had to get our own three out on the figures.
Our interpretation of it.
before I come to this office.
Anything I do with this life, some of it will die.
let him do something and then bring him in and thank him for doing it instead of starting it now.
I just wonder if, uh, some of those things will be overreacted.
I mean, just, you know, everybody that you've been brushing up, you can have a little change, but if you don't want it, I don't think you're going to be able to do it.
I think you're going to be able to see the opposite of your last name.
Okay.
Okay.
NARA Description
On April 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, Ronald L. Ziegler, John P. ("Jack") Sutherland, and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:41 pm and 1:18 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 480-010 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 480-10
Date: April 15, 1971
Time: Unknown between 12:41 pm and 1:18 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
-Veterans’ demonstration
-Capitol grounds
-President of Senate
-Speaker of House
-Carl B. Albert
-Health
Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 12:41 pm
The President’s schedule
-Barber
Bull left at an unknown time before 12:50 pm
Agnew
-Forthcoming demonstration
-Use of Capitol
-Attorney General’s [Richard G. Kleindienst’s] opinion
-Effect on Congress
-Ellipse
-Agnew’s meeting
-Administration’s possible position
-Southern Christian Leadership Conference [SCLC]
-Precedent
-Possible crisis
-Effect on Congress
-Vietnam
-Numbers
-Veterans
-Schedule
-Albert
-Health
-Democratic leadership
-Personal life
******************************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 12/03/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[480-010-w003]
[Duration: 1m 49s]
Democratic presidential candidates
-Television show
-Samuel W. Yorty
-Inclusion
-Lawrence F. O’Brien, Jr.
-J. William Fulbright
-Lawrence F. O’Brien, Jr.
-American Broadcasting Company [ABC]
-Duration
-Commentary
-Samuel W. Yorty
-Presidential candidacy
-Carl B. Albert
-The President’s opinion
John B. Connally
-Potential presidential candidacy
-The President’s opinion
Wilbur D. Mills
-Potential presidential candidacy
-The President’s opinion
-H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman’s opinion
******************************************************************************
John B. Connally
-Arthur F. Burns
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Henry A. Kissinger
Campaign practices
-Interview with Edmund S. Muskie’s mother
-”Chapman’s friend”
-Age
-Jane F. (Gray) Muskie
-Background
-E. S. Muskie
-Wife
-Portland, Maine
-Children
-Gene Muskie
-Daughters
-President
-E. S. Muskie
-Abraham Lincoln simile
-Education
-Presidential aspirations
-Daughters
-Political views
Interviews with other E. S. Muskie family and staff members
-Portland Press Herald
-Mickey Wiesenthal [sp?]
Ronald L. Ziegler entered at an unknown time after 12:41 pm
The President’s schedule
-John P. (“Jack”) Sutherland
-Alma mater’s yearbook
-Photo session with the President
Ziegler left at an unknown time before 12:50 pm
Campaign practices
-”Chapman’s friend”
-Jay Lovestone’s meeting with Hubert H. Humphrey and George Meany
Sutherland and Ziegler entered at 12:50 pm
Photo session
-Notes
-Autographed photo of the President
-Unknown forthcoming event, May 8, 1971
-Golf balls
-Cuff links
Ziegler
-Editors’ meeting
-Performance
Sutherland and Ziegler left at 12:54 pm
Campaign practices
-”Chapman’s friend”
-Lovestone’s meeting with Humphrey and Meany
-Supersonic Transport [SST]
-American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations [AFL-CIO]
-1968 election campaign
-Henry M. (“Scoop”) Jackson
-James L. Buckley
-Republicans
-Locals
-Economic situation
-Democrats
-Jackson
-E. S. Muskie
-1962 campaign
-Leaks
The President’s schedule
-Televised press conference
-Office press conference
-California trip
-Press conference
-Announcement
-Demonstrations
-Timing
-Veterans
-April 19, 1971
-April 24, 1971
-May 1-5, 1971
-April 24, 1971
-May 5, 1971
-Press conference
-California trip
-Timing
-Photographers
-State visits
-Church
-President’s meetings
-Number
-Daily
-Frequency
-Leonard Garment’s call
-Sammy Davis, Jr.
-Flexibility
-Staff members
-Press conferences
-Statements
-Speeches
-Agriculture Day
-California trip
-Press conference
-Florida weekend
-Giuseppe Saragat
-Alabama
Elections in Berkeley, California
-Results
-Activism
-Faculty and students
-Electorate
-Blacks
-Hippies
-Radicals
-Longshoremen’s union
-Stanford University
Santa Cruz, California incident
-Reaction
-Los Angeles Times
-Burning of building
-Haldeman’s son’s reaction
May Day demonstrations
-Security
-Disruption on White House grounds
-”Salute to Agriculture”
-Washington Post story on cameras at White House
-Police state image
-Daniel P. (“Pat”) Moynihan
-San Clemente
-Florida
-Security
-Number of police at the White House
-Ziegler
Berkeley, California
Economy
-George P. Shultz
-Industrial production
-Briefing, April 15, 1971
-Paul W. McCracken
Donald H. Rumsfeld and Robert H. Finch
-Compared to Connally
-Performance
Ehrlichman entered at an unknown time after 12:54 pm
The President’s schedule
-Davis
-Awards at Open Door Hour
-[Muscular Dystrophy Association of America]
-Nebraska
-Garment
-Davis
-Picture
-Harold Russell
-Press
-Davis
Davis
-Schedule
-Press
-Robert J. Brown
-Schedule
-Shady Grove
-Brown
-Wife
-Retirement
-Revenue sharing
-Entertainment
The President’s schedule
-Davis
-Muscular Dystrophy Association of America
-Davis
-Picture
Ehrlichman left at an unknown time before 1:18 pm
Davis
-Appearance
-Possible meeting with the President
The President’s schedule
-Morocco [canceled visit of King [Moulay] Hassan II]
-Press conference
The President and Haldeman left at 1:18 pmAlso recorded on April 15, 1971
- 480-011 12:02 PM · 37 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:02 pm and 12:15 pm.
- 480-005 12:15 PM · 45 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:15 pm.
- 480-006 12:15 PM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Robert H. Finch, and Donald H. Rumsfeld met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:15 pm to 12:40 pm.
- 001-096 12:40 PM · 27 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 12:40 pm to 12:41 pm.
- 480-007 12:40 PM · 33 sec — Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon and President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:40 pm to 12:41 pm.
- 480-008 12:41 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:41 pm and 12:50 pm.
- 480-009 12:41 PM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:41 pm and 12:50 pm.
- 480-012 1:18 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:18 pm and 1:40 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 480-010, April 15, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/480-010 (accessed October 12, 2026).