Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 520 › Conversation 520-007

Nixon, Ziegler & Sanchez on Willy Brandt and Berlin negotiations

Tuesday, June 15, 1971 · 12:34 PM–12:42 PM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Sanchez, Manolo; Butterfield, Alexander P.; Bull, Stephen B.; Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation520-007 on Tape 520 (tape position 02:40:53–02:43:42)StartTuesday, June 15, 1971 at 12:34 PMEndTuesday, June 15, 1971 at 12:42 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 520-007 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler met to prepare for an upcoming press conference by reviewing potential inquiries regarding the President's meeting with West German Chancellor Willy Brandt. The discussion centered on foreign policy and economic issues, including Berlin negotiations, Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction (MBFR), NATO relations, and international monetary policy. Nixon commended Secretary of State William P. Rogers for his briefing work, and Ziegler concluded the session to prepare for his own press briefing.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 31% 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.

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Nå er det eit krasivt større vare på ombord enn på ombord.

I think they're probably going to go back.

Well, on the, on the, if you may ask any questions.

I found this question interesting.

I think that our positions basically are, are, are, I know we're on, we're in tandem, basically, right?

We found ourselves in basic agreement to the approach of the regime.

So, with regard to an orderly procedure,

We are leaving the agreement.

But we discussed it like the progress of the Berlin negotiations.

That was a major subject of discussion, you could say.

And the year and the... Oh, and also the balance of payments, you see.

We discussed that at the old Senate Congress.

Roger, Secretary Rogers did an excellent job.

Wait just a second, you have a brief?

I'm going to brief now, yes sir.

All right, fine, when you get through, we'll be back.

He did an excellent job.

NARA Description

On June 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, Alexander P. Butterfield, Stephen B. Bull, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:34 pm to 12:42 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 520-007 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 520-007

Date: June 15, 1971
Time: 12:34 pm - 12:42 pm
Location: Oval Office

Manolo Sanchez met with Alexander P. Butterfield and Stephen B. Bull

     President’s location

The President and Ronald L. Ziegler entered and Sanchez, Butterfield, and Bull left at 12:34 pm

     Press conference

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

            -President’s meeting with Willy Brandt
            -Possible questions
                  -Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction [MBFR]
                  -Berlin
                  -North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO]
                  -Balance of payments
                  -International monetary policy
            -William P. Rogers’ briefing

Ziegler left at 12:42 pm

Also recorded on June 15, 1971

520-005 10:59 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:59 am and 11:02 am.
520-006 11:02 AM · 1 hr 34 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Willy Brandt, Stephen B. Bull, Manolo Sanchez, Henry A. Kissinger, Egon Bahr, Rolf Pauls, Conrad Ahlers, Hermann Kusterer, Wolf-Dietrich Schilling, and Harry Obst met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:02 am to 12:34 pm.
520-008 12:45 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:45 pm and 12:54 pm.
520-009 12:45 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:45 pm and 12:54 pm.
520-010 12:54 PM · 23 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:54 pm and 2:15 pm.
521-001 1:15 PM · 6 sec — Stephen B. Bull and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:15 pm and 2:15 pm.
520-013 2:15 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:15 pm to 2:16 pm.
521-003 2:15 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:15 pm and 2:19 pm.

All 52 conversations from June 15, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 520-007, June 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/520-007 (accessed October 23, 2026).