Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 549 › Conversation 549-018

Nixon & Ziegler on US-PRC relations and Conservatism

Wednesday, July 28, 1971 · 2:54 PM–2:58 PM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation549-018 on Tape 549 (tape position 03:47:12–03:50:30)StartWednesday, July 28, 1971 at 2:54 PMEndWednesday, July 28, 1971 at 2:58 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 549-018 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler discuss managing conservative opposition regarding the administration's burgeoning initiative with the People's Republic of China. Ziegler assesses the potential for backlash from right-wing figures and publications like the National Review, noting that while vocal critics exist, they represent a relatively small segment of the political spectrum. Nixon concludes that the administration should avoid proactively addressing these critics, opting instead to maintain a firm stance against the anticipated political fallout.

Audio

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
They forgot it.
See ya.
No, it's a good line.
I thought it was fine.
Looks good too.
Big crowd.
A big crowd.
A crowd and very responsive and enthusiastic.
I didn't see any.
Every time you get down there for a year, it's been crowded.
A year and a half.
Very responsive.
Very.
As a giant.
So that's cool and all.
Well, that combination of a lot of other things, I think, but definitely.
But anything else that cools a lot.
Sure does.
If the right wing is not managed that way, managed for you, I suppose, you're going to drag us tomorrow.
I don't care.
You can't imagine that.
Let me tell you what.
We're going to check.
I'm serious, sir.
We want Sporak on the right.
Right.
And realistically, it's a very small group over there, but they're very open.
I don't, whatever the National Review does, one of those, whatever it is.
In other words, what I'm saying is that the conservative group is not small, but I think the vocal group would be not too large in numbers because they didn't want this to be a sign.
Yeah.
You're all, you're all set up wrong.
I don't think we're going to do anything.
I don't think we're going to do anything.
We're not announcing that.
We're not announcing that.
We're not announcing that.

NARA Description

On July 28, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:54 pm to 2:58 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 549-018 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 549-018

Date: July 28, 1971
Time: 2:54 pm - 2:58 pm
Location: Oval Office

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

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler; this recording begins at an unknown time after the
meeting is in progress.

     Congressional ceremony
          -George H. Mahon
               -[Forename unknown] Simon

     Conservatives
          -Patrick J. Buchanan
                -The US-PRC initiative
                       -Opposition from the Right
                           -PRC perspective
          -National Review
          -Response

Ziegler left at 2:58 pm.

Also recorded on July 28, 1971

  • 549-017 1:25 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:25 pm and 2:54 pm.
  • 549-019 2:58 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:58 pm and 3:04 pm.
  • 549-020 2:58 PM · 17 sec — Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:58 pm and 3:04 pm.
  • 549-021 2:58 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:58 pm and 3:04 pm.
  • 549-022 2:58 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:58 pm and 3:04 pm.
  • 549-023 2:58 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:58 pm and 3:04 pm.
  • 549-024 3:04 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:04 pm to 3:05 pm.
  • 549-025 3:05 PM · 1 hr 49 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, William P. Rogers, Henry A. Kissinger, John A. Scali, Manolo Sanchez, Ronald L. Ziegler, Joseph S. Farlans, White House photographer, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:05 pm to 4:54 pm.

All 44 conversations from July 28, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 549-018, July 28, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/549-018 (accessed October 12, 2026).