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Conversation 569-012

TapeTape 569StartFriday, September 10, 1971 at 2:05 PMEndFriday, September 10, 1971 at 3:03 PMTape start time02:21:02Tape end time02:22:48ParticipantsUnited States Secret Service agentsRecording deviceOval Office
AI Summary

President Nixon met with Secret Service agents to discuss the challenges of managing his public image and media relations ahead of the upcoming campaign season. The conversation focused on the influence of the press in shaping public perception and the difficulty of countering unfavorable media coverage. Nixon reflected on his previous electoral experiences to illustrate how media narratives can negatively impact a candidate's polling lead regardless of their actual performance.

Public relationsMedia coveragePresidential campaignPublic imagePress management
AudioNARA Description

On September 10, 1971, United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:05 pm and 3:03 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 569-012 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 569-12

Date: September 10, 1971
Time: Unknown between 2:05 pm and 3:03 pm
Location: Oval Office

Unknown men [Secret Service agents] met.

     The President's location
          -Executive Office Building [EOB]

     [Unintelligible]

This recording was cut off at an unknown time before 3:03 pm.
Transcript (AI-Generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

That's the one force of fear because it's the most potent and least controllable.
Well, except that it's got that enormous ability to go over areas of water and at times, and we've got some events to go over areas with the Chinese and the Russians.
You've got to go on and do press conferences.
Those are events.
That's not it.
Otherwise, they let the country see you through their eyes.
That's the problem with the campaign, though.
They need it.
You know, we, for example, I put it this way.
We came out of the 68th convention on top of an acceptance speech from the faculty.
So we had a big one through their eyes.
And, you know, we had a very, very substantial lead.
Now, actually, we held that thing very well.
So I walked through that period.
Night after night, they checked us away.
No matter what we were doing.
They were showing us through their eyes and knocking us down.
We'd break our neck.
I'd all of a sudden have all of our neck traveling.
In a sense, maybe they didn't have much time.
I don't know.
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