Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 609 › Conversation 609-008

Nixon & Ziegler on Foreign aid and Edward M. Kennedy

Saturday, October 30, 1971 · 11:16 AM–11:19 AM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation609-008 on Tape 609 (tape position 02:19:51–02:21:59)StartSaturday, October 30, 1971 at 11:16 AMEndSaturday, October 30, 1971 at 11:19 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 609-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald L. Ziegler discussed the political fallout from a recent Senate vote on the foreign aid program, specifically noting the roles of Hubert H. Humphrey and Edward M. Kennedy. The conversation also touched upon a speech delivered by Kennedy regarding Taiwan and the Republic of China in the context of Henry Kissinger's upcoming trip to the People’s Republic of China. The meeting served to coordinate the administration’s response to these legislative and diplomatic challenges.

Audio

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Position in tape: 02:19:51 – 02:21:59

part A, 11:41

609a.mp3

609b.mp3

609c.mp3

609d.mp3

NARA Description

On October 30, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:16 am to 11:19 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 609-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 609-8

Date: October 30, 1971
Time: 11:16 am - 11:19 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler.

     Foreign aid program
          -Previous Senate vote

                                                                 Conv. No. 609- 7(cont.)

                 -Hubert H. Humphrey
                 -Edward M. Kennedy

     Kennedy
         -Speech
              -Taiwan, Republic of China
              -Henry A. Kissinger
                   -Trip to People’s Republic of China [PRC]

Ziegler left at 11:19 am

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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What's the other?

And you have a lot of company.

Oh, my.

What's he got?

Oh, my God.

We've got it for very long.

Ah.

That's in the bus.

What's the city in the bus?

You know, that's... That's where the store is.

What's the capital of that?

The United States.

So much history.

Yes.

We don't know.

I heard a lot of the money, though.

Well, we lost a good deal of money.

I need to find out.

We lost a little bit.

Also recorded on October 30, 1971

609-004 9:58 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:58 am and 10:05 am.
609-005 9:58 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:58 am and 10:05 am.
609-007 10:05 AM · 1 hr 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Josip Broz Tito, Lijana Tambaca, Alexander Akalovsky, Stephen B. Bull, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, and Emil ("Bus") Mosbacher, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:05 am to 11:12 am.
609-009 11:19 AM · 38 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:19 am and 11:20 am.
609-010 11:20 AM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:20 am to 11:21 am.
609-011 11:21 AM · 46 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:21 am to 12:07 pm.
609-012 12:07 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:07 pm and 12:09 pm.
609-013 12:09 PM · 32 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:09 pm to 12:37 pm.

All 13 conversations from October 30, 1971 →

Nixon, Haig & Bull on United Nations and Taiwan October 23, 1971 · 16 min
Nixon, Haig & Hassan on United Nations and Taiwan October 23, 1971 · 16 min
Nixon & Ziegler on United Nations and Taiwan October 27, 1971 · 15 min
Nixon phone call with Goldwater on Supreme Court appointments and Conservatism October 6, 1971 · 3 min
Nixon phone call with Colson on Senate and Federal pay raise October 5, 1971 · 19 min
Nixon phone call with Rockefeller on People's Republic of China February 17, 1972 · 3 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 609-008, October 30, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/609-008 (accessed November 14, 2026).