Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 623 › Conversation 623-021

Nixon, Ziegler & Butterfield on Press relations and Senate legislative action

Tuesday, November 23, 1971 · 4:33 PM–4:35 PM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsButterfield, Alexander P.; Bull, Stephen B.; Ziegler, Ronald L.; Nixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation623-021 on Tape 623 (tape position 04:50:46–04:54:25)StartTuesday, November 23, 1971 at 4:33 PMEndTuesday, November 23, 1971 at 4:35 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 623-021 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Ronald L. Ziegler, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Stephen B. Bull to coordinate the administration's public messaging regarding the President's upcoming travel and potential attendance at a football game. The group discussed how to handle press inquiries amidst the uncertainty surrounding pending Senate action and other legislative matters on the President's desk. Ziegler received instructions to maintain a non-committal stance with the media, clarifying that no travel plans were finalized while keeping the possibility of a last-minute appearance open.

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 39% 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.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Thank you.

Well, we're looking at 440 dollars.

So we went through that.

Bob and I were talking about it might be good for me to say I'll go to

the football game.

We have never announced if he works for the football game, but there's a little rumbling coming up.

Now, I talked about the Senate action and other matters before your desk.

That means he's not going to go there.

He says he isn't going to make any plans at all now because of the uncertainty of the Senate action.

All of that is going to keep real loose.

Real loose.

Could we do this and test him out?

Because I think what I did today, where I blasted him in the public, they moved a little story on him.

Could I say this, that no plans, never were any plans for you to go to a football game, so you might as well wipe that out of there.

Then say, because of the uncertainty of the Senate action, the president simply is, and the other matters on his desk, he has not determined what he's going to do over the next day.

When he does, we'll let you know.

And then try him on off the record guidance that there is a possibility that he may go tomorrow sometime.

But that is not said.

There is a possibility he will go Thursday.

I just can't tell you.

I play it very dumb.

He just doesn't know because of the things in his desk.

As soon as the thing clears up tomorrow, I'll let you know.

That's where we're posted now.

We're not...

NARA Description

On November 23, 1971, Alexander P. Butterfield, Stephen B. Bull, Ronald L. Ziegler, and President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:33 pm to 4:35 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 623-021 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 623-021

Date: November 23, 1971
Time: 4:33 pm - 4:35 pm
Location: Oval Office

Alexander P. Butterfield met with Stephen B. Bull.

     The President's schedule
          -Ronald L. Ziegler

Ronald L. Ziegler entered at 4:34 pm.

            -James O. Eastland

The President entered at 4:34 pm.

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

            -William L. Waller

Butterfield and Bull left at an unknown time before 4:35 pm.

            -Travel
                 -Informing the press
                       -Gerald L. Warren
                 -Ziegler's conversation with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
            -Football game
                 -Senate action
                 -Ziegler's forthcoming press briefing
                 -Weather

Ziegler left at 4:35 pm.

Also recorded on November 23, 1971

623-020 4:33 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 4:33 pm.
623-022 4:36 PM · 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William L. Waller, James O. Eastland, John N. Mitchell, Stephen B. Bull, Manolo Sanchez, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:36 pm to 4:56 pm.
623-023 4:56 PM · 27 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:56 pm to 4:57 pm.
623-024 4:57 PM · 1 hr 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, John N. Mitchell, Sally Inge, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, White House operator, Ronald L. Ziegler, George P. Shultz, John B. Connally, and Norman Van Brocklin met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:57 pm to 6:07 pm.
015-117 5:15 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:15 pm and 5:33 pm.
015-118 5:42 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and George P. Shultz talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:42 pm and 5:44 pm.
015-119 5:44 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 5:44 pm to 5:47 pm.
015-120 5:47 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:47 pm and 5:58 pm.

All 49 conversations from November 23, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 623-021, November 23, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/623-021 (accessed October 12, 2026).