Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 683 › Conversation 683-003
Nixon, Ziegler & Eisenhower on Busing and ITT
Monday, March 13, 1972 · 9:41 AM–10:15 AM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler met to strategize on managing press coverage and public messaging ahead of upcoming political developments. They focused on drafting a formal statement regarding busing, addressing the political fallout from ITT hearings, and reviewing media reactions to the recent trip to the People's Republic of China. The discussion included the planning of future press conferences and coordinating the administration's stance on pending legislation and diplomatic communications.
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.7 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 164.4 MB
This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 00:19:34 into the tape and ends around 00:53:47.
Transcript (AI-generated)
No transcript is available yet for this conversation. The recording may contain no audible speech, or it may not have been processed.
NARA Description
On March 13, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, Stephen B. Bull, and Julie Nixon Eisenhower met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:41 am to 10:15 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 683-003 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 683-3
Date: March 13, 1972
Time: 9:41 am - 10:15 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler.
Press stories
-Florida primary
-Bangladesh recognition
-India
-International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT]
-Hearings
-Marlow W. Cook
-Executive session
-Population Commission
-Cambodia
-Lon Nol
-People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-British diplomatic recognition
-Charge d’affaires
Upcoming press briefing
-Questions
-Busing
-The President’s forthcoming statement
-Timing
-The President’s forthcoming trip to the Soviet Union
-Decision
-Preparation
-Drafting
-Message to Congress
-Timing
-Message to Congress
-Constitutional amendment
-Legislation
-The President’s meeting with John D. Ehrlichman, George P. Shultz
and lawyers
-Drafting
-Raymond K. Price, Jr.
-Leonard Garment
-Shultz
-Ehrlichman
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 1m 59s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
******************************************************************************
Busing
-Black caucus comments
-Ehrlichman
******************************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 17s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
******************************************************************************
Press stories
-The PRC trip
-News summary
-Clayton Fritchey
-Effect of ITT stories
-ITT
-Paris contact between US and PRC
-Overshadow the PRC trip
-Fritchey
-The PRC trip
-Polls
-Key Biscayne
-Tribune article
-Compared to Lyndon B. Johnson
-Johnson City, Texas
-Compared to Dwight D. Eisenhower
-Augusta, Georgia
-Press briefings
-Gerald L. Warren
-Florida
-California
-Camp David
-Columns
-Joseph C. Kraft article
-News summary
-Press corps during the PRC trip
-Ziegler
-The President’s relationship with the press
-Press during PRC trip
-Visit to Great Wall of China
-Marvin L. Kalb
-Visit to Forbidden City
-Kraft’s article
-Ziegler’s view
-Press corps
-The PRC trip
-Visit to the Great Wall
The President’s forthcoming press conference
-Timing
-ITT
-Hearings
-Dita D. Beard
-Televised press conference
Press corps
-The President’s exposure to the press
-Wire services
-Woodcutters of America
-Example
-United Press International [UPI]
-Marina von N. Whitman swearing-in ceremony
-Photographs
-First woman on a cabinet committee
-James Keogh’s book [President Nixon and the Press]
-Presidents and the press
-George Washington
-Warren G. Harding
-The President’s relationship with the press
-The PRC trip
-The President’s forthcoming trip to Soviet Union
-Hawaii
-Kraft article
-Great Wall
-The PRC trip
-Peter Lisagor
-Hugh Sidey
-Magazines
-Television coverage of the PRC trip
-Compared to printed press
-Shanghai Communiqué
-Soviet trip
-Britain’s recognition of the PRC
-Lisagor, Sidey, Fritchey and Kraft
-Kraft
-Ziegler’s view
-Fritchey
-WTOP
-Martin Z. Agronsky
-George Putnam
-Washington, DC
-Ziegler’s view
Stephen B. Bull entered at 10:06 am.
Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Call to the President
Bull left at 10:06 am.
Press
-Ziegler’s schedule
-Neal Ball
-Warren
Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked with the President between 10:06 am and 10:07 am.
[Conversation No. 683-3A]
[See Conversation No. 21-48; one item has been withdrawn from the conversation]
[End of telephone conversation]
Ziegler’s previous press briefing
-Paris contact between the US and PRC
-Ball
Press corps
-Herbert G. Klein
-Stories
-ITT
-Bombing of aircraft
-US-PRC contact in Paris
-New Hampshire primary
-Florida primary
-ITT
-Richard G. Kleindienst
-Contributions
-Anti-trust settlement
-Objective
-Congress
-The Administration
-Alger Hiss case
-Five percenter case
The President’s schedule
-Gridiron dinner
-Women’s movement
-Richard (“Dick”) Wilson
-Ziegler’s talk with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Helen A. Thomas
-Shirley Chisholm
-Bella S. Abzug
Busing
-The President’s forthcoming statement
-Timing
-Typing
Whitman swearing-in ceremony
-Photograph session
Ziegler left at 10:15 am.Also recorded on March 13, 1972
- 683-001 8:54 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:54 am and 9:41 am.
- 683-002 8:54 AM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:54 am and 9:41 am.
- 021-048 10:06 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone from 10:06 am to 10:07 am.
- 021-049 10:07 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:07 am and 11:16 am.
- 683-004 10:15 AM · 1 hr 45 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Alexander P. Butterfield, Stephen B. Bull, Ronald L. Ziegler, White House operator, Croby S. Noyes, Constance M. Stuart, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:15 am to 12:01 pm.
- 021-050 11:16 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Croby S. Noyes talked on the telephone from 11:16 am to 11:21 am.
- 021-051 11:21 AM · 7 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:21 am and 3:50 pm.
- 021-052 11:21 AM · 2 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and Constance M. Stuart talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:21 am and 3:50 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 683-003, March 13, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/683-003 (accessed October 3, 2026).