Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 714 › Conversation 714-021

Nixon, Hope & Ziegler on Rose Garden and ASNE

Thursday, April 20, 1972 · 4:21 PM–4:24 PM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Hope, Lelsie T. ("Bob"); Ziegler, Ronald L.; Atkins, Oliver F. ("Ollie")Conversation714-021 on Tape 714 (tape position 04:06:44–04:10:11)StartThursday, April 20, 1972 at 4:21 PMEndThursday, April 20, 1972 at 4:24 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 714-021 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with entertainer Bob Hope, Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler, and photographer Ollie Atkins to discuss logistics for an upcoming photo session in the Rose Garden. The group coordinated the use of flags and specific lighting for the shots, while also briefly reflecting on Hope’s golf game and past encounters. Additionally, they touched upon potential comedic material regarding the President’s attendance at an American Society of Newspaper Editors reception, specifically mentioning pandas and columnist Jack Anderson.

Audio

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Position in tape: 04:06:44 – 04:10:11

part C, 6:41

714a.mp3
714b.mp3
714c.mp3

NARA Description

On April 20, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Lelsie T. ("Bob") Hope, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:21 pm to 4:24 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 714-021 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 714-21

Date: April 20, 1972
Time: 4:21 pm - 4:24 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Leslie T. (“Bob”) Hope, Ronald L. Ziegler and Oliver F. (“Ollie”)
Atkins.

     Greetings

     Hope's show

     Photographs
          -Rose Garden
               -Lighting
          -Flags

     Gift presentation
           -Putter
                 -Quality
                 -Hope’s trophy room
                 -Previous golf games with the President

     American Society of Newspaper Editors [ASNE] reception
         -Jokes
               -The President's attendance
               -Pandas
               -Jack N. Anderson

     Rose Garden
          -Photographs

The President et al. left at 4:24 pm.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hey, Bob, how are you?
How are you?
It's a pleasure to meet you.
You look great.
It's a shame.
It's a shame.
You're going to put on another show tonight, aren't you?
Yeah.
You know, I had an idea that you might have fun with.
You've got lots of pictures.
Is the light enough out there, Ollie, for the garden?
I can check it out.
That's right.
Well, let's get some of the flags here.
All I can think of is a little album for you, would you like?
I've got, we've got a, we've got a, we've got a, we've got a, we've got a, we've got a, we've got a,
I won't play.
I know, I know, but I didn't tell them.
Look at me.
But it's yours.
It's got a present on your bag.
Oh, listen, I'm going to get that money.
By the way, I drove you.
You drove me.
There you go.
That's all the present I got for you.
I had so many things.
All right, come on.
All right.
I have so many jokes for you tonight.
Well, they told me you were coming, you know.
Oh, yeah, they were.
And I have a lot of things.
About the canvas and all that.
Well, use it.
I'm, well, I'm going to use it.
I've got a good one up there.
I understand it's going to be there.
Oh, yeah.
I'm going to throw the seat in here in spite of this accident.
This boy, we had a blowout in his water.
He was about to start to leak all over the jacket.
Come on, let's get to the outside and see where the sun goes.
Do you want this?
No, this is yours.
But you've got a lot of balls to hit those.
You need that.
Well, let's get some lovely shots.
Yeah, pretty good.

Also recorded on April 20, 1972

  • 023-056 3:15 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger talked on the telephone from 3:15 pm to 3:19 pm.
  • 023-057 3:19 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:19 pm and 3:36 pm.
  • 023-058 3:36 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 3:36 pm to 3:43 pm.
  • 714-019 4:16 PM · 58 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:16 pm and 4:18 pm.
  • 714-020 4:18 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:18 pm to 4:21 pm.
  • 714-022 4:29 PM · 18 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Lelsie T. ("Bob") Hope, Ronald L. Ziegler, unknown person(s), and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:29 pm to 4:48 pm.
  • 714-023 4:48 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:48 pm and 4:49 pm.
  • 714-024 4:49 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:49 pm and 11:59 pm.

All 54 conversations from April 20, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 714-021, April 20, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/714-021 (accessed November 2, 2026).