Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 808 › Conversation 808-012

Nixon & Ziegler on Theodore H. White and Air Force One

Friday, October 27, 1972 · 3:44 PM–3:45 PM ET · Oval Office · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation808-012 on Tape 808StartFriday, October 27, 1972 at 3:44 PMEndFriday, October 27, 1972 at 3:45 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 808-012 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler coordinated logistics for a requested film segment for the television adaptation of Theodore H. White's 'The Making of the President.' Nixon approved a five-minute silent filming session aboard Air Force One with Al Wasserman, while strictly prohibiting any interviews. Furthermore, the two discussed managing the press pool during upcoming trips to Ohio and California, with Nixon opting to personally engage with specific journalists during transit.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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television version of the making of The President.
And this fellow by the name of Washington is going to expire on me if I don't get him squared today.
He would like to do about, I don't know, five minutes of filming on Air Force One tomorrow.
No talk?
No, no talk.
Oh, fine.
I've never had a problem with that.
They don't have any.
It's just talking I don't want to do right now, because it's not fair to me.
I'm filming a view with...
Oh, yes, sure.
Good.
Oh, incidentally, I'm quite on the pool.
I'm going to spend the pool going to California Sunday, too.
That'll give him a little chance.
He's going to go to Ohio tomorrow, and I'm going to have him ride in the car with me.
Yeah.
But also put him on the pool, the pool, on the plane.
I'll talk to him about his delights.
Fine.
Good.
Good.
Fine.
Good.
Yeah.

NARA Description

On October 27, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:44 pm to 3:45 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 808-012 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 808-12

Date: October 27, 1972
Time: 3:44 pm - 3:45 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler.

         Theodore H. White
            -Televised version of The Making of the President
                -Al Wasserman
                     -Request to film aboard Air Force One on October 28, 1972
                          -The President, H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman
            -Press pool to California
            -Ride in Ohio with Ziegler
            -Press pool
                -Haldeman

Ziegler left at 3:45 pm.

Also recorded on October 27, 1972

  • 808-010 2:54 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, Robert J. Dole, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:54 pm to 3:16 pm.
  • 109-001 3:18 PM · 25 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Spanish-speaking campaign surrogates, including Dr. Henry M. Ramirez, Phillip V. Sanchez, Romana A. Banuelos, Carlos C. Villarreal, Joseph J. Jova, Raymond L. Telles, Jr., Rodolfo Montejano, Antonio F. Rodriguez, Carlos D. Conde, Bert A. Gallegos, Louis Nunez, Jorge L. Cordova, Edward Hidalgo, Alejandro ("Alex") Armendariz, William H. Marumoto, Kenneth W. Clawson, Rayburn D. Hanzlik, Charles W. Colson, Robert J. Dole, the White House photographer, and members of the press, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 3:18 pm and 3:45 pm.
  • 110-001 3:43 PM — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 3:43 pm on October 27, 1972 and 11:08 am on November 8, 1972.
  • 110-002 3:43 PM — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 3:43 pm on October 27, 1972 and 11:08 am on November 8, 1972.
  • 808-011 3:43 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Phillip V. Sanchez, Josefina Sanchez, White House photographer, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:43 pm to 3:44 pm.
  • 808-013 3:45 PM · 52 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Souvanna Phouma, Pheng Norindr, William H. Sullivan, Alex G. Toumayan, the White House photographer, and members of the press met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:45 pm to 4:40 pm.
  • 808-014 4:40 PM · 2 min — United States Secret Service agents and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:40 pm and 4:42 pm.
  • 808-015 4:45 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:45 pm to 5:11 pm.

All 51 conversations from October 27, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 808-012, October 27, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/808-012 (accessed October 12, 2026).