Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 820 › Conversation 820-007
Nixon & Ziegler on White House reorganization and Press relations
Tuesday, December 12, 1972 · 10:39 AM–10:49 AM ET · Oval Office · 8 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler met to coordinate public messaging regarding the administration's second-term reorganization and ongoing press relations. The discussion covered the upcoming announcement of personnel changes in the Department of Agriculture, strategies for shaping public perception of staff cuts, and the management of Christmas-related events at the White House. Additionally, they reviewed recent media coverage, specifically critiquing inaccuracies in news magazine reports concerning administrative departures and the performance of George P. Shultz in communicating economic policy.
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and the wire services led with the first paragraph and also the major newspapers had in the first or the second paragraph.
So that's what they did on the field.
Also, when I knew somebody this morning, you'll notice that there's a reference to that situation.
You did plant that question yesterday, and I hit that quite hard on the things you requested.
On the Christmas planting, Connie Stewart is out sick, but I wanted to get her to come in, her assistant today, to go to those plants.
We understand completely the post-consultation that will be carried out as you have directed.
And I think on the receptions, we will not have coverage of those except the Friday nights on a pool coverage basis, or Friday afternoon at the reception line.
And also the cabinet dinner, the entertainment portion, again on an invitation basis, and then the church service on an invitation basis.
ALL INVITATIONS.
ALL INVITATIONS.
BEYOND THAT, WE HAVE A GOOD STORY TO TELL, AND I'M GOING TO BACK DOWN TO VIRES ON THE ACTIVITY BETWEEN NOW AND PRIOR TO CHRISTMAS.
THE FACT THAT YOU'RE SEEING 5,000 OR RECEIVING 5,000 PEOPLE IN THE WHITE HOUSE IN RECEPTION.
SO WE SHOULD GO BACK.
Yes, we do have that.
Oh, I see.
I thought you meant Christmas.
All right.
Yes, sir.
Is Julie, when you come to Julie, was she going to be
Should I call Julie on this and tell her that we're moving on the door?
Yeah.
Call her and tell her that we're doing the re-serving.
Right.
We're doing the re-serving.
We're doing the re-serving.
We're doing the re-serving.
Okay.
We're doing the re-serving.
Right.
We're doing the re-serving.
I'm going to put one of my men on it.
Absolutely.
Okay, today we're going to announce the agriculture changes.
And we'll say the changes on down in agriculture.
Well, we're changing about five people.
It's going to be a shake-up story in agriculture.
Good morning.
I think the Dole and Bush thing came out of the body.
I was looking at the news magazines.
But again, we haven't been able to get across the idea that there could be a change.
That's the only problem.
We haven't seen it so far.
The only one story that we haven't been able to play is Grant and Stranger Things.
Well, the news magazines, I think, tend to focus on the internal entry and the people.
I think out in the country, though, there is an impression of change, because as we were talking about yesterday, I don't think that people think about who the Secretary of Transportation is.
There's a lot of stuff you can do about it.
The problem is that we can all change the state of the United States because of the tourism.
He did very well.
He looked good on film last night, too.
I think he has recognized...
I think he's recognized, and we talked about this a little bit, that he comes over a little flat on film, and I think it's worth it to overcome that, and it's showing up on film now.
He looked very good on film last night.
Forcefully had some gestures going, and it was good for George, and it didn't seem forced.
So he made, and the other thing he did, he very, you know, in some reform at the outset, outlined the action very quickly, which they picked up and were able to use.
So I think he was effective on film, which was on all three networks.
Well, I think it would have changed later on.
Well, two, when you come to the point where we announce the counselor and the assistant role, and when we come to the point where we are able to announce the cuts, particularly in the White House staff,
that will really underpin and solidify the changes
But the news magazines this week, and I knew they were going to do this at some point, focus more on, you know, why did Peterson leave and why did... Well, that Stuart Lawson column in Newsweek is just totally, absolutely wrong.
where Alsop refers to the fact that Connolly met with you in Florida, and then following that, Peterson and Helms left, when the decisions on Peterson and Helms were made far before that meeting with Connolly down in Florida.
Well, okay.
I'm sorry.
NARA Description
On December 12, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:39 am to 10:49 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 820-007 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 820-7
Date: December 12, 1972
Time: 10:39 am - 10:49 am
Location: Oval Office
-9-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 820-7 (cont’d)
The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler.
The President’s schedule
Press relations
-[George P. Shultz’s statement on economic stabilization and federal spending]
-Budget spending ceiling
-Networks
-Wire services
-Newspapers
-US-Cuba relations
-Negotiations on hijacking agreement
-News summary
-Ziegler’s press conference, December 11, 1972
The President’s schedule
-Christmas planning
-Constance M. (Cornell) (“Connie”) Stuart
-Health
-Ziegler’s meeting with Helen Smith
-Press relations
-Washington Post directive
-Receptions
-Pools
-Timing
-Invitation
-Cabinet dinner
-Entertainment
-Church service
-Wires
-Receptions
-Number of guests
Press relations
-Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon’s, Tricia Nixon Cox’s and Julie Nixon Eisenhower’s
schedules
-First term activities
-Trip, speeches, appearances, dedications
-Rose Parade
-10-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 820-7 (cont’d)
-Trips
Second term reorganization
-Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Conversation with the President
-Possible conversation with Ziegler
-Research
-Stuart
-Ziegler’s staff
-Record
-Agriculture Department
-Changes
-J. Philip Campbell
-Retention
-Daniel P. (“Pat”) Moynihan
-[Ambassadorship to India]
-Chairmanship of Republican National Committee
-George H. W. Bush
-Robert J. Dole
-Change
-Press relations
-Peter J. Brennan
-Public opinion
-Secretary of Transportation
-State Department, Justice Department
Press relations
-Shultz’s statement
-Performance
-Appearance, mannerisms
-Summary outline
-Networks
Second term reorganization
-Changes
-White House staff
-Counselors, assistants
-Cuts
-Peter G. Peterson
-11-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 820-7 (cont’d)
-News magazines
-Henry A. Kissinger’s role
-Richard M. Helms, Peterson
-Stewart J. O. Alsop’s Newsweek article
-Accuracy
-Peterson, Helms departures
-Timing
-John B. Connally’s meeting with the President in Florida
Ronald L. Ziegler left at 10:49 am.Also recorded on December 12, 1972
- 034-051 9:57 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:57 am.
- 820-004 9:57 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 9:57 am.
- 820-005 9:57 AM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:57 am to 10:21 am.
- 820-006 10:21 AM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:21 am and 10:39 am.
- 820-008 10:50 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:50 am to 10:53 am.
- 820-009 10:53 AM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:53 am to 11:13 am.
- 820-010 11:13 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 11:13 am and 11:17 am.
- 820-011 11:17 AM · 36 min — President Richard M. Nixon, W. Clement Stone, Douglas K. Kinsey, Leonard Garment, unknown person(s), and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:17 am to 11:53 am.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 820-007, December 12, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/820-007 (accessed October 25, 2026).