Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 834 › Conversation 834-020

Nixon & Ziegler on White House staff reduction and Government reorganization

Friday, January 5, 1973 · 4:40 PM–4:44 PM ET · Oval Office · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation834-020 on Tape 834StartFriday, January 5, 1973 at 4:40 PMEndFriday, January 5, 1973 at 4:44 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 834-020 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler discussed the strategic messaging regarding upcoming cuts to the White House staff and the broader administrative reorganization. They focused on framing these staff reductions—specifically targeting presidential appointees—as part of a move toward government efficiency by shifting activities from the White House to individual departments. Nixon emphasized the 'one window' concept, intended to simplify communication for Congress and the public by consolidating oversight for complex policy areas into centralized councils.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
These guys don't understand this.
It's pretty complicated.
I mean, there's a lot being done when they...
The cuts.
4,002, we had a nice carry on that.
John did it.
Spencey will come back next week with a good, or within the next six days, with a substantial cut in the 510, which is the White House staff review.
It's budgeted for 510.
Out of that 510, there are about 155 people who are, you know, who work in the OV who can be referred to as presidential appointees.
That's going to be cut.
by 30 to 40 percent, something in that area, where we'll be able to come back and again get that cut story out next week, which we'll understand that.
Of course, that's part of the 4,002, but we'll get more of an executive break on it to get an extra bite on it.
Right.
But the questions didn't center around, because the way John presented it, and I think most of the stories will play this way, going to play more along the line of moving activities away from the White House and into departments.
If you would emphasize the point that I used in arguing a lot of things, the one window.
In other words, when a member of Congress, for example, or a member of the general public has a subject that crosses through several departments, instead of having to run from one department to another, he goes to one window.
The Council, the National Council for Natural Resources, and it's the one, that's what we're reviewing here, whatever, by putting this subject
President, and the old system is simply outmoded.
So you've got transportation.
You've got community development.
You have one window to go to the council for community development.
And also, that's one window for the president, too.
The president, when he wants to know something about community development, he doesn't have to call it his transportation.
The other man, the pedigree, can say, all right, here's the council for community development.
And they do it all together.
Justice is a good justice.
This is not real.
All right.
All right.
On the night, we're going to have the press conference that I mentioned to you.

NARA Description

On January 5, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:40 pm to 4:44 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 834-020 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 834-20

Date: January 5, 1973
Time: 4:40 pm - 4:44 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler

       Meeting with John D. Ehrlichman

       Cuts in White House staff
             -Number
                                              -33-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                           Conversation No. 834-20 (cont’d)

              -Story for press

       Ehrlichman's presentation

       Reorganization
            -Efficiency
                  -Congress
                  -Young Republicans
                  -Transportation

       Barber B. Conable, Jr.

       Press photographs at reception

Ziegler left at 4:44 pm.

Also recorded on January 5, 1973

  • 834-014 4:01 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:01 pm and 4:03 pm.
  • 834-015 4:01 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:01 pm to 4:03 pm.
  • 834-016 4:03 PM · 18 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Col. Richard T. Kennedy, William L. Gifford, Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins, Yen Chia-Kan, Tsai Wei-ping, James C. H. Shen, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:03 pm to 4:22 pm.
  • 834-017 4:23 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:23 pm and 4:25 pm.
  • 834-018 4:23 PM · 31 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:23 pm and 4:25 pm.
  • 834-019 4:25 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Terry L. Decker met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:25 pm to 4:39 pm.
  • 834-021 4:44 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:44 pm and 4:55 pm.
  • 834-022 4:55 PM · 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:55 pm to 5:29 pm.

All 43 conversations from January 5, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 834-020, January 5, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/834-020 (accessed October 12, 2026).