Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 850 › Conversation 850-007

Nixon, Ziegler & Bull on Budget impoundment and Press relations

Tuesday, February 6, 1973 · 11:17 AM–11:34 AM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.; Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation850-007 on Tape 850StartTuesday, February 6, 1973 at 11:17 AMEndTuesday, February 6, 1973 at 11:34 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 850-007 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Stephen B. Bull to coordinate his upcoming schedule with King Hussein of Jordan before consulting with Press Secretary Ronald L. Ziegler. The discussion focused on Ziegler’s recent press briefing regarding presidential impoundment of budget funds and the administration's frustration with media coverage. Nixon and Ziegler strategized on how to better communicate the administration's fiscal policy to the press by drawing direct comparisons to the practices of previous administrations.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Can you see me now?
Can you see me now?
Yeah?
Can you see me now?
Sure, we'll have to do a two-seater on David.
That's all right.
That's all right.
That's all right.
That's all right.
Because this story came out exactly opposite of what you had in mind.
The purpose of that was to point out that we were withholding less than was the tender average before.
And I know the point was made, but apparently it was made too far down the briefing for them to get it.
Well, it was made at the top of the briefing, and it threw out the point it was made.
We face the problem, and they don't want to understand it.
They don't want to understand it.
And I talked to Scott Ford the other day, and we'll just keep it.
But it's hard to drive it through the media block to get them to pick that up and to get them to write it, because they don't understand it.
The fact is, it's a very simple statement, just to say that this is one half of the, uh, of the Coley-Johnson period, or something like that.
Sir, we've done it.
We'll do it again.
These are the, these, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they,

NARA Description

On February 6, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:17 am and 11:34 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 850-007 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 850-007

Date: February 6, 1973
Time: Unknown between 11:17 am and 11:34 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

       President’s schedule
              -Meeting with [Hussein, King of Jordan] Hussein ibn Talal

Bull left at an unknown time before 11:32 am.

Ziegler entered at 11:32 am.

       Ziegler’s press conference
              -Budget
                      -Impoundment
                              -President’s conversation with John D. Ehrlichman
                              -Timing within briefing
                              -Hugh Scott, Gerald R. Ford
                              -Press relations
                                      -Misunderstanding
                                      -Ziegler’s forthcoming statement
                                              -Compared to Lyndon B. Johnson administration

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

       Photograph sessions [?]
             -Duration

Ziegler left at an unknown time before 11:34 am.

Also recorded on February 6, 1973

  • 112-003 9:35 AM · 1 hr 44 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Republican Congressional leaders, including Hugh Scott, Robert P. Griffin, Wallace F. Bennett, William E. Brock, III, John G. Tower, Gerald R. Ford, Leslie C. Arends, John B. Anderson, Samuel L. Devine, Barber B. Conable, Jr., Robert C. ("Bob") Wilson, George H. W. Bush, Roy L. Ash, John D. Ehrlichman, William E. Timmons, Richard K. Cook, Thomas C. Korologos, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 9:35 am and 11:16 am.
  • 112-005 11:16 AM · 1 hr 5 min — L. Dean Brown, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 11:16 am on February 6, 1973 and 7:57 am on February 8, 1973.
  • 850-006 11:16 AM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:16 am to 11:17 am.
  • 850-008 11:34 AM · 58 min — President Richard M. Nixon, King Hussein ibn Talal, White House operator, Ronald L. Ziegler, Henry A. Kissinger, and Zaid al-Rifai met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:34 am to 12:38 pm.
  • 850-013 12:38 PM · 29 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:38 pm and 12:42 pm.
  • 850-009 12:42 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:42 pm to 12:48 pm.
  • 850-010 12:48 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:48 pm and 12:51 pm.
  • 850-011 12:51 PM · 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:51 pm to 1:23 pm.

All 39 conversations from February 6, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 850-007, February 6, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/850-007 (accessed October 12, 2026).