Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 859 › Conversation 859-009

Nixon & Ziegler on Press Relations and White House Correspondents Association

Wednesday, February 21, 1973 · 9:44 AM–9:55 AM ET · Oval Office · 10 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation859-009 on Tape 859StartWednesday, February 21, 1973 at 9:44 AMEndWednesday, February 21, 1973 at 9:55 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 859-009 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Ronald Ziegler reviewed upcoming scheduling commitments for several prominent media events, including the Gridiron Dinner, the White House Correspondents Association dinner, and the Radio and Television Correspondents dinner. The discussion focused on coordinating these appearances with a potential visit from South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu and the desire to avoid public perception of boycotting specific press functions. Nixon evaluated his attendance at these events, weighing the political optics of his presence against scheduling conflicts and his personal distaste for the critical nature of the Gridiron dinner.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Gridiron, of course, is the 10th.
White House Correspondence Association is April the 7th.
What?
April the 7th.
Edgar Poe, as you know, is present.
We've received him.
Edgar Poe?
He was President of the Gridiron.
He's also the President of the White House.
This year.
Yes, he was last year.
Of the Gridiron.
Of the Gridiron.
Bob Ross.
Yeah, but wasn't Poe the President of the Gridiron last year, sir?
And he's present in the White House Correspondence this year.
I'll get in.
I got to look this up just because he's the president.
I want to throw his heart when he goes to sit with a White House person.
Let's see.
Now.
Now then, the White House.
The only problem with that is whether or not it clears to the chief as a person to get him to talk with the chiefs today.
I wonder if they would move there to be the answer to the 31st of March.
See, if we go to April 7th, I don't want them to know we're thinking about the Jew visit in the first week of April, or we can shut up until the second week of April.
See, they would let's face it, the White House Correspondents Association would want, without being cold,
It would be suggested to change the date of their dinner if the two meetings would interfere with it because most of the officers would not be out there covering their business.
I feel a safer date.
Actually, it would be either the 31st or later in April.
Well, I'd rather get it early.
They make it 24 hours.
Yeah.
We'll have to save them by that time.
First of all, you've got to go to the gridiron.
It's a boring thing.
They aren't good anymore.
Well, you see, they also also have to sit there.
Let's face it.
The gridiron is going to end the government.
Yeah, a good army would have had so much of the water meat.
Yeah, a good army would have had so much of all of that, you know, type of thing.
The press competition.
And nothing, the Great Army has never been, I mean, and I have no objections to it, whether it's buddies or, you know, they sometimes have a great standpoint, but never in my case.
You know what I mean?
I'm a resentful guy, but it's basically, there are guesses.
I mean, the good guy, they used to treat him from an Eisenhower, and he's been on the face of it every night.
And I just, I don't mind it, but I, I don't think I would have said true at all.
That's all.
That's my view.
At the White House Correspondency, we just, we accept that.
You see, the point is that you've got to, you, you get that out right away.
So that they know that, that, that General Coles knows that that's, that's going to get the White House Correspondency.
Now, the White House Psychiatrist Annual Award Center is April 12th.
Well.
You see that, but you see they'll give us that.
April 12th.
I can't, I will not, but we don't need to.
If I'm in California, they'll understand how to do it.
Of course, a lot of them are people going out there.
Only two water service staff.
So that's something, of course, the White House photographers will decide that kind of thing.
Radio and television.
Radio and television.
Bob Clark is president of ABC.
He sent a letter and has gone through various emissaries and so forth.
They have given us options on scheduling a dinner.
They have given us options, and they suggest several dates.
March 15.
March the 15th.
March the 16th.
March the 19th.
I can't go to March the 15th or 16th because I'm very late.
What's the other?
March the 22nd.
April the 19th.
Or May the 17th.
Seems like May.
see if you do the white house correspondence in april sorry march 31st april 19th is a thursday they always said they don't have theirs on a weekend
I really don't know about the two things, but let's just accept any of those and get out of them.
In other words, no problem.
The marks of 15 and 16.
You see, if I do the press...
thing on Tuesday, which is my personal intention.
And I've got to think of what I want to do with television.
My own view is that probably the best time to do a television thing is during the night.
It would be a good national forum.
In the appropriate time, yes.
In the appropriate time, yes.
No, but that would be a point in time where you could just lay it right out.
I mean, on an upbeat basis, look.
Let's get a march, I'm saying.
All right.
Who's that boy?
Who works with Poe?
Oh, I see.
He's sort of the dean.
Yeah.
I don't know.
That's why I had the two of them come in.
Clark.
I mean, anybody who wants to.
Whoever has program chairmen.
Now, you see, by accepting these two, I think you're in a pretty good position.
What would you say, with regard to perhaps what I could do
to New York and have dinner, say, with Omar Gulis or something.
We spent a lot of time talking.
I can't remember.
I'm afraid I might just be out of town.
Well, I'm inclined to think if...
I don't like to appear to be just a straight-up boycott of the thing.
I mean, maybe you ought to have another engagement, basically.
Why don't you put me on the line?
Those two will arrange that.
We'll start with the second one.

NARA Description

On February 21, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:44 am to 9:55 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 859-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 859-9

Date: February 21, 1973
Time: 9:44 am - 9:55 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler.

       Gridiron dinner
              -Date

       White House Correspondents Association Dinner
             -Date
             -Edgar Allen Poe
                    -President of Gridiron
                    -President of White House Correspondents Association
                            -Robert Roth
                    -Meeting with President
             -President’s invitation

       Nguyen Van Thieu visit
             -Date
             -Other meetings
                    -Gridiron
                    -White House Correspondents Association dinner
                           -Change of dates
                                       -9-

            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                       Conversation No. 859-9 (cont’d)

                      -Press coverage of Thieu visit

White House Correspondents dinner
      -Invitation Committee visits
      -Gridiron
              -Statement

Gridiron dinner
       -Disadvantages
               -George S. McGovern’s attendance
               -Watergate references
       -Criticism of President
               -President’s and Dwight David Eisenhower’s experience
       -Attendance

White House Correspondents Association dinner
      -President's attendance
             -Public statement
             -Poe

White House Photographers awards dinner
      -Date
      -President's attendance
             -California trip
                      -Press coverage of Thieu visit

Radio and Television Correspondents dinner
       -Bob Clark, president of American Broadcasting Company [ABC]
       -Letter
       -Scheduling
               -Dates
               -White House Correspondents dinner
               -Thieu visit
               -Best date
                      -60-day troop withdrawal
                      -Advantages
                                             -10-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                          Conversation No. 859-9 (cont’d)

                                     -Speech
                                     -National forum
                                     -Timing
                              -Problems
              -Invitation to President
                      -In person
                      -Clark
                      -Pictures
                      -Wire service

       Invitations
               -Meeting with the President
                      - Poe
                      -Jack Horner
                      -Clark
               -Acceptances

       Gridiron dinner
              -President’s schedule
                     -Church service

[Telephone rings]

                    -New York
                          -Dinner
                          -Hobart D. (“Hobe”) Lewis
              -Avoidance
                    -Excused compared with unexcused absence

Also recorded on February 21, 1973

  • 859-008 9:43 AM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:43 am to 9:44 am.
  • 043-138 9:53 AM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:53 am.
  • 043-139 9:53 AM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:53 am and 9:56 am.
  • 859-010 9:55 AM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:55 am and 9:58 am.
  • 859-011 9:55 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:55 am and 9:58 am.
  • 859-012 9:55 AM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:55 am and 9:58 am.
  • 043-140 9:56 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:56 am.
  • 043-141 9:56 AM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:56 am and 10:04 am.

All 88 conversations from February 21, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 859-009, February 21, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/859-009 (accessed October 11, 2026).