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Conversation 880-011

TapeTape 880StartThursday, March 15, 1973 at 1:04 PMEndThursday, March 15, 1973 at 1:16 PMParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Ziegler, Ronald L.Recording deviceOval Office
AI Summary

President Nixon and Ronald Ziegler discussed strategies for managing press relations and defending the administration against criticism regarding the Watergate scandal and executive privilege. They compared current media scrutiny to the Alger Hiss case, criticizing the press corps for their perceived bias, hostility, and lack of interest in significant foreign policy developments like the China diplomatic mission. The conversation concluded with Nixon expressing contempt for the 'liberal establishment,' framing his administration’s tough stance as a necessary countermeasure to the perceived moral and political failures of his opponents.

WatergatePress relationsExecutive privilegeAlger Hiss caseLiberal establishmentForeign policy
AudioNARA Description

On March 15, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:04 pm and 1:16 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 880-011 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 880-11

Date: March 15, 1973
Time: 1:04 pm-1:16 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler.

       President’s press conference
             -Need to present the White House view
             -Victor Lasky
             -Administration dealings
             -Alger Hiss case
                   -Comparison with Watergate
                   -W. Bruce Weinrod
                         -Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]
                   -Kenneth W. Clawson
                   -Line for press
                   -National security issue
             -FBI files
                   -Use
                   -Disclosure to Congress
                                 17-
            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
                           (rev. June-10)
                                          Conversation No. 880-11 (cont’d)

           -Use by White House staff
      -Watergate
           -Executive privilege
      -Mood at press conference
      -People's Republic of China [PRC] diplomatic mission to US
           -Lack of press interest

PRC
      -Diplomatic mission
            -Ambassador to France [Huang Zhen]
            -Chief of Protocol
                  -Han Su [?]

Press corps
      -Comments of old-timers
            -Squire Byrnes, Edgar Allen Poe, J. William Theis, Martin Hayden
            -Decline
      -PRC story
            -Lack of interest
            -Significance
                   -Opening of liaison office
                   -Taiwan
                   -Chou En-lai
                   -India-Pakistan
                         -Superficial lead
      -Hostility to administration
            -Courtney Sheldon
                   -Response of White House
                         -Liberals

President’s press conference
      -Ziegler's evaluation
            -White House response
      -Tone
            -Toughness
      -Liberals
      -Drug legislation
            -Administration position
                   -Permissiveness
                         -Press bias
                         -Commission report [?]
                                         18-
                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
                                   (rev. June-10)
                                                  Conversation No. 880-11 (cont’d)

              -John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson
              -Dwight D. Eisenhower
              -President's appearances
                    -Responses to questions
                           -“No comment”

       Watergate
            -Executive privilege
            -Senate actions
                  -Possible court test
            -Liberals
            -Hiss case
                  -Harry S Truman's order on executive privilege

       Liberal establishment
             -Hiss
             -Berlin Wall
             -Vietnam
             -Presidency
             -Attitude of country
             -Support for George S. McGovern
             -Education, social issues
             -Joseph W. Alsop
                   -McGovern
             -Radical elements
             -Crime
             -McGovern
                   -Democratic convention
                   -Meeting with radicals
                         -Loss of support in country
                         -White House staff reaction
                               -William P. Rogers
                               -Raymond K. Price, Jr.
                               -Leonard Garment

       President's press conference
             -Television [TV] broadcast
             -Reports on TV
                    -Public reactions

Ziegler left at 1:16 pm.
                                       19-
                  NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
                                 (rev. June-10)
Transcript (AI-Generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

I was going to say one thing.
What do you mean?
It'll even furnish that estate.
Right.
Would you think so?
Yes, sir.
That's one of the hard ones.
I've got a guy that, I mean, I mentioned Leindahl.
Huh?
Leindahl, who's over there now, who's from, he was over at the FBI for a long time, and he's the best planner in town.
Great.
And Clawson was excellent with us.
We'll get some culture on that.
Thanks.
No, I understand.
Right.
You've got to talk to Bill about it.
Say, here's a pretty good line.
Absolutely.
You see the line at the time.
The National Security Department should not do that bullshit.
There's no National Security Department.
He'd been a spy.
And they had a report that showed it.
That was a good line this morning, too, was that it had to be cracked, you know, like, your line this morning, it had to be broken anyway, and it was.
Yeah, we broke the case.
We broke the case.
We broke the case.
Okay, yes, sir, I agree.
Well, it's a small thing.
They got some of the lines we did.
That's right.
I was going to make that point.
It's a brilliant point.
It's an enormous point.
I was talking to the old squire.
You know, I was talking to the squire barons, you know, 70 briefings the other day, and the old squire's brother was much of a reporter, but he just his age, and the seniority kept him going, you know, in his later years, he was
But he came into my office and he said, you know, Ron, I just can't comprehend what has happened to the press corps.
Just like all the old times.
You get Edgar Allan Poe down.
You get Bill Tice down.
You get the Martin Hayes down.
I had a long talk with him the other day.
What has happened to the press corps in this country is appalling.
Not only that, they've come out of it.
The China story.
What in the hell obligation are they fulfilling when they don't ask the president of the state, who is just in the house, the opening of liaison office in China, what the president's impression is as to what type of manner that they will send you?
What is the significance of your office?
What will the office have to do?
That's right.
What will it cover?
Can we continue to perish now?
The other question.
What will this office be able to do?
Will you see them socially?
What does this mean in terms of relationships?
The Taiwan question, if someone wanted to ask a nasty question, how many could ask about Taiwan?
What does this mean in relation to Chow and Pai?
How is this moving to the relationship?
India-Pakistan.
But all they asked on India-Pakistan was a superficial lead out of the first paragraph of the story they wrote.
No follow-up on South Asia.
It really is something that these guys have...
Moved in the search.
And then the court will show them and get out there.
You know, write a column about the White House.
Never.
There's not a response.
Hell, they don't ask the questions.
It's a problem.
I don't mean the president, but I mean... Shelton was mean, but he just...
But he's lived.
They're all there.
And the thing is...
But the key is, and the way is to keep them off balance, never let them know that they're irritated in the White House in any way.
This was a good time today.
The liberal party would be out saying, well, we want to do this to see what happens.
And that's our position.
Because we think it's right.
Instead of, you know, taking advantage of it.
Absolutely.
On the other hand, I think it was the parents.
Of course, they had gotten to appreciate the fact that they had.
So when I go out there, and this is my family, they tend to use them.
And Johnson called us, for example, whenever he ever showed up, he called all the time.
And the vice president called him all the time.
You know, he turned to Kennedy and said, I've got to use this book.
You have never...
I don't know what the liberal establishment has really been right about.
I don't know what the liberal establishment has really ever been right about if you examine the history.
Berlin.
Berlin.
Le Monde.
Wrong on Vietnam.
Wrong on the prisoners.
Wrong on the attitude of the country.
Wrong on education.
Wrong on social.
Because they're only kids before you, see?
The assholes are following the kids.
Wrong on how to handle and deal with the radical elements and crime.
I'll never forget the time during the convention when McGregor went down into the hotel lobby with a sports shirt on and he put himself before those screaming radicals.
You could sense that this guy was
And he was.
Absolutely not.
I hope tonight when they go on the street, the president today in a tough session, you know, a hard-hitting session, people sitting out in their country think, good for the president.
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