Early work Ziegler served as a press aide on Nixon's unsuccessful
California gubernatorial campaign in 1962.
Nixon administration In 1969, at the age of 29, Ziegler became the youngest
White House Press Secretary in history, serving in the
Nixon Administration. He was also the first press secretary to use the
White House Press Briefing Room when it was completed in 1970. Historically, White House press secretaries had been recruited from the ranks of individuals with substantial journalistic experience, such as
Stephen Early and
Pierre Salinger, raising the question of whether Ziegler was qualified for his position. The hiring of Ziegler was seen by many, and later confirmed by Haldeman himself, as a cog in Nixon's plan to undermine the press; Ziegler's ability to execute the chief of staff's directions was impressive, allowing him to hold a senior position throughout the administration. Ziegler held the record for the youngest White House press secretary until 2025, when
Karoline Leavitt, aged 27, became Press Secretary at the beginning of the
Second presidency of Donald Trump. Ziegler was the White House press secretary during the political scandal known as
Watergate. In 1972, he dismissed the first report of the burglary at the
Watergate Hotel as a "third-rate burglary attempt", and repeatedly dismissed reports by
Bob Woodward and
Carl Bernstein in the
Washington Post, but within two years, Nixon had resigned under threat of
impeachment. Ziegler apologized to
The Washington Post for having been so dismissive. At a
Veterans of Foreign Wars convention on August 20, 1973, Nixon was filmed angrily pushing Ziegler toward a crowd of reporters. The president was incensed that Ziegler was not doing enough to keep members of the press away as Nixon entered the convention hall. In 1974, Ziegler became
Assistant to the President. Particularly in the period following the resignations of such senior administration officials as
Bob Haldeman and
John Ehrlichman, Ziegler became one of Nixon's closest aides and confidants. During the
impeachment process against Nixon, he defended the president until the bitter end, urging Nixon not to resign, but rather fight conviction and removal from office in the
Senate. During the unfolding political scandal, Ziegler appeared before Congress at least 33 times. ==Post-Watergate==