Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 4 › Conversation 004-104
Nixon phone call with Ehrlichman on Federal Budget and Job Creation
Wednesday, June 9, 1971 · 4:55 PM–5:00 PM ET · White House Telephone ·5 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and John Ehrlichman discuss the scheduling of a high-level budget review and the development of job-creation initiatives. The President emphasizes that all future government spending projects must be evaluated based on their ability to generate employment, specifically citing his refusal to fund a mid-decade census proposal. Additionally, they discuss political strategy regarding the allocation of public funds, with the President directing Ehrlichman to ensure that projects are geographically targeted to maximize political benefits.
- Federal Budget
- Job Creation
- Political Strategy
- Legislative Strategy
- Public Works
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
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Yeah.
Mr. Ehrlichman returning your call, sir.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There you are.
Hello.
Hi, John.
Yes, sir.
I talked to George, and George said that he wanted to get together with you and me and maybe Connolly, et cetera, do a little talking about budget so that we could get some thinking with regard to these bills and so forth.
That's right.
And Bob Holliman had the idea that we weren't going to be ready for a week or so, but I got...
different pressure from Georgia.
Are we ready to have such a talk?
Well, I'm not so sure about what these may be two different things that we're talking about here.
The thing that...
He isn't talking about the July meeting.
That's something else.
That's right.
Now, the thing that we were talking to Bob about this morning was putting on a full dress review.
Yeah.
of the present posture of the 72 budget and setting our legislative strategy based on that.
Now, that should take, I would guess, a half a day or so.
I don't know, but what this conversation with Connolly might be something more immediate than that.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, we're going to have a quadriad meeting, but that's something else.
Well, on this, though, but would you want to have this full dress review of this before...
the San Clemente meeting.
That's right.
Because of the fact that we're going to get these two big bills down here in about two weeks.
Well, I might have that done in Maine.
I'm going to go up there.
Well, that's fine, unless you want to just take the time off there.
Oh, I don't know.
I can always use a half a day any time.
Well, it's up to you.
We should figure on doing it within two weeks, though.
Oh, I know.
I see.
Well, we could do it next week, first of next week, whenever you're ready.
The other thing, though, John, I don't really want to look at that until you have done a little more thinking with regard to that proposition you were discussing about
what creates jobs you know and what does not create jobs i said i just called reagan on the phone and told him that we were going to give him that contract and and that we would be announcing it later you know and so forth and we'd want him to come if we had it in washington or in san diego the case might be and he's delighted but my point is that that i think that i think that that kind of analysis is necessary because for example one thing that maury that maury stans had been bugging
Schultz on, and I turned Stans down on, was $200 million for a census.
No, goddammit, that's one, I mean, we just can't, you've got to stop someplace.
And I said, I put it straight to Schultz, I said, how many jobs does it create?
And he says, none.
Well, it doesn't create, if it created, frankly, 15,000 jobs, it's worth doing, but if it's just a question of costing a lot of money, to hell with it.
Weinberger and I had Kunzig in today, and we went over possible building projects with him, and we're going to hear back from him shortly.
There must be other things.
There must be maybe some defense things we can do.
There must be other areas, but I think everything must be oriented in that direction.
Well, I would say this.
You won't be ready for that.
No, but I would say that the legislative strategy on what we do about accelerated public works and public service employment and military pay raise and these other things need not wait for this as long as we know that...
We're going to be able to do some job things as a collateral to the general statement you make about the budget and the deficit and so on.
Well, just so I know there are some job things and where they're going to go.
Well, I've got the whip to these fellows on this study, and we'll have just the first minute we can.
Now, Kunzing isn't the only one that's got money, though.
I mean, transportation's got money.
Romney's got money.
All these people.
Well, and I'm gradually getting around to these fellows one by one.
I'm going to have Romney over, and we're going to go into this whole business of what we can do instead of building Afro-museums under modern cities.
Afro-museums.
By golly, don't put it in New York City.
You know what I mean?
Put it in Rochester.
That's it.
I understand New York State's all right, but not where it isn't going to help us.
We've got politics.
and we've got to hit those pockets.
Hit the pockets, exactly.
There are pockets.
And there are other places that aren't bad.
Right.
Okay.
All right, sir.
You talk to Bob, then.
I will.
I'll call him right now.
I'm willing to have the meeting any time.
Okay.
I'll even meet, you know, you won't be ready Saturday.
Well, I'll let you work that out with Bob on time and place.
We won't know.
Saturday's too soon.
All right, fine.
Sometime next week.
Right.
All right.
NARA Description
On June 9, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 4:55 pm to 5:00 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 004-104 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 4-104
Date: June 9, 1971
Time: 4:55 pm - 5:00 pm
Location: White House Telephone
John D. Ehrlichman talked with the President.
[See Conversation No. 255-40C]
President's forthcoming budget meeting
-President's previous conversation with George P. Shultz
-John B. Connally
Schedule
-President's conversation with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-President's forthcoming Maine trip
-Preparation by Ehrlichman
-Creation of jobs
-President's previous conversation with Ronald W. Reagan
-Mid decade census
-Maurice H. Stans
-Job creating programs legislation
-Ehrlichman's meeting with Caspar W. Weinberger and Robert L. Kunzig,
June 9
-George W. Romney's forthcoming meeting with Ehrlichman
-New York City
-Time and place for meetingAlso recorded on June 9, 1971
- 255-039 4:35 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:35 pm and 4:48 pm.
- 004-102 4:38 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William F. ("Billy") Graham, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 4:38 pm to 4:48 pm.
- 255-040 4:38 PM · 31 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William F. ("Billy") Graham, Henry A. Kissinger, Ronald W. Reagan, John D. Ehrlichman, and Tricia Nixon Cox met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:38 pm to 5:18 pm.
- 004-103 4:50 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald W. Reagan, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 4:50 pm to 4:55 pm.
- 004-105 5:15 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Tricia Nixon Cox, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 5:15 pm to 5:18 pm.
- 004-106 5:18 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 5:18 pm.
- 004-107 5:18 PM · 46 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 5:18 pm to 5:19 pm.
- 255-041 5:18 PM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:18 pm to 5:19 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 004-104, June 9, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/004-104 (accessed September 18, 2026).