← 005-133005-135 →

Conversation 005-134

TapeTape 5StartWednesday, June 23, 1971 at 9:31 AMEndWednesday, June 23, 1971 at 11:03 AMTape start time04:09:02Tape end time04:11:23ParticipantsEhrlichman, John D.;  Albert, Carl B.;  Nixon, Richard M. (President)Recording deviceWhite House Telephone
AI Summary

John Ehrlichman, speaking on behalf of President Nixon, contacted Speaker of the House Carl Albert to relay details from the President's recent breakfast meeting with Senator Mike Mansfield regarding the Vietnam War. The administration offered to provide Congress with 47 volumes of Vietnam reports and a 1965 Tonkin Gulf study, which remained classified while undergoing a declassification review by Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird. The participants discussed the logistical challenges of secure document storage and the necessity for joint congressional leadership to determine the appropriate distribution and oversight of these sensitive materials.

Vietnam WarTonkin Gulf IncidentDeclassificationCongressional OversightExecutive-Legislative RelationsClassified Documents
AudioNARA Description

On June 23, 1971, John D. Ehrlichman, Carl B. Albert, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:31 am and 11:03 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 005-134 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 5-134

Date: June 23, 1971
Time: Unknown between 9:31 am and 11:03 am
Location: White House Telephone

John D. Ehrlichman talked with Carl B. Albert; the President can be heard in the background.

[See Conversation No. 527-16E]

     President's previous meeting with Michael J. ("Mike") Mansfield
          -"Report on Vietnam"
          -"Study of Tonkin Gulf Incident"
          -Delivery of documents to Congress
                 -Declassification
                       -Melvin R. Laird
                 -Clark MacGregor's call to Albert
                 -Mansfield's forthcoming call to Albert
                 -Distribution
                       -Hugh Scott, Gerald R. Ford
                 -Storage
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 Do not cite this transcript as authoritative.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.

Hello.
Mr. Ehrlich?
Yes.
The Speaker.
Yes, thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, John Ehrlichman.
Yes, sir.
The President asked me to call you to give you a fill-in on his breakfast with Senator Mansfield this morning.
Yes, sir.
The President offered to make available to the Senate and the House the 47 volumes of the report on Vietnam and the 1965 study of the Tonkin Gulf incident.
These documents are, as you know, still classified, and they would come to the bodies under those classifications.
At the same time, there is a declassification review underway, which Secretary Laird mentioned yesterday.
So, Senator Mansfield will be calling you.
Uh, he... Well, I had a call from McGregor saying that they were signing him up here to be on the alert.
Right, well... Over the military committee.
Uh, Senator Mansfield, I think, wants to talk with you about the disposition of the documents.
He has in mind that the joint leadership of both bodies, uh, should get together and discuss how they, how they will be, uh, distributed.
And he, I think, has in mind some sort of a joint committee.
But the President said that this was entirely up to the leadership of the bodies.
So, Senator Mansfield indicated to the President this morning that he would be calling a meeting of you and Senator Scott and Jerry Ford and anyone else that you felt would be appropriate to discuss how to go from here.
I see.
That McGregor's call came to one of my secretaries earlier.
Today?
Yeah, later today.
I see.
925.
Right.
So this amounts to a bail vote.
They had it by immediately referring them through the parliamentarians.
or dope security storage by the armed services committee oh well that's a logistics i think that was because secretary laird was concerned about how they would be stored but that's a that's really a logistical problem that we can work out oh i see all right okay thank you yes sir
← 005-133005-135 →