Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 8 › Conversation 008-049

Nixon phone call with Ehrlichman on Address to Congress and Apollo 15

Wednesday, September 8, 1971 · 1:46 PM–1:47 PM ET · White House Telephone · 57 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation008-049 on Tape 8 (tape position 01:40:17–01:41:14)StartWednesday, September 8, 1971 at 1:46 PMEndWednesday, September 8, 1971 at 1:47 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 008-049 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 645078769 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and John Ehrlichman coordinated on the final preparations for an upcoming address to Congress. The discussion focused on integrating new material regarding scientific research to align with a scheduled appearance by the Apollo 15 astronauts. Additionally, the President dismissed concerns raised by George Shultz regarding specific tax provisions, affirming his comfort with the current draft.

Audio

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NARA Description

On September 8, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 1:46 pm to 1:47 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 008-049 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 8-49

Date: September 8, 1971
Time: 1:46 pm - 1:47 pm
Location: White House Telephone

John D. Ehrlichman talked with the President.

[See Conversation No. 274-34A]

     President’s forthcoming speech to Congress
          -The President's conversation with Raymond K. Price, Jr.
                -Price’s conversation with Ehrlichman
          -Draft
          -New material
                -Research
                      -Apollo 15 astronauts
                           -Visit to Congress
                -Ehrlichman’s view
                -Tax
                      -George P. Shultz

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Yeah.
Mr. Ehrlichman, sir.
There you are.
Thank you.
Hello, Ray.
No, John Ehrlichman, Mr. President.
No, I'm talking to Ray.
I'm sorry.
John, I was just talking to Ray, and he has already talked to you about this, and we're working on some more of it, and we'll run the final thing.
But as it is now, I think lifting the lid just a little on this is rather essential in this speech.
So we've got a little bit of something new.
And I think particularly the part on research in that it fits in with the moon guys.
They're going to be there at 2 o'clock.
It doesn't bother you now?
Not a bit.
Not a bit.
I like very much the stuff he wrote.
And how about the tax thing?
The tax thing bothers George, but...
But I don't, I guess George drew his exceptions after we went through it.
Well, I don't have any trouble with it at all.
All right, fine, fine.
Okay, John.

Also recorded on September 8, 1971

  • 008-048 1:27 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. talked on the telephone from 1:27 pm to 1:28 pm.
  • 274-032 1:27 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:27 pm to 1:28 pm.
  • 274-033 1:28 PM · 1 min — 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 1:28 pm and 1:34 pm.
  • 274-034 1:34 PM · 44 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Raymond K. Price, Jr., Manolo Sanchez, John D. Ehrlichman, unknown person(s), Stephen B. Bull, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:34 pm and 3:03 pm.
  • 008-050 1:47 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:47 pm and 3:03 pm.
  • 274-035 2:24 PM · 58 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:24 pm and 3:03 pm.
  • 274-036 2:24 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:24 pm and 3:03 pm.
  • 274-037 2:24 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 2:24 pm and 3:03 pm.

All 36 conversations from September 8, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 008-049, September 8, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 645078769). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/008-049 (accessed November 15, 2026).