Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 13 › Conversation 013-034

Nixon phone call with Ehrlichman on Nelson A. Rockefeller and Welfare reform

Friday, October 29, 1971 · 3:06 PM–3:08 PM ET · White House Telephone · 50 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation013-034 on Tape 13 (tape position 01:15:57–01:16:47)StartFriday, October 29, 1971 at 3:06 PMEndFriday, October 29, 1971 at 3:08 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 013-034 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted John Ehrlichman regarding a potential call to Nelson Rockefeller to discuss the status of Rockefeller's welfare experiments. Ehrlichman reported that recent tensions between Rockefeller and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare had been successfully resolved following a meeting with Elliot Richardson and John Veneman. Nixon subsequently decided to proceed with the call and scheduled a follow-up meeting with Ehrlichman for shortly thereafter.

Audio

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Mr. Ehrlichman, Mr. President.
There you are.
Hello.
Yes, sir.
I wondered if there was anything you had on the fire with Rockefeller.
He has a call-in for me.
No.
He had some trouble last week with HEW on his experiments.
and we got him together with Richardson and Veneman, and according to the department boys, they got it straightened out on his welfare experiments.
I see.
And that's the only thing I know of that we have going with him right now.
Well, all right, I'll place a call to him.
Fine.
And if you'd like to come over in about 15 minutes, I'll be through with that.
Right, thank you.
It won't take that long to finish the call.
Very good.

NARA Description

On October 29, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 3:06 pm to 3:08 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 013-034 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 013-034

Date: October 29, 1971
Time: 3:06 pm - 3:08 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.

[See Conversation No. 302-15]

     Nelson A. Rockefeller
          -Forthcoming call to President
          -Department of Health, Education and Welfare [HEW]
                -Welfare experiments
                -Meeting with Elliot L. Richardson and John G. Veneman

     Ehrlichman's schedule

Also recorded on October 29, 1971

  • 013-032 2:58 PM · 27 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 2:58 pm to 2:59 pm.
  • 013-033 2:59 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:59 pm and 3:06 pm.
  • 302-014 3:05 PM · 6 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 3:05 pm and 3:06 pm.
  • 302-015 3:06 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:06 pm to 3:08 pm.
  • 013-035 3:08 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 3:10 pm.
  • 302-016 3:08 PM · 4 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 3:08 pm and 3:10 pm.
  • 013-036 3:10 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Nelson A. Rockefeller talked on the telephone from 3:10 pm to 3:20 pm.
  • 302-017 3:10 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Nelson A. Rockefeller met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:10 pm to 3:20 pm.

All 65 conversations from October 29, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 013-034, October 29, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/013-034 (accessed September 30, 2026).