Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 21 › Conversation 021-044

Ehrlichman & Morgan on Speechwriting and Raymond K. Price, Jr.

Friday, March 10, 1972 · 3:23 PM–3:53 PM ET · White House Telephone · 54 sec

ParticipantsEhrlichman, John D.; White House operator; Morgan, Edward L.Conversation021-044 on Tape 21 (tape position 01:27:03–01:27:59)StartFriday, March 10, 1972 at 3:23 PMEndFriday, March 10, 1972 at 3:53 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 021-044 ↗

AI Summary

John D. Ehrlichman contacted Edward L. Morgan to secure an expedited timeline for a presidential speech draft. Ehrlichman, speaking on behalf of the President, instructed Morgan to prioritize the delivery of Raymond K. Price, Jr.'s second draft over the weekend to allow for early review. The pair agreed that Morgan would either modify the initial draft or finalize the updated version to ensure the President could begin his work immediately.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
This is John Ehrlichman.
Give me Ed Morgan, please.
Surely.
Mr. Morgan, is that...
This is John Ehrlichman.
Is he there?
Yes, sir.
He's on the phone.
Will you hold just a second, please?
Yeah, please.
Hello.
Hi.
I'm with the president.
He's going to need Price's second draft as early this weekend as possible.
All right.
It might be that what you want to do is take that first draft and just make some changes and send it up so he can start to work on it.
All right.
Will you do that?
Will you make the changes or him make the changes?
Well, it's up to you.
I'll leave it to him.
Let's get something up to him as soon as possible, though, so that he can start to work on it.
All right.
Okay.

NARA Description

On March 10, 1972, John D. Ehrlichman, White House operator, and Edward L. Morgan talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:23 pm and 3:53 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 021-044 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 21-44

Date: March 10, 1972
Time: Unknown between 3:23 pm and 3:53 pm
Location: White House Telephone

John D. Ehrlichman talked with the White House operator.

[See Conversation No. 682-9C]

     Request for a call to Edward L. Morgan

Ehrlichman talked with Edward Morgan

[See Conversation No. 682-9D]

     Ehrlichman’s location

     Speech draft
          -Raymond K. Price, Jr.
          -The President

Also recorded on March 10, 1972

  • 682-006 12:40 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:40 pm and 12:45 pm.
  • 682-007 12:40 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:40 pm and 12:45 pm.
  • 682-011 12:40 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:40 pm and 12:45 pm.
  • 094-004 12:45 PM · 33 sec — during the signing of contributions to International American Development Bank [S. 748], Asian Development Bank [S. 749], and International Development Association [S. 2010], President Richard M. Nixon, George D. Aiken, Wright Patman, William B. Widnall, William P. Rogers, John B. Connally, Henry A. Kissinger, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Peter M. Flanigan, Galo Plaza, Carlos Sanz de Santamaria, Ortiz Mena, Henry J. Costanzo, Artemis Weatherby, Robert S. McNamara, J. Burke Knapp, John M. Hennessy, James E. Smith, Robert D. Hormats, John E. Nidecker, and the White House photographer met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 12:45 pm to 12:50 pm.
  • 682-008 12:50 PM · 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, White House photographer, Dianne C. Matthews, United States Secret Service agents, Stephen B. Bull, Arthur K. Watson, White House operator, and J. William Fulbright met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:50 pm to 1:10 pm.
  • 021-042 1:00 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and J. William Fulbright talked on the telephone from 1:00 pm to 1:02 pm.
  • 682-009 1:11 PM · 2 hr 41 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, Alexander P. Butterfield, Charles W. Colson, unknown person(s), Ronald L. Ziegler, White House operator, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, John D. Ehrlichman, and Edward L. Morgan met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:11 pm to 3:53 pm.
  • 021-043 3:07 PM · 54 sec — the White House operator, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone from 3:07 pm to 3:08 pm.

All 17 conversations from March 10, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 021-044, March 10, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/021-044 (accessed October 3, 2026).