Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 21 › Conversation 021-098
Nixon phone call with Ehrlichman on Busing and Constitutional Amendment
Thursday, March 16, 1972 · 11:13 PM–11:18 PM ET · White House Telephone
AI Summary
President Nixon and John Ehrlichman coordinate the strategy for a high-stakes televised address regarding federal school busing policies. They discuss the legislative pursuit of a constitutional amendment and a moratorium, while weighing potential constitutional challenges and the anticipated reactions from the press and internal staff. To build political momentum, they finalize plans for a coordinated outreach campaign involving direct mail to Congress and a series of telegrams to be managed by Charles Colson.
- Busing
- Constitutional Amendment
- Executive Strategy
- Legislative Moratorium
- Public Relations
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.8 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 71.1 MB
This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 03:49:19 into the tape and ends around 03:53:11.
Transcript (AI-generated)
No transcript is available yet for this conversation. The recording may contain no audible speech, or it may not have been processed.
NARA Description
On March 16, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 11:13 pm to 11:18 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 021-098 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 21-98
Date: March 16, 1972
Time: 11:13 pm - 11:18 pm
Location: White House Telephone
The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.
Busing speech
-Ehrlichman’s forthcoming briefing
-Constitutional amendment
-Moratorium
-Legislative route
-Press
-Unconstitutionality
-Daniel L. Schorr
-Decision to make the speech
-Leonard Garment
-Delivery
-Mail to Congress
-The President’s call to H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Ehrlichman’s call to Charles W. Colson
-Telegrams to congressmen
-William L. Safire draft
-Emotional element
-Julie Nixon and [Dwight] David Eisenhower, II
-Black administration staff response
-Ehrlichman’s forthcoming briefing
-Constitutional amendment
-MoratoriumAlso recorded on March 17, 1972
- 021-092 10:31 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 10:31 pm to 10:38 pm.
- 021-093 10:40 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, and [Dwight] David Eisenhower, II talked on the telephone from 10:40 pm to 10:49 pm.
- 021-094 10:57 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 10:57 pm to 11:07 pm.
- 021-095 11:07 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:07 pm and 11:12 pm.
- 021-096 11:12 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 11:12 pm.
- 021-097 11:12 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 11:12 pm.
- 021-099 11:18 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:18 pm and 11:19 pm.
- 021-100 11:19 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Robert H. Finch talked on the telephone from 11:19 pm to 11:26 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 021-098, March 17, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/021-098 (accessed October 12, 2026).