{"conversationCode":"023-137","tapeNumber":23,"conversationNumber":137,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-023-137","startDateTime":"1972-05-03T18:48:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-05-03T18:49:00.000Z","startDate":"3-May-1972","startTime":"2:48 PM","endDate":"3-May-1972","endTime":"2:49 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.;","description":"On May 3, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 2:48 pm to 2:49 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 023-137 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":3,"chronRelease":"Third Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"28-Feb-2002","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 23-137\n\nDate: May 3, 1972\nTime: 2:48-2:49 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nJohn D. Ehrlichman talked with the President.\n\n[See also Conversation No. 335-16B]\n\n     Ronald L. Ziegler's announcement\n\f          -Clarification\n          -Acting Attorney General\n                -Richard G. Kleindienst's opinion\n          -Arrangements","filename":["023-137.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Ehrlichman, John D."],"prevCode":"023-136","nextCode":"023-138","transcript":[{"start":1.72,"end":2.24,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":2.26,"end":3.72,"text":"Mr. Ehrlichman, sir?"},{"start":3.74,"end":3.84,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":4.69,"end":5.01,"text":"Hello."},{"start":5.65,"end":8.58,"text":"I just wanted to be sure I had the signals correct here."},{"start":8.6,"end":15.05,"text":"I had the impression when we were talking yesterday that Ron would make this announcement because of the fact"},{"start":15.64,"end":17.7,"text":"Clandy's being acting Attorney General."},{"start":17.76,"end":19.35,"text":"No, we're appointing an acting man."},{"start":19.63,"end":22.21,"text":"We ran into a little tenderness on Clandy's part."},{"start":22.31,"end":24.57,"text":"It was our judgment didn't make all that much difference."},{"start":24.59,"end":24.96,"text":"Oh, I see."},{"start":25.38,"end":25.68,"text":"All right."},{"start":25.72,"end":26.92,"text":"That's why you want to do it."},{"start":26.94,"end":27.42,"text":"Yeah, fine."},{"start":28.06,"end":28.4,"text":"Okay."},{"start":28.54,"end":31.55,"text":"And then he'll walk out and do it, but he has all the signals as to what to say."},{"start":32.31,"end":34.45,"text":"And Ron does, too, and Ron will supplement it."},{"start":35.29,"end":35.77,"text":"Oh, I see."},{"start":37.28,"end":37.38,"text":"Fine."},{"start":37.4,"end":37.5,"text":"Okay."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and John Ehrlichman coordinate the logistics and messaging strategy for an upcoming announcement regarding the appointment of an acting Attorney General. They determine that the announcement should be handled personally rather than through Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler due to political sensitivities regarding Richard Kleindienst. The President confirms that the designated spokesperson has been fully briefed on the necessary talking points to manage the public narrative.","topics":["Richard Kleindienst","Acting Attorney General","White House messaging","Ronald Ziegler","Personnel appointments"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T02:44:12.164Z"},"topicSlugs":["richard-kleindienst","acting-attorney-general","white-house-messaging","ronald-ziegler","personnel-appointments"],"audioDurationSec":38,"audioFiles":[{"file":"023-137.mp3","bytes":904671,"durationSec":37.62,"bitrate":192378,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:27.522Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/023-137.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/023-137","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/23/conversation-023-137","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}