Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 30 › Conversation 030-006

Nixon phone call with Ehrlichman on Office of Economic Opportunity

Tuesday, September 19, 1972 · 2:01 PM–2:02 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation030-006 on Tape 30StartTuesday, September 19, 1972 at 2:01 PMEndTuesday, September 19, 1972 at 2:02 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 030-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and John Ehrlichman discussed the precarious vote count required to sustain a potential presidential veto of the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) legislation currently before Congress. Ehrlichman relayed input from William Timmons, who expressed uncertainty regarding the vote count for the conference report compared to previous versions of the bill. The two decided to investigate whether the administration could delay the veto decision until the following day to better assess their legislative standing.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Bill's estimate is as I gave it to you, but here's what goes into it.
He says there's no guarantee in this.
The big bill that had legal services in it and was a bad bill had 147 votes against it in the House.
Of course, we need 145 to sustain a veto.
On the other hand, the conference report had only 98 votes against it on this bill that we're looking at here.
And the reason for that was that most people thought that it was in shape that would be satisfactory to the administration.
So he said under those kind of peculiar circumstances, he wouldn't be in a position to warrant to you that he could sustain it, but he has a pretty good feel about it.
Can we hold this for tomorrow?
I don't know.
Let me find out.
Find out what you write.

NARA Description

On September 19, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 2:01 pm to 2:02 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 030-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 30-6

Date: September 19, 1972
Time: 2:01 pm - 2:02 pm
Location: White House Telephone

John D. Ehrlichman talked with the President.

[See Conversation No. 357-5B]

       Office of Economic Opportunity [OEO] veto
              - William E. Timmons’s view
                      -Bill before Congress
                              -Legal services
                              -Vote count
                      -Conference report
                              -Vote count
              -Timing

Also recorded on September 19, 1972

  • 357-001 12:51 PM · 14 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 12:51 pm and 1:45 pm.
  • 357-002 12:51 PM · 13 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 12:51 pm and 1:45 pm.
  • 357-005 1:45 PM · 31 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, John D. Ehrlichman, unknown person(s), and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:45 pm to 3:10 pm.
  • 030-005 1:53 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 1:53 pm to 1:54 pm.
  • 030-007 3:10 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:10 pm and 3:12 pm.
  • 357-006 3:10 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Zosimo T. Monzon, and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 3:10 pm.
  • 783-021 3:10 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:10 pm and 3:12 pm.
  • 783-022 3:10 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:10 pm and 3:12 pm.

All 46 conversations from September 19, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 030-006, September 19, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/030-006 (accessed October 1, 2026).