Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 31 › Conversation 031-120

Nixon, Ehrlichman & Timmons on Congressional adjournment

Wednesday, October 18, 1972 · 5:28 PM–5:38 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsEhrlichman, John D.; White House operator; [Unknown person(s)]; Timmons, William E.; Nixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation031-120 on Tape 31StartWednesday, October 18, 1972 at 5:28 PMEndWednesday, October 18, 1972 at 5:38 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 031-120 ↗

AI Summary

John Ehrlichman and William Timmons discussed the chaotic status of congressional adjournment, specifically the legislative hurdles involving highway, debt, and securities bills in both the House and Senate. Due to a lack of quorums and ongoing disputes over riders, the administration struggled to secure definitive legislative action. President Nixon ultimately authorized Ehrlichman and Timmons to cancel a planned meeting with congressional leaders and terminate the unproductive session if no progress was made.

  • Congressional adjournment
  • Legislative strategy
  • Debt bill
  • Highway bill
  • Quorum
  • White House-Congress relations

Audio

Download MP3 · 5.9 MB

NARA Description

On October 18, 1972, John D. Ehrlichman, White House operator, unknown person(s), William E. Timmons, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:28 pm and 5:38 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 031-120 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 31-120

Date: October 18, 1972
Time: Unknown between 5:28 pm and 5:37 pm
Location: White House Telephone

John D. Ehrlichman talked with the White House operator.

[See Conversation No. 803-22/804-1C]

        Request for a call to William E. Timmons

Ehrlichman talked with an unknown woman (staff member in Timmons's office) at an unknown
time between 5:28 pm and 5:37 pm.

        Request to talk to Timmons

Ehrlichman talked with Timmons at an unknown time between 5:28 pm and 5:37 pm.

[See Conversation No. 803-22/804-1C]

        Congressional adjournment
           -Thomas P. (“Tip”) O'Neill, Jr., Gerald R. Ford
           -House of Representatives
                -Passage of debt bill
                -Adjournment
                -Forthcoming meeting with the President
                    -Ford
                    -O’Neill
                    -Michael J. Mansfield
                    -Margaret Chase Smith
                    -Carl B. Albert
                -Highway bill
                    -Quorum
                         -Ford
                         -Albert
           -Senate
                -Highway bill
                -Securities bill
                    -Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC]
                         -Banks
                    -Quorum
                -Highway bill
                    -Wallace F. Bennett
                -Debt bill
                    -Jacob K. Javits
                    -Warren G. (“Maggie”) Magnuson's rider
                         -Unemployment measure
                -Delay in adjournment
                    -Alexander P. Butterfield
                         -The President’s possible meeting with Congressional leaders

Ehrlichman conferred with the President at an unknown time between 5:28 pm and 5:27 pm.

        Cancellation

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. Tim, he's on.
Is John Ehrlichman around?
Mr. Ehrlichman, he's on the phone.
We'll interrupt you.
Thank you.
Oh, the old president's wondering what your Congress is doing.
Oh, God.
What?
Oh, I was afraid somebody was going to ask.
What's going on?
Well, the House moves along pretty good.
I got debt passed without spending.
I sent it over.
They passed an adjournment signing diet to close the business today.
Jerry Ford and Tip O'Neill called the president and said, we're prepared to adjourn.
He said, no, but come down for coffee about four.
I'm going to invite Mike and Margaret Smith to come down and speak here and whatever, you know.
which I had greased up beforehand.
So then they had to go back in to, they recessed and went back in because the highways bill came out of conference.
But Jerry is going to object to it.
There's no quorum in the House, and the Speaker, we think, will not want to vote on it because there'll be no quorum and they'll go out overnight.
You know, it's over.
So we think we'll bluff them down with Jerry Ford.
In the meantime, in the upper body, they had highways up.
They have set that aside temporarily.
to take up a silly securities bill, which is finding an objection.
And we think they'll knock securities down.
It's a fight between the banks and the SEC on some damn thing.
But because they don't have a quorum either, they don't have to vote.
And when somebody raises an objection, they just take it off the calendar to hell with it.
They go back on highways.
We were trying to find somebody in the Senate to take on highways, just like Jerry's going to do in the House.
But we can't find anybody.
Nobody's around.
Wallace Minnitz there and a few others, but they said they're doing other stuff and just couldn't do it.
But we think protected in the house unless Ford keeps it.
Well, are they going to bounce back and forth?
Well, and then they've got debt, the debt bill.
So they haven't done that.
They haven't done it.
Oh, my God.
And Javits is holding Ford, saying that they came out.
You remember Ryder was on that one, Extended Employment Conversation.
Yeah, Magnuson.
Yeah.
They get their pound of flesh by getting the House passed a version of that as opposed to the Senate version in return for spending.
Yeah.
And he's saying, the hell with that.
He said, you pass my pins and needles bill.
Oh, Lord.
Which has got the big, that tax thing?
Yeah.
What, there's an amendment to it?
Yeah, it's already on there.
Magnuson's big unemployment thing that covers New York is on the pins and needles bill.
So he says, you house, pass my pins and needles bill, and I'll take the whole lot for this damn thing.
Consequently, they're dragging on.
God knows what's going to happen.
I called Butterfield a few minutes ago and said, the president ought to make a deadline for me at 6 o'clock or something.
If no action, let me call him and say, forget it, gang.
Well, it's 5.30 now, Bill.
Why don't you do that?
Okay?
Just knock it off.
Well, should I ask Alex to check with the president?
Should I just go ahead and knock it off anyway?
Well, the president said he'll wait over at the house for a call.
Okay.
And just forget the coffee if they're in that much disarray.
Okay.
I'll do it.
Will you?
Yeah.
Okay.
Bye.
Good.

Also recorded on October 18, 1972

  • 031-122 5:43 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 5:43 pm to 5:45 pm.
  • 804-002 5:43 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:43 pm to 5:45 pm.
  • 031-123 5:45 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:45 pm and 6:16 pm.
  • 369-012 5:45 PM · 10 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 5:45 pm and 6:16 pm.
  • 804-003 5:45 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:45 pm and 5:50 pm.
  • 369-010 5:50 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 5:50 pm and 6:14 pm.
  • 369-011 5:50 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Dr. W. Kenneth Riland met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:50 pm and 6:16 pm.
  • 804-004 5:50 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:50 pm and 11:59 pm.

All 76 conversations from October 18, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 031-120, October 18, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/031-120 (accessed November 1, 2026).