Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 214 › Conversation 214-003

Nixon phone call with Ehrlichman on Public relations and Historical sites

Saturday, September 30, 1972 · 2:32 PM–2:36 PM ET · Camp David Hard Wire ·4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation214-003 onTape 214StartSaturday, September 30, 1972 at 2:32 PMEndSaturday, September 30, 1972 at 2:36 PMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 214-003 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and John Ehrlichman discuss the logistics and symbolism of choosing a location for a significant upcoming event. Nixon expresses a desire to host the proceedings at a venue with greater historical gravitas than the White House, specifically suggesting Constitution Hall in Philadelphia to underscore themes of revolutionary change. Ehrlichman is tasked with exploring the feasibility of this site as an alternative, weighing the public relations impact against traditional venue expectations.

Audio

Download MP3 · 5.0 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) ·JSON data · Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

When I got Ray Price coming up, I thought that I probably won't give success.
You up here, yeah?
Oh, fine, fine.
No, no problem, no problem.
But you can talk to him.
You had a chance to talk to him about the radio thing, Jeff.
You already have?
Oh, good.
Well, then I'll talk to him.
I just want to give him something.
You know, he has to give me something he wants to.
I know they want to get some feel of things, and so I go over the mix and also general things.
But you've already done your talking with him.
I had another idea that just occurred to me that may be pretty outlandish.
You're always the bogus, funny guy.
I thought I'd grab some energy.
You know, we've been thinking about what you, about doing reverence and caring in another place.
I wonder if we could get Constitution Hall to go there.
We have no, we're not going to Philadelphia under any of them, on any of the plans.
You know what I mean?
You go to Philadelphia, you go to Constitution Hall, it's a different place.
It's Rizzo, the mayor, that's favorable.
There's some members up there on the plan, but that's not the way.
It's something entirely different, you know, than the East Room.
could be the place where the Constitutional Convention is held.
That's what I'm thinking.
If it could be used for such a purpose.
Now, of course, it's a national monument, I guess, and all that sort of thing.
National park.
But what I was thinking was, I haven't seen it for years.
I don't know if you remember.
Oh, you did.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, you know, you're...
It really would make a lot difference which room we're in.
If it were in basically what we call Constitution, you know, it's all, it's in this place where the first Congress had Constitution and so forth.
Of course, why don't you give it a little thought and, oh yeah.
Oh, Jesus Christ.
Well, of course, of course, they were all conference.
I'll get three all of course having I'll or or or or or or
to the people who come, it means more to come to the White House.
On the other hand, to the country, it might be more interesting to go to a different place, you know, which had a really historical significance.
And, of course, that, if you're talking about a historical, you know, revolutionary change in all of our business in the American Revolution, certainly this tells it better than any words would tell it.
Well, you can fool with it and run it by others and see what they think.
Okay, John.
No hurry.
I won't see you today.

NARA Description

On September 30, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 2:32 pm to 2:36 pm. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 214-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 214-3

Date: September 30, 1972
Time: 2:32 pm - 2:36 pm
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.

[See Conversation No. 145-3]

                                       (rev. Oct-06)

Also recorded on September 30, 1972

  • 145-002 2:05 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:05 pm and 2:32 pm.
  • 145-003 2:32 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone at Camp David from 2:32 pm to 2:36 pm.
  • 145-004 2:36 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:36 pm and 2:42 pm.
  • 145-005 2:42 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at Camp David from 2:42 pm to 2:45 pm.
  • 214-004 2:42 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 2:42 pm to 2:45 pm.
  • 145-006 2:45 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:45 pm and 2:51 pm.
  • 145-007 2:51 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone at Camp David from 2:51 pm to 2:59 pm.
  • 214-005 2:51 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 2:51 pm to 2:59 pm.

All 29 conversations from September 30, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 214-003, September 30, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/214-003 (accessed September 18, 2026).