Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 220 › Conversation 220-011

Nixon phone call with Ehrlichman on Campaign strategy and Media relations

Sunday, October 15, 1972 · 9:16 AM–9:24 AM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 7 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation220-011 on Tape 220StartSunday, October 15, 1972 at 9:16 AMEndSunday, October 15, 1972 at 9:24 AMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 220-011 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and John Ehrlichman discuss political strategy for the upcoming election, specifically addressing the administration's stance on social security, welfare reform, and budget spending. The President instructs Ehrlichman to aggressively attack the media's coverage of the campaign, suggesting they label the opposition's tactics as 'McCarthyism' and highlight the 'double standard' of the Washington Post and New York Times. Nixon also briefly addresses concerns regarding his personal financial disclosures and property investments, dismissing reports that suggested any impropriety.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 27% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello?
Well, look, as Kevin told me last night about 3 o'clock, he said we got them right down, almost got them on the ropes, and they got away.
Well, that's... Yeah, they booted.
Yeah.
They did that a couple years ago, too.
Well, that's all right.
We just can't worry about these things and make the best of it.
Good, good.
You talked to me about it today, and the president said that it had to do with the fact that he did not want to make the decision until he saw the written contract report and studied all the legal implications and saw what really happened, but that's it.
No, I'm not on the spending limitation, Frank.
Good.
On that, what about the Social Security when we miss you on that?
Say, just call it over.
We don't want to give a signal anyway because, uh...
Well, our prison, they did clean it up quite a bit, but not enough.
Is that right?
Right, right.
So it's a very, yeah.
And also put in the fact that how much does it presently add to the budget?
It still adds $800 million, doesn't it?
Even with the...
Anyway, you can, uh, you can say that, uh, you know, sort of, sort of killed it in a way, because your present feeling is that, that we're probably going to be till then, isn't it?
Well, with the spending.
Why?
I, I know you mentioned that yesterday, but Timmons just said it just took out welfare reform.
He didn't, he didn't get it that way.
Yeah.
Well, and then with the, then, well...
Yeah, that's fine.
It may be the two of the spending suit and thing.
Yeah.
Here they have the bandit welfare reform.
Right.
That's good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Great, great.
In other words, shift to that.
If his proposal for that didn't make it, just go out there and roll with the cost of that money and all the rest.
Great.
That's great.
I'll be on that, but I think...
Try to put it, and you can put as much as you can in the positive for us.
You know, I think...
I hope you can sort of start stirring them in the way as you get it on the base, when you want to roast up on the base, something a little natural, without indicating strength of your programs, but new directions.
Right.
Right.
See that?
That's all the big story in that.
How are you going to handle that?
Why don't you use the word McCarthyism?
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
Well, I would tag that.
The other thing I would do if I strongly urge it is to say that the...
that the shocking double standard of the Post and the New York Times used that line.
And here they are, here they are, in terms of being absolutely mum about the dirtiest campaign ever waged against a president in history.
If you've got that chapter and verse of a set of things, just put about eight of them and call them Hitler and call them the most corrupt president.
Don't say the most corrupt administration, just, you know, shorthand it.
the most corrupt, the most devious, you know.
You go down that hand here, they don't, there's never been an editorial raising a question about that.
There's never been any reaction at all about that kind of dirty campaigning.
It's the dirtiest campaign ever waged by a presidential vice president against a candidate, against a president.
Never say against a candidate, against a president, because that's true, because the Blaine Cleveland one was dirtier.
It was a different society.
Neither was president at that time.
See, and then what, where is this?
And also, and then I'd get into the bombing of headquarters.
And they had said a word about the bombing of headquarters.
I mean, violence, you know.
I would always attack.
And then I thought also, you know, I see you've got a big story in the Los Angeles Times about what you gave out, apparently, on the California property.
You'll do anything to get publicity, won't you?
No, I thought that was ignition.
No, no, I'm referring to the art times.
Oh, but Turner is there.
White-collar hatchet man.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, it seemed to me that the whole story was true.
I mean, did you read the New York Times?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, all this stuff.
I think if anything comes up about the amount of money that was spent on the property, none of that was my proof.
I lied.
A lot of it, they put up examples I didn't want.
They put up, you know what I mean, things that I didn't want.
Yeah.
You mean about what...
If there's nothing, if there's nothing here, we have to disclose because that's the total net worth.
That's absolutely total net worth, all it has.
And if you went into it, you covered it in this shocking kind of paper that is all that it was supposed to print.
Good luck.

NARA Description

On October 15, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 9:16 am to 9:24 am. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 220-011 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 220-011

Date: October 15, 1972
Time: 9:16 am - 9:24 am
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.

[See Conversation No. 149-8]

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

Also recorded on October 15, 1972

  • 149-007 8:57 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:57 am and 9:16 am.
  • 220-010 8:57 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:57 am and 9:16 am.
  • 149-008 9:16 AM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone at Camp David from 9:16 am to 9:24 am.
  • 220-012 9:16 AM · 1 hr 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Camp David operator, unknown person(s), and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:16 am and 10:55 am.
  • 181-001 9:30 AM · 14 sec — the recording device engaged at an unknown time between 9:30 am and 10:55 am, but the conversation appears to be blank.
  • 181-002 9:30 AM · 5 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Camp David operator, unknown person(s), and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:30 am and 10:55 am.
  • 149-009 10:55 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 10:55 am and 11:07 am.
  • 220-013 10:55 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 10:55 am and 11:07 am.

All 23 conversations from October 15, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 220-011, October 15, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/220-011 (accessed October 10, 2026).