Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 269 › Conversation 269-005

Nixon & Ehrlichman on Busing and Harry S. Dent

Monday, August 2, 1971 · 9:56 PM–10:02 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation269-005 on Tape 269 (tape position 00:42:43–01:24:36)StartMonday, August 2, 1971 at 9:56 PMEndMonday, August 2, 1971 at 10:02 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 269-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and John Ehrlichman met to discuss the growing political pressure surrounding school busing, specifically concerns relayed by Harry Dent regarding the dissatisfaction of various state party chairmen. They debated potential legal and administrative strategies, weighing the partisan implications of the administration's stance. The President instructed Ehrlichman to contact Dent to address these concerns and coordinate a response to the ongoing controversy.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.8 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 111.5 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 111.8 MB ·Download MP3 (part 4) · 29.1 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 00:42:43 into the tape and ends around 01:24:36.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
42:49So, I just had a call from Harry Dennett, and he said he had a long talk with Marshal, and he's really quite emotional about this thing tomorrow.
42:54He said that he was just both the Texas chairman and the required review of the Mississippi chairman, and he said that there were some three or four other things that were kind of working for the chairman, and he was joined by President Reagan of the administration to talk about a deal down there.
43:33I don't know whether there's
43:58I saw I said, I'm sure, I'm sure, I'm sure, I'm sure.
44:27But it certainly is a problem.
44:32Well, I don't know.
44:38Maybe at times it's a little demagogic to have one of our own.
44:43We're going to repeat on something else.
45:02Well, frankly, I'm not comfortable with any fussing.
45:06I guess there's no way to be responsible without being responsible.
46:04Why don't you call him and hold his hand?
46:11He's got a hell of a problem there.
46:27Well, there's no way to be able to contend with it.
46:29It's just a question of, you know, doing, taking the, taking the, you know, lesser of two.
46:57No, I didn't.
46:58I didn't talk to him.
47:00No, I didn't.
47:00Well, I want you to talk to him.
47:16Well, they'll be down here at that time.
47:39Well, I guess if there's a problem with John, I guess it's what happened.
47:43All the people in this field become so enmeshed with him that they become out of parties of necromancy.
47:54You know, Eliot mentioned the March of 1941, when someone was getting John done.
47:58On the other hand, there was the devil of the evidence.
48:09I just don't know if there's any answer to what you're saying.
48:40with this plan.
49:11Robert, you give Harry a call and give me a call back later.
49:14Fine.
49:15Do your best.
1:24:42Yeah?

NARA Description

On August 2, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:56 pm to 10:02 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 269-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 269-5

Date: August 2, 1971
Time: 9:56 pm - 10:02 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.

     Busing
          -President's call from Harry S. Dent
                -Conversation with Edward L. Morgan
                      -Forthcoming White House statement
                -Texas and Mississippi chairmen
          -James L. Buckley [?]
                -Austin case
                      -Possible appeal
          -National Association for the Advancement of Colored People [NAACP]
          -Marvin Gardens
          -John N. Mitchell
          -George P. Shultz
          -Clark MacGregor
          -Possible cause of action
          -Ehrlichman's forthcoming call to Dent
          -Partisan aspects
                -Elliot L. Richardson
                -Mitchell
          -Plan
          -Ehrlichman’s forthcoming call to Dent

Also recorded on August 3, 1971

  • 269-002 9:50 PM · 25 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 9:50 pm and 9:51 pm.
  • 269-003 9:51 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Harry S. Dent met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:51 pm to 9:55 pm.
  • 269-004 9:55 PM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 9:55 pm.
  • 269-006 10:02 PM · 18 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 10:02 pm and 10:46 pm.
  • 269-007 10:02 PM · 4 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 10:02 pm and 10:46 pm.
  • 269-009 9:48 AM · 42 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 9:48 am and 9:53 am.
  • 269-010 9:48 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:48 am and 9:53 am.
  • 269-011 9:48 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:48 am and 9:53 am.

All 51 conversations from August 3, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 269-005, August 3, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/269-005 (accessed October 23, 2026).