Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 269 › Conversation 269-015
Nixon & Ehrlichman on Busing and School Desegregation
Tuesday, August 3, 1971 · 10:02 AM–10:19 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 5 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and John Ehrlichman discuss methods to obstruct court-ordered school busing in Texas, specifically focusing on pursuing legal appeals and alternative compliance strategies. Frustrated by a regional Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) office that issued a non-compliant directive, Nixon orders Ehrlichman to instruct George Shultz to publicly reprimand the office and initiate disciplinary action. The conversation also briefly touches on managing Senator Lowell Weicker regarding his public criticism of the administration's economic policies.
- Busing
- School Desegregation
- Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
- Personnel Management
- National Economy
- Lowell Weicker
Audio
This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.
Listen to the full tape segment
Position in tape: 01:46:31 – 01:55:22
part A, 1:46:37
NARA Description
On August 3, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 10:02 am and 10:19 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 269-015 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 269-15
Date: August 3, 1971
Time: Unknown between 10:02 am and 10:19 am
Location: Executive Office Building
The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.
Busing
-Texas
-Court action
-Appeal
-Unknown person’s statement
-Possible telephone calls
-Alternatives
-Car pools
-Court action
-Department of Health, Education, and Welfare [HEW]
-Regional office
-George P. Shultz
-President's instructions
-Regional office action
-Administration disapproval
-Disciplinary action
National economy
-Lowell P. Weicker, Jr.
-Statements
-Unemployment
-Administration allies
-Arthur F. Burns
-CongressTranscript (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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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Also recorded on August 3, 1971
- 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.
- 269-012 9:53 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Willie J. Usery, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:53 am to 9:56 am.
- 269-013 9:57 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and James D. Hodgson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:57 am to 9:58 am.
- 269-014 9:59 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and J. Curtis Counts met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:59 am to 10:02 am.
- 269-016 10:02 AM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 10:02 am and 10:19 am.
- 269-017 10:02 AM · 3 min — 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 am and 10:19 am.
Related conversations
- Nixon, Ehrlichman & Bull on Busing and School desegregation February 14, 1972 · 19 min
- Nixon phone call with Colson on Busing and Phase II economic program September 12, 1971 · 37 min
- Nixon phone call with Ehrlichman on Busing and Constitutional Amendment October 6, 1971 · 3 min
- Nixon phone call with Haldeman on busing and school desegregation March 16, 1972 · 7 min
- Nixon phone call with Eisenhower on Busing and School desegregation March 16, 1972 · 8 min
- Nixon phone call with Eisenhower on Busing and School Desegregation March 17, 1972 · 3 min
Cite this conversation
Conversation 269-015, 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/269-015 (accessed November 1, 2026).