Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 273 › Conversation 273-004
Nixon & Ehrlichman on Busing and Henry Kissinger
Thursday, August 12, 1971 · 1:20 PM–2:31 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building
AI Summary
President Nixon and John Ehrlichman met to coordinate political messaging and strategy regarding high-profile administration issues. The discussion centered on managing conservative perceptions of Henry Kissinger's influence and handling sensitive news narratives concerning Vietnam. Additionally, the pair addressed policy challenges surrounding busing, with input from George Shultz to ensure administration objectives were effectively maintained.
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.9 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 112.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 67.9 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 00:07:53 into the tape and ends around 00:09:21.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
NARA Description
On August 12, 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 1:20 pm and 2:31 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 273-004 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 273-4
Date: August 12, 1971
Time: Unknown between 1:20 pm and 2:31 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.
Busing
-George P. Shultz
Henry A. Kissinger
-Conservatives
Unknown story
-Vietnam
-NewsAlso recorded on August 12, 1971
- 562-003 12:15 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Harold C. Passer, Charles W. Colson, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:15 pm to 12:24 pm.
- 562-004 12:24 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:24 pm to 12:25 pm.
- 562-005 12:25 PM · 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Arnold R. Weber, George P. Shultz, White House photographer, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:25 pm to 12:44 pm.
- 562-006 12:45 PM · 31 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, John W. Dean, III, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:45 pm to 1:17 pm.
- 562-007 1:17 PM · 34 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 1:17 pm on August 12, 1971 and 8:59 am on August 13, 1971.
- 273-001 1:20 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:20 pm and 2:31 pm.
- 273-002 1:20 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:20 pm and 2:31 pm.
- 273-003 1:20 PM · 2 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 1:20 pm and 2:31 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 273-004, August 12, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/273-004 (accessed September 18, 2026).