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 · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation273-004 on Tape 273 (tape position 00:07:53–00:09:21)StartThursday, August 12, 1971 at 1:20 PMEndThursday, August 12, 1971 at 2:31 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 273-004 ↗

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

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Position in tape: 00:07:53 – 00:09:21

part A, 7:56

273a.mp3

273b.mp3

273c.mp3

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
              -News

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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

I wondered if you feel that worked out on the bus.

Still out of time.

I've got to keep him out of this bunch of stuff.

I'm going to go step in because of it.

Well, you can see, John, why I want to .

Henry, of course, was always so concerned about .

But just can't let that be the story that we want .

What do you think?

Sure, sure.

Well, basically, supposedly sure.

Okay, thank you.

Yeah?

Also 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 · 1 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.

All 33 conversations from August 12, 1971 →

Nixon & Ehrlichman on Busing and Civil Rights Commission August 13, 1971 · 3 min
Nixon, Colson & Scali on Vietnam War and Henry Kissinger December 30, 1972 · 21 min
Nixon, Ziegler & Haldeman on Public relations and Henry Kissinger October 17, 1972 · 17 min
Nixon phone call with Fulbright on US-Soviet Relations March 10, 1972 · 2 min
Nixon & Ziegler on Busing and Florida Primary March 8, 1972 · 27 min
Nixon with unidentified visitors in his EOB office on Congressional relations April 11, 1972 · 3 min

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 November 2, 2026).