Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 274 › Conversation 274-005

Nixon & Ehrlichman on Economic Policy and Stock Market

Monday, August 16, 1971 · 2:40 PM–2:43 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation274-005 onTape 274 (tape position 00:05:35–00:08:51)StartMonday, August 16, 1971 at 2:40 PMEndMonday, August 16, 1971 at 2:43 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 274-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and John Ehrlichman reviewed the positive initial public and market reactions to the President's August 15 economic address. They discussed the significant surge in stock market volume and emphasized the need to maintain public confidence following the announcement. Additionally, Nixon praised Treasury Secretary John Connally's effective and firm performance during recent press briefings regarding the new economic policies.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 112.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 112.2 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 67.0 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 00:05:35 into the tape and ends around 00:08:51.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

5:46Sorry, I had quite a day the other night.
5:53Hanging around 31 before each other.
5:56In terms of the summer day, of course, it will not be the biggest day due to the value, but in terms of summer value, it's going to be probably double almost any summer day in the year.
6:16That's good.
6:22It'll shake sometimes.
6:25And, you know, we're going to deal with it.
6:28We're going to deal with it.
6:29But all the general reaction, I think, is better than we expected.
6:37Better than we expected.
6:40Right.
6:43And it may be a confidence that that's what we need to be talking about, you know.
7:10this first market that may that may let it ride a second yeah okay i'll turn it over to him
7:32He says, well, I thought I ought to go over and give him a little shout in the air.
7:36And I don't want to come at him to work.
7:39He's terribly tired.
7:40And I just told him to wipe it up and not to let somebody else move the back part.
7:45So they say he did a hell of a job on the press conference.
7:49I like the way he cuts them off.
7:52No, yes.
7:55He cuts them off, but he doesn't do it meanly.
7:57That's what I mean.
7:57He cuts them off.
7:59No, yes.
7:59And he smiles the next time.
8:02Great, great, sure.
8:04We'll reserve a little more.
8:07But you know, really, we were in the chemical department.
8:11Oh, how did that go?
8:14Tell me about that.
8:17Good, good, good.
8:23That's great.
8:26Great, great, great.
8:30Okay, John, thank you.

NARA Description

On August 16, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:40 pm to 2:43 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 274-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 274-5

Date: August 16, 1971
Time: 2:40 pm - 2:43 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.

     Economy
         -President’s address to the National, “The Challenge of Peace”, August 15, 1971
               -Reaction
                    -Stock market
                          -Volume
                    -Timing
                    -Confidence builder
                    -Shock value
                    -Confidence
                    -Stock market
               -Forthcoming State Department briefing
               -Press conference
                    -John B. Connally
                          -Performance
               -Cabinet meeting, August 16, 1971

Also recorded on August 16, 1971

  • 274-006 2:43 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 2:43 pm.
  • 274-048 2:43 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:43 pm to 2:44 pm.
  • 274-007 2:44 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:44 pm to 2:49 pm.
  • 274-008 2:49 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:49 pm and 2:54 pm.
  • 274-009 2:49 PM · 15 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 2:49 pm and 2:54 pm.
  • 274-010 2:54 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:54 pm to 2:58 pm.
  • 274-011 2:59 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Robert H. Finch met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:59 pm to 3:01 pm.
  • 274-012 3:01 PM · 55 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:01 pm and 3:05 pm.

All 88 conversations from August 16, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 274-005, August 16, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/274-005 (accessed September 18, 2026).