Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 274 › Conversation 274-042
Nixon & Ehrlichman on Economic stabilization and Presidential address
Wednesday, September 8, 1971 · 3:08 PM–3:26 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building
AI Summary
President Nixon and John Ehrlichman met to refine the text of the President's upcoming address to Congress regarding economic stabilization. The discussion focused on carefully crafting language regarding the ongoing war to ensure it balanced political sensitivity with the administration's goals for peace. Nixon directed Ehrlichman to test specific phrasing with Henry Kissinger to determine the most effective approach for addressing these high-stakes policy issues.
- Economic stabilization
- Presidential address
- Vietnam War
- Foreign policy
- White House drafting
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 03:10:38 into the tape and ends around 03:11:19.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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
NARA Description
On September 8, 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 3:08 pm and 3:26 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 274-042 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 274-42
Date: September 8, 1971
Time: Unknown between 3:08 pm and 3:26 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.
President’s address to Congress on economic stabilization, September 9, 1971
-Draft
The President's schedule
-Meeting with EhrlichmanAlso recorded on September 8, 1971
- 008-052 3:05 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 3:05 pm.
- 008-053 3:06 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. talked on the telephone from 3:06 pm to 3:08 pm.
- 274-040 3:06 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:06 pm to 3:08 pm.
- 008-054 3:08 PM · 41 sec — Raymond K. Price, Jr. and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 7:40 pm.
- 008-055 3:08 PM · 2 min — Raymond K. Price, Jr., White House operator, and Alexander P. Butterfield talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 7:40 pm.
- 008-056 3:08 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 7:40 pm.
- 274-041 3:08 PM · 1 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 3:08 pm and 3:26 pm.
- 274-043 3:08 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 3:26 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 274-042, September 8, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/274-042 (accessed October 1, 2026).