Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 283 › Conversation 283-044

Nixon & Ehrlichman on Personnel and Legal strategy

Wednesday, October 6, 1971 · 2:50 PM–2:52 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation283-044 on Tape 283 (tape position 04:21:23–04:24:54)StartWednesday, October 6, 1971 at 2:50 PMEndWednesday, October 6, 1971 at 2:52 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 283-044 ↗

President Nixon consulted with John D. Ehrlichman to discuss personnel matters and the strategic handling of a sensitive legal or administrative issue. The conversation centered on the status of individuals potentially linked to a Boston-related matter and the broader implications of court involvement. Nixon expressed uncertainty regarding the current situation and instructed Ehrlichman to delay further external communications until he could personally review the details.

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John, I was just calling you on a reminder.
I was trying to make sure that no one went back to Boston.
And, uh...
But I want you to know that .
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, well that, of course, deals only with that phase.
It really gets down to preservation.
And I don't know about this one.
I'm going to have to see and have a look at it here.
The court has a problem when they go there.
But don't go out and talk to me.
But surely a William is one of them.
Not quite to the right.
Sure.
Sure.
Well, I don't know the actual credit yet, but we're still working on it.
Yeah.
Five.
Five.

On October 6, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:50 pm to 2:52 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 283-044 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 283-044

Date: October 6, 1971
Time: 2:50 pm - 2:52 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with the White House operator.

[See Conversation No. 10-86]

The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman between 2:51 pm and 2:52 pm.

[See Conversation No. 10-86]
  • 010-085 2:50 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 2:50 pm.
  • 010-086 2:50 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 2:50 pm to 2:52 pm.
  • 283-043 2:50 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 2:50 pm.
  • 010-087 2:54 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 2:54 pm to 2:58 pm.
  • 283-045 2:54 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:54 pm to 2:58 pm.
  • 010-088 2:59 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield talked on the telephone from 2:59 pm to 3:00 pm.
  • 283-046 2:59 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:59 pm to 3:00 pm.
  • 010-089 3:11 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 3:11 pm.

Conversation 283-044, October 6, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/283-044 (accessed October 8, 2026).