Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 298 › Conversation 298-015

Nixon & Ehrlichman on Covert operations and Political finance

Thursday, November 11, 1971 · 3:07 PM–3:08 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation298-015 on Tape 298 (tape position 02:16:04–02:18:06)StartThursday, November 11, 1971 at 3:07 PMEndThursday, November 11, 1971 at 3:08 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 298-015 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and John Ehrlichman discuss the logistics and necessity of providing private financial backing for a sensitive negotiation involving overseas interests. Nixon emphasizes that the operation cannot rely on government funding, necessitating a more hardened approach to secure the required resources. The two agree on the urgency of the task and move to finalize the strategy for executing the funding.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Oh.
Yeah.
John, with regard to this, uh, Senate Department Department of Agriculture, one thing that is very important that we haven't already covered, and we're sure that the National Council will be more covered, if somebody's thought of that or not.
You can see the problem.
Uh, if you're covering Hollywood, you better cover it with money.
Now, a lot of this is really handled as something that's said.
I mean, this man's negotiating on his own, so there's no chance of getting any government funding to work this one out.
It's basically, it's important.
You can't get it to Conway, of course, it's abroad.
You can't get it to Walters, if he doesn't agree about it, to say that this is it.
Right.
With regard to that particular point, do you think we should simply leave it to us to follow this idea, or do you think we have to harden it?
We have to.
All right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay, fine.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On November 11, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:07 pm to 3:08 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 298-015 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 298-15

Date: November 11, 1971
Time: 3:07 pm - 3:08 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

John D. Ehrlichman talked with the President.

[See Conversation No. 14-39]

Also recorded on November 11, 1971

  • 014-039 3:07 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 3:07 pm to 3:08 pm.
  • 014-040 3:08 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 3:27 pm.
  • 298-016 3:08 PM · 14 sec — 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 3:27 pm.
  • 298-017 3:08 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 an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 3:27 pm.
  • 298-018 3:08 PM · 19 sec — 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 3:27 pm.
  • 014-041 3:27 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 3:27 pm to 3:30 pm.
  • 298-019 3:27 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:27 pm to 3:30 pm.
  • 014-042 3:30 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:30 pm and 3:32 pm.

All 91 conversations from November 11, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 298-015, November 11, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/298-015 (accessed October 1, 2026).