Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 344 › Conversation 344-004
Nixon & Ehrlichman on School busing and Detroit
Tuesday, June 20, 1972 · 4:14 PM–4:35 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building
AI Summary
President Nixon and John Ehrlichman discussed the administration’s strategy regarding a pending Detroit busing court decision and the controversial use of the pesticide DDT. The President sought to navigate political sensitivities by limiting his public commentary on active legal proceedings while weighing his stance on Environmental Protection Agency policies. Ultimately, the two reached an understanding on how the President should address these sensitive issues to maintain administrative alignment without committing to premature public positions.
- School busing
- Detroit
- DDT
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Judicial policy
- Public relations
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.9 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 112.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 33.4 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 00:06:27 into the tape and ends around 00:08:56.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 June 20, 1972, 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 4:14 pm and 4:35 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 344-004 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 344-4
Date: June 20, 1972
Time: Unknown between 4:14 and 4:35 pm
Location: Old Executive Office Building
The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.
Detroit busing decision
-Proposal
-President's comments
-Busing issue
Environment
-Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane [DDT]
-President's position
-Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]Also recorded on June 20, 1972
- 025-086 3:30 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:30 pm and 3:33 pm.
- 025-088 3:33 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:33 pm and 4:09 pm.
- 344-001 3:33 PM · 3 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 3:33 pm and 4:09 pm.
- 344-002 3:33 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:33 pm and 4:09 pm.
- 025-089 4:09 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan talked on the telephone from 4:09 pm to 4:16 pm.
- 344-003 4:09 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:09 pm to 4:14 pm.
- 344-005 4:14 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 4:14 pm and 4:35 pm.
- 344-006 4:35 PM · 35 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:35 pm to 5:25 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 344-004, June 20, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/344-004 (accessed September 30, 2026).