Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 368 › Conversation 368-031

Nixon & Ehrlichman on Revenue sharing and Philadelphia

Thursday, October 19, 1972 · 9:40 AM–10:34 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building ·2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation368-031 onTape 368StartThursday, October 19, 1972 at 9:40 AMEndThursday, October 19, 1972 at 10:34 AMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 368-031 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and John Ehrlichman met to finalize logistical and messaging plans for an upcoming revenue sharing signing ceremony in Philadelphia. They discussed the staging protocols for Vice President Spiro Agnew, specifically ensuring Agnew presided over the event while defining the President’s position on stage. Nixon instructed Ehrlichman to prepare a concise signing statement that provided a comprehensive narrative of the administration’s legislative journey for early distribution to the press.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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John, with regard to Philadelphia, you know, as I understand it, you know, we've got to have the vice president preside, and we've got to change the total to the right.
And, you know, we've got to do the right thing.
But I'll be on the stage and say it's fine.
Just to explain why they presided, sir.
That's it.
Yeah.
Done.
Great.
Now the other part here is that my remarks, of course, I'll wait until I hear what the others say.
But it occurred to me that there's a lot of things that are real and some of them are all prepared for this.
Why don't you have them make up the signing statements, if you will, in other words, about this, in other words, journey, and they put it in a line, you know, the whole story of this kind of thing.
How does that sound to you?
And then you say, yes, they've already done the work, they're all ready, and then drop that all up there, and they'll get that to the press early in the morning.
Thank you for watching.

NARA Description

On October 19, 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 9:40 am and 10:34 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 368-031 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 368-31

Date: October 19, 1972
Time: Unknown between 9:40 am and 10:34 am
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.

        The President's schedule
            -Philadelphia revenue sharing signing ceremony, October 20, 1972
                -Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
                     -Presiding role
                          -The President’s position on stage
                     -Explanation
                -The President’s remarks
                -Preparation of statement
                     -The President’s instructions
                          -Length of statement

Also recorded on October 19, 1972

  • 031-137 9:08 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:08 am and 9:36 am.
  • 368-026 9:08 AM · 46 sec — 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 9:08 am and 9:36 am.
  • 031-138 9:36 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Idanell ("Nellie") (Brill) Connally talked on the telephone from 9:36 am to 9:40 am.
  • 368-029 9:36 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Idanell ("Nellie") (Brill) Connally met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:36 am to 9:40 am.
  • 368-030 9:40 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:40 am and 10:34 am.
  • 368-032 9:40 AM · 23 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 9:40 am and 10:34 am.
  • 368-033 9:40 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:40 am and 10:34 am.
  • 368-035 9:40 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:40 am and 10:30 am.

All 78 conversations from October 19, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 368-031, October 19, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/368-031 (accessed September 18, 2026).