Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 450 › Conversation 450-017

Nixon & Haldeman on John D. Ehrlichman and Personnel

Tuesday, February 16, 1971 · 12:13 PM–12:16 PM ET · Oval Office · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation450-017 on Tape 450 (tape position 02:07:38–02:09:03)StartTuesday, February 16, 1971 at 12:13 PMEndTuesday, February 16, 1971 at 12:16 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 450-017 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman met briefly in the Oval Office to coordinate administrative logistics. The discussion centered on an unidentified individual visiting from California and potential scheduling adjustments involving John D. Ehrlichman. The participants concluded the meeting after three minutes to finalize these internal arrangements.

Audio

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Position in tape: 02:07:38 – 02:09:03

part C, 33:28

450a.mp3

450b.mp3

450c.mp3

NARA Description

On February 16, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:13 pm to 12:16 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 450-017 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 450-17

Date: February 16, 1971 [?]
Time: 12:13 pm - 12:16 pm [?]
Location: Oval Office

The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman

     Unknown person from California
         -John D. Ehrlichman
         -Schedule

The President and Haldeman left at 12:16 pm

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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You know, I feel, you remember we had a crisis of months.

At first, you were working on a different issue, but then later we started to get a crisis of months.

On Mike, on Ben Kennedy, National Security.

My God, Dave Kennedy and our departments always coming in.

And we were rightfully so remote about this and that.

And the other thing, what are we going to do next?

We're going to do the military and about it.

And besides, we're going to turn the government down one time, and the British government down another time.

All those strides, and of course, foreign policy.

And I haven't thought that maybe we needed a new international monetary scheme of some sort, you know.

Harder, you know, is to raise the price of gold at one point.

But let's get out of here, guys.

I don't know.

Getting back to the people there, there is also some advantage.

economic conditions he can't allow for you.

If, for example, he was nowhere, I think it would damage to us to have him stay in an economic place.

Also recorded on February 16, 1971

450-010 10:28 AM · 36 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:28 am to 10:49 am.
450-011 10:49 AM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:49 am to 11:03 am.
450-012 11:03 AM · 38 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:03 am and 11:04 am.
450-013 11:04 AM · 45 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:04 am and 11:24 am.
450-014 11:24 AM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:24 am and 12:12 pm.
450-015 12:12 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:12 pm and 12:13 pm.
450-016 12:12 PM · 52 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:12 pm and 12:13 pm.
450-018 12:16 PM · 39 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:16 pm and 11:59 pm.

All 20 conversations from February 16, 1971 →

United States Secret Service agents on Oval Office and Security February 23, 1973 · 4 min
Nixon & Sanchez on Drafting and Personnel April 5, 1972 · 3 min
Nixon & Bull on George P. Shultz and John D. Ehrlichman March 21, 1973 · 2 min
Sidley & Butterfield on J. Edgar Hoover and Henry Kissinger May 26, 1971 · 1 min
Nixon phone call with Bull on George H.W. Bush and H.R. Haldeman February 14, 1973 · 1 min
Nixon, Bull & Cox on Staff resignations and H.R. Haldeman April 30, 1973 · 1 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 450-017, February 16, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/450-017 (accessed November 2, 2026).