Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 507 › Conversation 507-005

Nixon & Ehrlichman on Nelson Rockefeller and John Lindsay

Saturday, May 29, 1971 · 10:32 AM–10:48 AM ET · Oval Office · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation507-005 on Tape 507 (tape position 01:27:51–01:32:25)StartSaturday, May 29, 1971 at 10:32 AMEndSaturday, May 29, 1971 at 10:48 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 507-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and John Ehrlichman discuss a request from New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller for emergency federal financial assistance to support New York City police, citing recent unrest and violence. Nixon explores the political implications of providing direct aid to the state to counteract budget maneuvering by Mayor John Lindsay. The two agree that Ehrlichman will evaluate potential funding sources and contact Rockefeller to determine if a strategic federal grant can be announced.

Nelson Rockefeller
John Lindsay
New York City
Police funding
Federal aid
Urban unrest

Audio

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Position in tape: 01:27:51 – 01:32:25

1:27:49

507a.mp3

NARA Description

On May 29, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:32 am and 10:48 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 507-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

None

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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That's all I want.

I was just talking to Rockefeller to commiserate with him about his problems with Lindsey on the rent and on his farm.

And he was just saying he was having to cut the budget in New York by $400 million in New York City, and that what Lindsey was probably going to do was to cut them in blue, you know, in order to screw Rockefeller.

He made an intriguing suggestion.

I probably, probably nothing could be done, or maybe a tokenism can handle, but

I thought I told him I'd have you call him about it.

And so on these lines, he said, I wondered if there's anything that you might do on an emergency basis because of the recent problems, you know, all the riots and all that sort of crap, and the shooting of policemen, to give us some assistance directly on the police side.

Now, I don't know.

I don't know.

And I think he's referring only to New York, and he hasn't thought through and all that sort of thing.

But, uh, and I know Rio had it figured out on the road, this is revenue sharing center.

But, uh, would you, would you give us some thought and call him up on it?

I, uh, we've got some funds we could do.

We could say that, in other words, have Rockefeller and me and, uh, have it, have it announced that way.

When Lindsey does screw them, say we're giving a hundred million bucks to the state of New York specifically for the purpose of this.

Now, of course, it pushes the problem of their city and so forth, but I don't know.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

Also recorded on May 29, 1971

507-001 8:13 AM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:13 am and 9:08 am.
507-002 8:13 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:13 am and 9:08 am.
507-003 8:13 AM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:13 am and 9:08 am.
507-004 8:13 AM · 1 hr 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, Manolo Sanchez, White House operator, and Nelson A. Rockefeller met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:13 am and 10:32 am.
003-190 9:08 AM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:08 am and 10:00 am.
003-191 10:00 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Nelson A. Rockefeller talked on the telephone from 10:00 am to 10:06 am.
507-006 10:32 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:32 am and 10:48 am.
507-007 10:32 AM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:32 am and 10:48 am.

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Cite this conversation

Conversation 507-005, May 29, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/507-005 (accessed November 11, 2026).