Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 529 › Conversation 529-007

Nixon & Ehrlichman on Budgeting and Defense spending

Sunday, June 27, 1971 · 7:53 PM–8:02 PM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation529-007 on Tape 529 (tape position 00:24:03–00:26:49)StartSunday, June 27, 1971 at 7:53 PMEndSunday, June 27, 1971 at 8:02 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 529-007 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417178121 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon dictated a memorandum to John D. Ehrlichman regarding the strategic allocation of federal expenditures in preparation for the 1972 election cycle. The discussion focused on balancing domestic spending, such as environmental initiatives, with the potential economic and employment impacts of defense budget cuts. Nixon tasked the Domestic Council with analyzing these fiscal trade-offs to inform his final budgetary decisions during an upcoming summit in San Clemente.

Audio

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NARA Description

On June 27, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:53 pm and 8:02 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 529-007 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 529-007

Date: June 27, 1971

Time: Unknown between 7:53 pm and 8:02 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President dictated a memorandum to John D. Ehrlichman.

[This is a continuation of Conversation No. 529-6]

     Camp David discussions
         -Areas of political gain
         -Expenditures
              -Effectiveness
              -Environmental health
                    -Pressure
         -Budget
              -Considerations
                    -Defense spending
                    -Economy
                    -Defense spending
                          -Effect on employment
              -Short term spending
                    -Effect in 1972
              -1973 budget
                    -Cuts
                          -Effect on planning
              -Domestic Council role
              -President's role
                    -San Clemente

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 68% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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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It's one area where we... ...political... ...game up.

It's possible... ...experiment is necessary, for example... ...because we would be far more effective politically than in the environmental...

health and other areas where we will also have great pressures.

However, with regard to the defense budget, what we have to consider is which defense spending, the economy, and the extent to which

cuts in the defense budget may result in a direct increase in unemployment.

We have two problems.

First, the expenditures that will be made between now and July of 1972

which could affect the employment before the record of 72.

And second, the 73 budget, where risk cuts without adversely affecting employment

Council in 1972.

You can see that these thoughts are considered by the budget and domestic council group for my decision in San Clemente.

Also recorded on June 27, 1971

005-162 7:44 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:44 pm and 8:13 pm.
005-163 7:44 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:44 pm and 8:13 pm.
529-005 7:44 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:44 pm and 7:52 pm.
529-006 7:44 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:44 pm and 7:52 pm.
529-008 7:53 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:53 pm and 8:02 pm.
529-009 8:02 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:02 pm to 8:05 pm.
529-010 8:06 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:06 pm to 8:11 pm.
529-011 8:11 PM · 54 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:11 pm and 8:13 pm.

All 15 conversations from June 27, 1971 →

Nixon & Ehrlichman on Domestic Council and Congressional relations October 18, 1972 · 32 min
Nixon, Agnew & Shultz on federal budget and impoundment January 26, 1973 · 46 min
Nixon, Ash & Shultz on Revenue sharing and Budget February 28, 1973 · 1 hr 18 min
Nixon phone call with Javits on Middle East policy June 12, 1972 · 4 min
Nixon phone call with Laird on Vietnam War and George McGovern October 6, 1972 · 4 min
Nixon, Rockefeller & Volpe on Mass transit and New York City June 21, 1972 · 5 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 529-007, June 27, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417178121). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/529-007 (accessed November 2, 2026).