Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 529 › Conversation 529-008

Nixon & Ehrlichman on Media strategy and Public relations

Sunday, June 27, 1971 · 7:53 PM–8:02 PM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation529-008 on Tape 529 (tape position 00:26:49–00:31:32)StartSunday, June 27, 1971 at 7:53 PMEndSunday, June 27, 1971 at 8:02 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 529-008 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417178123 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon directs John Ehrlichman to cultivate influential local media figures, specifically television commentators and radio talk show hosts, to bypass the perceived hostility of the Washington national press. The President also outlines a strategy for upcoming meetings at Camp David and San Clemente, tasking staff with distilling his leadership image and key political issues into a concise, impactful narrative. This effort aimed to refine public relations and consolidate political support through direct engagement with media personalities who held significant grassroots influence.

Media strategy
Public relations
Local broadcasting
Political image
Election planning

Audio

Download MP3 · 7.8 MB

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 529-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 529-008

Date: June 27, 1971
Time: Unknown between 7:53 pm and 8:02 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President dictated a memorandum to H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

     Meeting with local broadcasters
          -President’s proposals
                -George Putnam
                -Irv Kupcinet
                -Attendance
                -Purpose
                -Meeting of radio talk show hosts
                      -Criteria
                -Influence of media figures
                      -Use of photographs

     Camp David presentation
         -Preparations for San Clemente meeting
              -John D. Ehrlichman and Haldeman meeting
                    -Richard A. Moore
                    -William L. Safire
                    -Charles W. Colson
                    -Points to emphasize
                    -Public relations
                          -President’s image
                    -Focus on issues
              -Haldeman meeting with the President

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 35% 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.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

I would, uh, like for you to re-examine the proposal I made several months ago to bring in some of the top local television commentators like George Budman and Cubs Anat, who might even be in our way, or at least be less against us than the Washington Network group.

All in all, our priority, we should consider the advisability of bringing in the radio, talk show types around the country who are impressed by how you live in the White House.

Just have in mind, for example, is that a George Love, or a Cubs fan, said ten times the influence of any one of the national columns with whom we spend so much of our time.

Let's have one of these see if we can come up with some puzzle that might be

After the presentation at Camp David, I think it is very important, before we have our meeting in San Clemente, that you sit down early.

We are types like the Mohawk Sapphire.

Closer.

That's all.

three or four points which we want to emphasize.

So getting a clear, exciting picture before the voters with regard to RN as a man, parentheses, leader, et cetera, close parentheses.

And second, are three or four

major issues as far as political clout is concerned.

The meetings with the groups here on the way to San Clemente, I'd like to discuss this with you to see if we can get some common ground, get some ground as to

I don't know what's the matter yet.

I forget about it.

Or is this for the balance of this year?

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.
529-007 7:53 PM · 2 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 →

Eisenhower & Rebozo on campaign strategy and political appearances October 1, 1972 · 6 min
Nixon alone in his EOB office on Political strategy and Republican Party April 3, 1972 · 1 min
Nixon & Butterfield on Public opinion and Political image May 8, 1971
Nixon, Connally & Haldeman on Legislative Strategy and H.R. 1 May 12, 1971 · 21 min
Nixon, Goldwater & Timmons on Aviation industry and Latin American arms sales May 3, 1973 · 5 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 529-008, June 27, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417178123). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/529-008 (accessed November 2, 2026).