Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 589 › Conversation 589-002
Nixon, Ehrlichman & Kissinger on Supreme Court appointments
Tuesday, October 12, 1971 · 5:28 PM–5:53 PM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon met with John Ehrlichman and later Henry Kissinger to discuss a range of sensitive administrative and political matters, including Supreme Court appointments and the declassification of CIA documents related to the Ngo Dinh Diem assassination. The participants strategized on managing intelligence disclosures and potential immunity questions, while also coordinating the President's upcoming schedule, budget priorities, and Phase II wage and price controls. Finally, they deliberated on diplomatic appointments for the inauguration of South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu, ultimately favoring Elliot Richardson for the delegation.
- Supreme Court appointments
- CIA declassification
- Ngo Dinh Diem
- Phase II wage and price controls
- Nguyen Van Thieu
- Foreign policy
Audio
This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 00:17:43 into the tape and ends around 00:41:40.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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NARA Description
On October 12, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, Stephen B. Bull, unknown person(s), Henry A. Kissinger, White House operator, and Elliot L. Richardson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:28 pm to 5:53 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 589-002 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 589-2
Date: October 12, 1971
Time: 5:28 pm - 5:53 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with John D. Ehrlichman.
Supreme Court appointments
-Mildred L. Lillie
-Husband
-Herschel H. Friday
-Warren E. Burger
-University of Minnesota
-John N. Mitchell
-Arkansas
-Harry A. Blackmun
Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 5:28 pm.
The President's schedule
-Unknown person
-Henry A. Kissinger
Bull left at an unknown time before 5:40 pm.
Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] documents
-Richard M. Helms
-State Department
-Missing files
-Kennedy family
-Kennedy Library
-Cambridge, Massachusetts
-Helms
-Declassification
-Immunity question
-President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board [PFIAB]
-Life magazine
-Ngo Dinh Diem assassination
-Vietnam
-W. Averell Harriman
-Mcgeorge Bundy
-Roger Hilsman
-Dean Rusk
-State Department
-Strategy
-Helms
-Missing CIA documents
An unknown person entered at an unknown time after 5:28 pm.
Refreshments
The unknown person left at an unknown time before 5:40 pm.
Budget
-Kissinger
-Schedule
-Meeting of President with George P. Shultz, Kissinger, Ehrlichman
-Shultz
-The President's schedule
-Kissinger
-People's Republic of China [PRC]
-Negotiations
-William P. Rogers
-Melvin R. Laird
-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
-Tax plan
-H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Shultz
-John B. Connally
-Kissinger's schedule
-Domestic questions
Unknown person entered at an unknown time after 5:28 pm.
Refreshments
Unknown person left at an unknown time before 5:40 pm.
Phase II Wage and Price controls
-Press conference
The President's schedule
-Supreme Court appointments
-Mitchell
-Public relations
-South
-West
Supreme Court appointments
-Woman
-Necessity
-The President’s view
-Mitchell's view
-Ability
-Negroes
-Ehrlichman's experiences
Phase II Wage and Price controls
-Charls E. Walker
-Maurice H. Stans
-Shultz
-Labor
-Labor walkout
Kissinger entered at 5:40 pm.
-The President's comments
Ehrlichman left at 5:41 pm
The President's schedule
US-USSR agreement
-Stewart J.O. Alsop
-Kissinger's conversation with Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
-The President's attitude
-Kissinger's position
-Soviets
-French
-Germans
-French
-Kissinger
-Georges J. R. Pompidou
-Arthur K. Watson
-Edward R. G. Heath
-Willy Brandt
-Press conference
-PRC
-Dobrynin
-Reactions
-Alsop
-Edward M. Kennedy
-Kissinger
-Vietnam negotiations
-Washington Star
-Jerrold L. Schecter
-Time magazine
-W. Averell Harriman
-George H. Mahon
-F. Edward Hebert
-Attitude toward the President
-The President's commentary to Conressmen
-Soviets
-PRC trip
-Press conference
-Individual sent to Vietnam for Nguyen Van Thieu's inauguration
-Laird
-State Deprtment
-Clifford M. Hardin
-Mitchell
-Elliot L. Richardson
-Laird
-Relationship with Thieu
-Nelson A. Rockefeller
-Ronald W. Reagan
-Connally
-Laird's views
-Richardson
The President talked with White House operator at an unknown time between 5:40 pm and 5:53
pm.
[Conversation No. 589-2A]
[See Conversation No. 11-65]
[End of telephone conversation]
The President's schedule
Rogers
Kissinger talked with Richardson at an unknown time between 5:40 pm and 5:53 pm.
[Conversation No. 589-2B]
[See Conversation No. 11-66]
[End of telephone conversation]
Thieu's inauguration
-Richardson's response
-Implications of Richardson's going
The President's schedule
The President and Kissinger left at 5:53 pm.Also recorded on October 12, 1971
- 588-020 2:26 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:26 pm and 2:34 pm.
- 588-021 2:31 PM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:31 pm to 2:45 pm.
- 079-001 4:19 PM · 1 hr — President Richard M. Nixon and Cabinet officers and staffers, including William P. Rogers met with Charls E. Walker, Melvin R. Laird, John N. Mitchell, Rogers C. B. Morton, Clifford M. Hardin, Maurice H. Stans, James D. Hodgson, Elliot L. Richardson, George W. Romney, John A. Volpe, George P. Shultz, Robert H. Finch, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George H. W. Bush, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, Henry A. Kissinger, Peter M. Flanigan, Clark MacGregor, William E. Timmons, Peter G. Peterson, Herbert G. Klein, Arnold R. Weber, Raymond K. Price, Jr., Ronald L. Ziegler, Alexander P. Butterfield, Robert J. Brown, Robert J. Dole, Paul W. McCracken, and unknown person(s), met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 4:19 pm and 10:22 pm.
- 589-001 4:20 PM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, John N. Mitchell, John D. Ehrlichman, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:20 pm and 4:37 pm.
- 079-003 5:28 PM — United States Secret Service agents and Manolo Sanchez [?] met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 5:28 pm and 10:15 pm.
- 079-004 5:28 PM — Stephen B. Bull and unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 5:28 pm and 10:15 pm.
- 079-005 5:28 PM · 53 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 5:28 pm and 10:15 pm.
- 589-003 5:53 PM · 3 min — unknown person(s) and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:53 pm and 11:59 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 589-002, October 12, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/589-002 (accessed October 12, 2026).