Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 672 › Conversation 672-003

Nixon & Ehrlichman on John Connally and Arthur Burns

Tuesday, February 15, 1972 · 12:47 PM–12:56 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation672-003 onTape 672 (tape position 03:40:53–03:46:35)StartTuesday, February 15, 1972 at 12:47 PMEndTuesday, February 15, 1972 at 12:56 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 672-003 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and John Ehrlichman met to discuss administrative coordination, specifically reviewing recent interactions between John Connally, Arthur Burns, and George Shultz. The discussion touched on personnel management and the strategic handling of upcoming statements, particularly concerning busing and welfare reform. Nixon emphasized the need for clear accountability within his staff to ensure key policy objectives were effectively communicated.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 36.1 MB

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 03:40:53 into the tape and ends around 03:46:35.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) ·JSON data · Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.

3:40:42The last part is the soil conservation .
3:40:53Well, you don't have to do it, I'm not so sure, but maybe it is worth it.
3:41:14If so, what do they do?
3:41:15They go home.
3:41:17Say, well, they were in my house there at the White House.
3:41:19I have some good loyalists.
3:41:23I can shoot them.
3:41:24They'll get mad at me in my house.
3:41:25That's why they're here.
3:41:27They're running meters in some group.
3:41:41You don't get any credit for that, and it's no good as far as the little black kids are concerned.
3:41:46They don't know anybody else.
3:41:48They've done a lot.
3:41:49They've done a lot for people who come through there.
3:41:53The district stuff is bullshit, I believe.
3:41:57It just should not that often agree.
3:41:59And it doesn't mean anything we've done in the district.
3:42:48Uh, John, did you have anything you wanted to, uh, go over before... Yeah, I understand now.
3:43:06Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
3:43:11How'd you get along?
3:43:14Did you have a good talk with Colin?
3:43:17Yeah.
3:43:19You reassured him.
3:43:20You told him about the conversations.
3:43:22He rather surprised him, so it was, it was really, not really, it was, it was, he had no reason to come and talk to me.
3:43:29But what did John say about it, though?
3:43:36Before he did, you know, and then, yeah.
3:43:54Yeah, yeah.
3:43:57Good.
3:43:59Good.
3:43:59But he didn't see that Arthur was just coming in.
3:44:01I think Arthur was coming in for her father.
3:44:06That's what I didn't hear.
3:44:16Yeah.
3:44:17Well, he used it for the purpose of getting them to keep loose.
3:44:20That's good.
3:44:32I get it.
3:44:33I think it was, I never saw so much crap.
3:44:38Yeah, yeah.
3:44:39What about the run spells?
3:44:41Is that nothing to do with that?
3:44:59Now the thing to do is George should have a responsibility so that he realizes he's not doing it.
3:45:03He's in charge there, so now that you've worked out the deal with Conner, he can do it.
3:45:27I think the real thing is to just get a hell of a good statement.
3:45:43That's the only approach we have.
3:45:49Yeah.
3:46:04All right, so they look big now.
3:46:20Yeah, yeah.
3:46:22He's smart, too.
3:46:23Yeah.
3:46:24Yeah.
3:46:24What is their answer?
3:46:28Just leave them as they are.

NARA Description

On February 15, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:47 pm and 12:56 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 672-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 672-3

Date: February 15, 1972
Time: Unknown between 12:47 pm and 12:56 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.

     The President’s schedule
          -Camp David

John B. Connally
     -Talk with Ehrlichman
          -Connally’s comments
          -Meeting
                -Arthur F. Burns
                -Notes
                      -George P. Shultz
                           -Meeting
     -Burns
          -Meeting with the President
                -Purpose

Donald H. Rumsfeld

Shultz

Connally

Welfare reform

Busing
     -Statement
     -William H. Brown, III
           -Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC]
     -Daniel P. (“Pat”) Moynihan
     -Charles W. Colson
           -Memoranda
     -Constitutional amendment
           -Chief Justice [Warren E. Burger]
           -Howard H. Baker, Jr.
           -Burger
           -“Nixon Court”
           -Judges opinions

The President’s schedule

Also recorded on February 15, 1972

  • 672-002 9:12 AM · 3 hr 34 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), Rose Mary Woods, Ronald L. Ziegler, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Dwight L. Chapin, White House operator, Tricia Nixon Cox, Henry A. Kissinger, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:12 am to 12:47 pm.
  • 020-096 10:30 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:30 am and 10:45 am.
  • 020-097 10:45 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 10:45 am to 10:47 am.
  • 672-004 12:47 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:47 pm and 12:56 pm.
  • 672-005 12:47 PM · 54 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:47 pm and 12:56 pm.
  • 672-006 12:47 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:47 pm and 12:56 pm.
  • 672-007 12:56 PM · 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Manolo Sanchez, Rose Mary Woods, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:56 pm to 1:30 pm.
  • 672-008 1:30 PM · 36 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:30 pm and 11:59 pm.

All 15 conversations from February 15, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 672-003, February 15, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/672-003 (accessed September 18, 2026).