Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 718 › Conversation 718-003

Nixon & Ehrlichman on J. Edgar Hoover and Ronald Ziegler

Wednesday, May 3, 1972 · 10:19 AM–10:20 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation718-003 onTape 718 (tape position 00:28:39–00:30:16)StartWednesday, May 3, 1972 at 10:19 AMEndWednesday, May 3, 1972 at 10:20 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 718-003 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and John Ehrlichman discuss the messaging strategy for Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler regarding upcoming political appointments and the selection of an Acting FBI Director following J. Edgar Hoover’s recent death. They emphasize the need to distinguish between permanent Supreme Court appointments and temporary political assignments to deflect public criticism. The pair concludes by coordinating the logistics for an afternoon meeting with a prospective candidate.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.5 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 60.1 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 00:28:39 into the tape and ends around 00:30:16.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

28:30Yeah, the reason we made that, of course, is the one, you know, that stopped before us.
28:38I think it's very distinguishable, but I do not.
28:42Because the Supreme Court is a permanent appointment.
28:46The other is a political appointment, I mean a non-permanent appointment.
28:53But I think that has to be very strongly made by Ziegler, basically.
29:01We decided to do what I understand is true now.
29:04Because they couldn't get plenty of stuff and plenty of shit come up beforehand.
29:09And I told these folks to hold it to 11, so I would probably think that's how I put it.
29:13No.
29:13Yeah.
29:14Not sure.
29:15Not sure.
29:18But I didn't give them the name, so that at least would be the difference.
29:25Yeah, you just, well, I think he could see it from that, but he should cover the distinction.
29:32That's it.
29:33And incidentally, you know, that wise old owl, George Aitken, put his finger on it, didn't he?
29:38He said, you want to deny us that chance, but I think we're doing exactly the right thing.
29:44And if we take a little flack, we'll tell you.
29:48Yeah.
29:52Yeah.
29:53that I'm not trying to grab this appointment, you know, and so forth.
29:59Yeah.
30:00Yeah.
30:01All right, John.
30:05Good job, buddy.
30:09He's gone back to Albany and Mitchell says they were hauling him in for the same thing.
30:17That was a questionable blood anyway.
30:22So we'll bring the client in at 2.45.
30:25That's okay.
30:27And that'll be the thing.

NARA Description

On May 3, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:19 am and 10:20 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 718-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 718-3

Date: May 3, 1972
Time: Unknown between 10:19 am and 10:20 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.

     J. Edgar Hoover

                                       (rev. Dec-01)

             -Robert P. Griffin
                  -Abe Fortas

     Ronald L. Ziegler briefing
         -Supreme Court appointments
               -Career compared with political
         -Ziegler's forthcoming announcement on L[ouis] Patrick Gray, III
         -Time
         -Appearance by Richard G. Kleindienst
               -Time
         -George D. Aiken
         -Appointment

Also recorded on May 3, 1972

  • 718-002 10:06 AM · 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:06 am to 10:19 am.
  • 718-004 10:20 AM · 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:20 am to 10:50 am.
  • 718-005 10:50 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:50 am and 10:54 am.
  • 718-006 10:54 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:54 am to 10:56 am.
  • 718-007 10:56 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:56 am and 10:59 am.
  • 718-008 10:56 AM · 39 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:56 am and 10:59 am.
  • 718-009 10:59 AM · 1 hr 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:59 am to 12:11 pm.
  • 718-010 12:14 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:14 pm and 12:18 pm.

All 63 conversations from May 3, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 718-003, May 3, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/718-003 (accessed September 18, 2026).