{"conversationCode":"721-002","tapeNumber":721,"conversationNumber":2,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-721-002","startDateTime":"1972-05-08T12:38:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-05-08T12:43:00.000Z","startDate":"8-May-1972","startTime":"8:38 AM","endDate":"8-May-1972","endTime":"8:43 AM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.;","description":"On May 8, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:38 am to 8:43 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 721-002 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"OVAL","recordingDevice":"Oval Office","latitudeEstimated":38.8974,"longitudeEstimated":-77.0374,"chronCode":3,"chronRelease":"Third Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"28-Feb-2002","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 721-2\n\nDate: May 8, 1972\nTime: 8:38 am - 8:43 am\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.\n\n[See Conversation No. 24-1]","filename":["721-002.mp3"],"tapeStart":"00:01:12","tapeEnd":"00:13:34","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Ehrlichman, John D."],"prevCode":"721-001","nextCode":"721-003","transcript":[{"start":16.78,"end":21.74,"text":"matter and I imagine he's pretty upset about that."},{"start":22.38,"end":26.14,"text":"Some letters I wrote in COVID."},{"start":26.25,"end":29.63,"text":"I don't know what the letter is, but I did COVID."},{"start":32.23,"end":34.71,"text":"But did we, did I send it?"},{"start":37.84,"end":41.68,"text":"Well, first it's done, it's done."},{"start":41.7,"end":42.48,"text":"I suppose it's a"},{"start":44.55,"end":62.84,"text":"I should have been clear about it, probably in this case, but he wouldn't have killed him."},{"start":62.9,"end":69.44,"text":"Well, if you want to give Rob a call, try to find out who his hand was on."},{"start":69.58,"end":71.27,"text":"After all, he's got a bill up there."},{"start":74.27,"end":85.3,"text":"week or whatever it is, and it looks as if we deliberately intervened."},{"start":85.44,"end":96.97,"text":"Also, it is our position, but on the other hand, when it's a political matter like that,"},{"start":101.43,"end":105.21,"text":"Somebody wants to just push it through."},{"start":105.23,"end":110.14,"text":"We do check it out and let me know if there's any of that."},{"start":110.16,"end":110.7,"text":"Would you call her out?"},{"start":110.72,"end":111.64,"text":"Call her out."},{"start":111.66,"end":113.54,"text":"I mean, how can you handle it with anyone?"},{"start":113.56,"end":114.88,"text":"Could you say it?"},{"start":129.44,"end":130.08,"text":"Yeah, you see?"},{"start":130.79,"end":134.59,"text":"However we deal with the abortion issue, and we do deal this way, that's a national problem."},{"start":134.69,"end":141.7,"text":"We don't want to screw up Rockefeller Jr. and get in the middle of a fight between the cabinet clerks, the conservative party, and Rockefeller."},{"start":141.82,"end":144.4,"text":"That's what this is all about, you know."},{"start":144.46,"end":146.86,"text":"And it's a fight for ."},{"start":146.9,"end":158.63,"text":"So I got ahold of him very soon, and I said, I called, expressed concern about him, and that this was simply, frankly, a form that we had used on this."},{"start":159.73,"end":161.71,"text":"I don't know what that meant."},{"start":161.73,"end":169.32,"text":"We have always carefully said that we didn't educate any."},{"start":169.36,"end":171.28,"text":"I mean, it's an each-day state matter."},{"start":171.3,"end":172.84,"text":"That's what we all do."},{"start":173.4,"end":175.46,"text":"It's a farm of views for ourselves."},{"start":176.34,"end":177.24,"text":"But what was it like?"},{"start":177.28,"end":177.9,"text":"What did it say?"},{"start":177.92,"end":179.58,"text":"I don't know."},{"start":179.64,"end":181.5,"text":"Did it say to be imposed in New York?"},{"start":218.11,"end":218.61,"text":"So it did."},{"start":218.65,"end":233.51,"text":"So, I don't know how, when that name thing goes, it's all very good, but it just, probably came out of a political group."},{"start":234.09,"end":237.74,"text":"You can't, you can't post that group."},{"start":250.84,"end":251.31,"text":"Okay."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and John Ehrlichman discuss the political fallout and potential friction surrounding a letter concerning abortion policy in New York. The President expresses concern that the administration's involvement in the issue could complicate relationships between the Conservative Party and Nelson Rockefeller Jr. during a legislative battle. Ehrlichman is tasked with investigating the origins of the correspondence to ensure the White House avoids appearing to intervene in state-level political disputes.","topics":["Abortion policy","New York politics","Nelson Rockefeller Jr.","Executive branch intervention","Political strategy"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-07T03:17:32.833Z"},"topicSlugs":["abortion-policy","new-york-politics","nelson-rockefeller-jr","executive-branch-intervention","political-strategy"],"audioDurationSec":253,"audioFiles":[{"file":"721-002.mp3","bytes":10118579,"durationSec":252.83,"bitrate":320167,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:57.687Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/721-002.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/721-002","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/721/conversation-721-002","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}