Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 7 › Conversation 007-028

Nixon phone call with Shultz on Rail strike and Steel strike

Thursday, July 29, 1971 · 7:31 PM–7:34 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Shultz, George P.Conversation007-028 on Tape 7 (tape position 01:28:37–01:31:49)StartThursday, July 29, 1971 at 7:31 PMEndThursday, July 29, 1971 at 7:34 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 007-028 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and George Shultz discussed strategies for mediating ongoing rail and steel industry labor disputes to mitigate their impact on the national economy. Shultz proposed a meeting with rail leaders in the Roosevelt Room to dramatize the strike's consequences, with participation from key administration officials including John Volpe and Paul McCracken. Nixon approved the plan, noting the importance of publicizing the administration's involvement while keeping his own potential appearance as an flexible option.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 57% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Hello?
Yeah.
All right.
Hello?
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir, George.
On the two disputes, on the rail dispute, Hudson and Ussery feel that it would be quite helpful if tomorrow morning we had the parties over here for the purpose of trying to mediate or
Tell them what they should settle for, but just to dramatize the impact of the strike on the country.
All right.
All right.
So we thought we would do that at 9 in the Roosevelt Room.
And include General Lincoln, who's been working on that, and Secretary Volker, and Paul McCracken.
Right.
And the others.
Right.
That would be something that you could stick your head in on very easily if you wanted to or not to do.
Right.
Yeah, well, I can always do that.
Just get it out.
You won't take a big picture of it, but the word will get out.
I'm going to hold just a second.
I've got money.
I see.
We don't know.
Motion.
Motion.
I'll be here till 6.30, so don't hesitate to follow up now.
Because before it goes, we want to get funky right there, Max.
Okay.
Bye, George.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On July 29, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz talked on the telephone from 7:31 pm to 7:34 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 007-028 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 7-28

Date: July 29, 1971
Time: 7:31 pm - 7:34 pm
Location: White House Telephone

George P. Shultz talked with the President.

     Labor disputes
          -Rail strike
                -James D. Hodgson and Willie J. Usery
                       -Meeting with rail leaders
                            -Time and location
                            -George A. Lincoln
                            -John A. Volpe
                            -Paul W. McCracken
          -Steel strike

     [Pause]

                -James Curtis Counts
                     -Administration position
                -Possible meeting

     The President's schedule

Also recorded on July 29, 1971

  • 266-008 2:45 PM — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:45 pm and 5:45 pm.
  • 266-009 2:45 PM — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:45 pm and 5:45 pm.
  • 266-010 2:45 PM — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:45 pm and 5:45 pm.
  • 266-014 5:45 PM · 50 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:45 pm and 6:35 pm.
  • 007-027 6:32 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 6:32 pm to 6:33 pm.
  • 007-029 7:38 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:38 pm.
  • 007-030 7:38 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:38 pm.
  • 007-031 7:51 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:51 pm.

All 30 conversations from July 29, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 007-028, July 29, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/007-028 (accessed September 21, 2026).