Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 292 › Conversation 292-015

Nixon & Colson on Economic policy and Congressional relations

Tuesday, October 19, 1971 · 5:09 PM–5:27 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation292-015 on Tape 292 (tape position 02:17:45–02:26:20)StartTuesday, October 19, 1971 at 5:09 PMEndTuesday, October 19, 1971 at 5:27 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 292-015 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson discuss recent legislative successes in the House of Representatives, specifically regarding efforts to reject Senate amendments. The conversation shifts to economic outlooks, where Nixon expresses frustration with cautious economic analysts and optimism for a strong consumer-driven Christmas season. They further address the need for disciplined control over inflation and economic messaging to foster positive public perception.

Audio

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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 02:17:45 into the tape and ends around 02:26:20.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
2:18:24Any other things to report now?
2:18:27I'm going to have to have one on Monday.
2:18:30That would probably be a good time to do it.
2:18:36We need about $2 more.
2:18:56Yeah, yeah, I said that .
2:18:58And he's coming back .
2:19:01What has he got, flu?
2:19:07Is that what it is or something else?
2:19:12Yeah.
2:19:15Okay.
2:19:26Anyway, our situation tomorrow is really clear.
2:20:13Yes, sir.
2:20:14Well, that was a good vote in the House.
2:20:17You know, particularly a tougher vote than the others was the way that Les nailed it down.
2:20:24It was flat out.
2:20:28Yeah.
2:20:29But I had made the vote up or down on which they said they would not accept the Senate amendment.
2:20:34Isn't that right?
2:20:41We're glad that they're supposed to.
2:20:43I did vote for the leaders, and I went over and did the Democrats do this one.
2:20:54So I walked the vote, and we had 40 Democrats in the House.
2:21:00Right.
2:21:06Right.
2:21:07Right.
2:21:09Right.
2:21:16Yeah, I talked to Rumsfeld.
2:21:20He didn't have a number.
2:21:21I don't know why they're holding back on it, but he just said that Gallup said it was up.
2:21:31So I'm not sure what the word is on that.
2:21:37except on the first base on the 1st and the 3rd.
2:21:39But he wants that kept extremely.
2:21:41Apparently the government is terribly sensitive about any of these things.
2:21:44So I'm not sure he's going to sign them again.
2:21:53A lot of them.
2:21:54Yeah, a lot of them.
2:21:59Yeah.
2:21:59But it must be of some, or he wouldn't say so, because he said it called for himself to say he wanted to do that.
2:22:07Yeah.
2:22:10Yeah.
2:22:14Yeah.
2:22:14Yeah.
2:22:16Yeah.
2:22:17Yeah.
2:22:25Yeah.
2:22:35So I don't know what those defensemen had at the end of the day.
2:22:43That's the final thing.
2:22:44We had the summit.
2:22:44We also had the next aisle.
2:22:47And also I made an announcement at a good reception in North Carolina.
2:23:05I talked to George Shultz a little when we were on budget.
2:23:16He, of course, is a monitor for everybody.
2:23:28I'll tell you a funny thing.
2:23:29I am not just pessimistic about this economy somewhere.
2:23:32God damn it.
2:23:33You know, whether it's housing or cars or anything else, we just hear too many other things that people feel is better than the rent.
2:23:41So I think frankly the people we talk to, the market and all that sort of thing, those people reflect that.
2:23:47I think out in this country, there's going to be something.
2:23:51You know, Harris and you, that we're going to have a hell of a Christmas.
2:23:55Do you agree with that?
2:24:00We're going to get one with a consumer price.
2:24:10Sure, sure.
2:24:28I don't know what the hell else we can do, it's just, it is going on in my life, you know, I just think it's a hell of a lot further.
2:24:44I think it's just the psychology.
2:24:52So it's eight, seven, eight, come on, come on, come on.
2:24:57I'm sorry.
2:25:14I mean, every time I read McCracker's analysis, he was so cautious about it.
2:25:18He said, well, it's mostly automobile, and that's not very healthy.
2:25:22Well, when the goddamn automobiles come, when all those bills are down, they say, well, that's bad.
2:25:27So they're good.
2:25:32He really is, you know.
2:25:41They have all this bullshit about their base truly being so uncertain.
2:25:46They have questions on certain things.
2:25:49You have to have absolute dictatorship.
2:25:53And you've got to keep that.
2:25:55But at least the rate of inflation has got to be medicated due to the fact that labor at least is taking so much responsibility.
2:26:03So rather than having the 15% of your degree, you'll have maybe 8 or maybe 6 or maybe 7.
2:26:08That's a whole lot of money.
2:26:15It's negative that, uh, that meeting said what he did, you know, that, what he said, the big man, you know, that, now that's, uh, that shows you, you appreciated that involvement.

NARA Description

On October 19, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:09 pm to 5:27 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 292-015 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 292-15

Date: October 19, 1971
Time: 5:09 pm - 5:27 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

[See Conversation No. 11-141]

Also recorded on October 19, 1971

  • 011-139 5:08 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 5:08 pm.
  • 011-140 5:08 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:08 pm and 5:09 pm.
  • 292-012 5:08 PM · 53 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 5:08 pm.
  • 292-013 5:08 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:08 pm and 5:09 pm.
  • 292-014 5:08 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:08 pm and 5:09 pm.
  • 011-141 5:09 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 5:09 pm to 5:27 pm.
  • 011-142 5:27 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:27 pm and 5:38 pm.
  • 292-016 5:27 PM · 59 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:27 pm to 5:38 pm.

All 93 conversations from October 19, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 292-015, October 19, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/292-015 (accessed September 18, 2026).