Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 292 › Conversation 292-026

Nixon & Graham on Political strategy and Tax reform

Tuesday, October 19, 1971 · 6:04 PM–6:09 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Graham, William F. ("Billy")Conversation292-026 on Tape 292 (tape position 02:37:46–02:42:05)StartTuesday, October 19, 1971 at 6:04 PMEndTuesday, October 19, 1971 at 6:09 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 292-026 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and evangelist Billy Graham engaged in a brief, informal discussion that transitioned from personal pleasantries into a deliberation regarding political strategy and economic messaging. The President solicited Graham’s counsel on a new initiative, emphasizing the need for a private follow-up meeting to refine their approach. Furthermore, Nixon touched upon the political sensitivities of tax restructuring, suggesting that any proposed tax increases must be carefully framed within the broader context of tax reform to maintain public support.

Audio

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Position in tape: 02:37:46 – 02:42:05

part B, 37:50

292a.mp3
292b.mp3

NARA Description

On October 19, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and William F. ("Billy") Graham met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:04 pm to 6:09 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 292-026 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 292-26

Date: October 19, 1971
Time: 6:04 pm - 6:09 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with William F. (“Billy”) Graham.

[See Conversation No. 11-148; one item has been withdrawn from the conversation]

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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I was going to tell you that I feel that on this initiative that that's something that we ought to perhaps the first bite on that is you and I ought to sit down and talk about it so that I sort of get a good feel of it and then you should get at how it isn't something that really should be sort of a consensus anyway.
What do you think?
And the more I feel about it, I don't know, I think that this is a really cold judgment, but I really think we've got to go for it.
What do you think, Max?
And the other thing is that, now, Kat, of course, is very, very sensitive politically, but I just wondered if the tax increase then is all that important, particularly if you can relate it to tax reform, you know.
Let's see.
We're restructuring the whole tax farm.
Yeah.
That's right.
Yeah.
And also reform and so forth.
I'm going.
No, I'm not feeling like it.
Maybe we can do it Saturday.
We don't mind doing it at Camp David or something like that.
Fair enough.
All right.
Okay.
Anything else of interest?
Good.
Oh, good.
Well, they know how they're trying to screw us into things, so be sure they know.
All right, fine.
Bye-bye.
Dr. Billy Graham, please.
Hello?
Hello, Billy?
You back home?
Oh, they're all our friends.
Give them my best.
Tell them I link to their ads.
They've been great.
I used to sell them in, you know, in the football and baseball games.
Oh, my.
But we stay there now.
We stay there now in New Hampshire and Oregon and other places.
Well, that's great.
Yeah, well, I'll tell you, I was going to tell you that I was very pleased on the first day.
Our people said the television was good, and the second.
Even the New York Times and the Washington Post had a front page picture, to my great surprise.
But I don't know, I really was pleased that they paid that much attention to it, weren't you?

Also recorded on October 19, 1971

  • 011-147 5:50 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 5:50 pm to 6:04 pm.
  • 292-023 5:50 PM · 56 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:50 pm and 6:04 pm.
  • 292-024 5:50 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:50 pm and 6:04 pm.
  • 011-148 6:04 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William F. ("Billy") Graham talked on the telephone from 6:04 pm to 6:09 pm.
  • 011-149 6:09 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:09 pm and 6:16 pm.
  • 292-027 6:09 PM · 20 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 6:09 pm and 6:16 pm.
  • 011-150 6:16 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo talked on the telephone from 6:16 pm to 6:20 pm.
  • 292-028 6:16 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:16 pm to 6:20 pm.

All 95 conversations from October 19, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 292-026, 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/292-026 (accessed November 2, 2026).