Nixon White House TapesTape 326 › Conversation 326-022

Nixon & Gurney on Labor unions and Media relations

Friday, March 24, 1972 · 2:22 PM–2:23 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Gurney, Edward J.Conversation326-022 on Tape 326 (tape position 02:55:12–02:59:35)StartFriday, March 24, 1972 at 2:22 PMEndFriday, March 24, 1972 at 2:23 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 326-022 ↗

President Nixon met with Senator Edward J. Gurney to offer encouragement regarding Gurney’s aggressive approach toward media criticism and labor unions. Nixon affirmed his support for Gurney's “hard line” stance, comparing the need to check labor power in the 20th century to the regulation of business in the 19th century. The brief exchange served as a morale-boosting gesture of solidarity between the President and the Senator.

Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.9 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 61.1 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 02:55:12 into the tape and ends around 02:59:35.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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2:57:00So...
2:57:00So...
2:57:00I just want you to know, you know, I have to stay out of these various things that you've all engaged in down there, but I think you're just doing a good job.
2:57:38I'm going to continue to take a damn hard line with this media call.
2:58:01It's taken the eye of the view that, you know, that the public began.
2:58:06We couldn't let business get away with that in the latter part of the 19th century.
2:58:10We're not going to let labor get away with it in the latter part of the 20th century.
2:58:19Okay.
2:58:19All right.
2:58:19Well, good luck and thank you.
2:58:20Bye.

On March 24, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Edward J. Gurney met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:22 pm to 2:23 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 326-022 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 326-22

Date: March 24, 1972
Time: 2:22 pm - 2:23 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Edward J. Gurney.

[See Conversation No. 22-20]
  • 022-017 1:29 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:29 pm and 2:05 pm.
  • 022-018 2:05 PM · 32 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 2:05 pm to 2:06 pm.
  • 326-020 2:05 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:05 pm to 2:06 pm.
  • 022-019 2:06 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:06 pm and 2:22 pm.
  • 326-021 2:06 PM · 16 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 2:06 pm and 2:22 pm.
  • 022-020 2:22 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Edward J. Gurney talked on the telephone from 2:22 pm to 2:23 pm.
  • 328-001 2:23 PM · 3 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 2:23 pm and 2:59 pm.
  • 693-001 3:02 PM · 36 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ralph Harris, John F. Osborne, Peter Lisagor, Charles W. Bailey, Robert B. Semple, Jr., Donald Bacon, Jack Germond, R. H. Shackford, Jim Cary, Sarah McLendon, Lucian C Warren, John Cauley, Frank van der Linden, Jim Deakin, Jesse Lewis, Gaylord Shaw, Bob Toth, David Kraslow, Courtney Sheldon, Jerald F. ("Jerry") terHorst, Dave Barnett, Martin Nolan, Jack Leacocas, Clark R. Mollenhoff, Martin Schram, Edgar Allen Poe, Fred Bonavita, George Embrey, Frank Kane, Ed O'Brien, Phil Potter, and Ross Mark met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:02 pm to 3:39 pm.

Conversation 326-022, March 24, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/326-022 (accessed September 20, 2026).