Conversation: 495-021
Prev: 495-019 Next: 495-022Start Date: 7-May-1971 2:57 PM
End Date: 7-May-1971 4:14 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Meany, George; Usery, Willie J., Jr.;Recording Device: Oval Office
Full Tape Conversation Start Time: 01:56:55
Full Tape Conversation End Time: 03:13:19
NARA Description:
On May 7, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, George Meany, and Willie J. Usery, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:57 pm to 4:14 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 495-021 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 495-21
Date: May 7, 1971
Time: 2:57 pm - 4:14 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with George Meany and Willie J. Usery, Jr.
[The recording begins at an unknown time while the meeting is in progress.]
Supersonic Transport [SST] and Lockheed
-Lockheed
-William M. Magruder's[?] presence
-James D. Hodgson
-Opposition
-Overruns on weapons
-Subcontractors
-Military Appropriations Bill
-President's May 6, 1971 meeting with Gerald R. Ford
-Edward P. Boland
-Upcoming vote
-SST termination costs
-Boland
-President's forthcoming meetings with Republican congressmen
-Reasons for previous opposition
-Democratic opposition
-Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger
-Release of funds
-Environmental opposition
Cigars
SST and Lockheed
-Military Appropriations Bill vote
-Ford and House leaders
-Possible vote changes in House and Senate
-SST and Lockheed
-Henry M. ("Scoop") Jackson
-Warren ("Maggie") Magnuson
-California senators
-David H. Gambrell
-John V. Tunney
-Alan Cranston
27
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Jackson and Magnuson
-Jobs
-Position of Lockheed
-US prestige
-Position of industry
-France, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
-Hubert H. Humphrey
-Conversation with Meany
-Breakfast with the President[?]
-Environmental considerations
-Meany's role
-House and Senate votes
-House and Senate conference committee
-Importance of SST and Lockheed
-Previous vote
-Meany's role
-Liberal Democrats
-Edmund S. Muskie
-[William] Stuart Symington
-Magnuson and Jackson
-Clinton P. Anderson
-Possible vote change
-John O. Pastore
-Possible vote change
-Republicans
-Total
-Upcoming vote
-Vote changes needed
-House
-Humphrey
-Conversation with Meany
-Possible changes
-House
-Date
-Senate
-Possible changes
-Cranston, Tunney, Gambrell, Anderson
-Lockheed
-Gambrell
-Jobs
-Economy
-Lockheed
28
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Jobs
-Subcontractors
-Machinists' Union
-Loss of jobs
-Aerospace jobs
-Lockheed
-Future
-SST's importance Conv. No. 495-21 (cont.)
-Cancellation costs
-Subcontractors
-Tax losses
-Upcoming votes
-House, Senate
-House and Senate conference committee
-Meany's position
-Ford
-Lockheed
-Jackson and Magnuson
-Boeing Corporation unemployment
-Effects on Seattle community
-Upcoming vote
-Lawton M. Chiles, Jr.
-Lockheed facility at Cape Kennedy
-Environmental concerns
-Administration action
-House
-Lockheed/Rolls Royce
-Possible British government action
-Head of British trade union [name unintelligible]
-Meeting with Meany
-John B. Connally
-Agreement
-Upcoming vote
-Possible vote
-Jobs
-Environmental concerns
-Contractors
-Jobs
-Contractors
-Jobs
-House of Representatives
-Possible Labor Department action
29
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Meany's role
-Andrew Biemiller
-Schedule
-Ford
-Boland
-George H. Mahon
-Lockheed
-Possible outcome Conv. No. 495-21 (cont.)
-Labor relations
-Lockheed
-Boeing
-Lockheed
-SST
-A group's participation [name unintelligible]
-McDonnell-Douglas and General Electric
-Position on Lockheed and SST
-Meany's conversation with a company vice president
Vietnam
-President's policies
[Transcript #1: A transcript of the following portion of this conversation was prepared under
court order from December 1978 through March 1979 for Special Access 8, Ronald V. Dellums,
et al. v. James M. Powell, et al., No. 71-2271. The National Archives and Records
Administration produced this transcript. The National Archives does not guarantee its accuracy.]
[End of transcript]
-Public opinion
-Troop withdrawals
-Level
-An announcement
-South Vietnamese military situation
-Past position
-Casualty levels
-Declines
-Meany's position of support
-US Position
-USSR, People’s Republic of China [PRC]
[Transcript #2: A transcript of the following portion of this conversation was prepared under
court order from December 1978 through March 1979 for Special Access 8, Ronald V. Dellums,
30
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
et al. v. James M. Powell, et al., No. 71-2271. The National Archives and Records
Administration produced this transcript. The National Archives does not guarantee its accuracy.]
[End of transcript]
Building Trades Union
-President's position
-Perception by labor
-President's actions Conv. No. 495-21 (cont.)
-President's position
-Dr. Arthur A. Fletcher, Arthur F. Burns
-A speech by Fletcher
-Charles W. Colson
-Apprentice programs
-Support for President
-Compared with intellectual elites
-Administration position
-President's position
-President's conversations with Meany
-Fletcher
-Apprenticeship and training program
-American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations
[AFL-CIO] programs
-Don Swain[?]
-Effects
-Scope
-Standards
-Fletcher
-Speech to a non-union group of contractors
Economy
-Unemployment, retail sales
Building trades
-Administration position
-James D. Hodgson
-Labor Department
-Meany's May 7, 1971 meeting with Hodgson and Usery
-Deferred entries
-“Balloon” increases
-Position
-John H. (“Jack”) Lyons
-Burns’ Pepperdine University speech, January 1971
31
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Labor response
-Burns' relation with Meany and economists
-Burns' position in government, field of expertise
-Pepperdine
-Christian Church affiliation
-Size
-Compulsory arbitration
-Meany's forthcoming meeting with Burns Conv. No. 495-21 (cont.)
-Burns’ field of expertise
-Meany's forthcoming meeting with Burns
-Statements on minimum wage and unemployment
-Blacks
-Heads of families
-Possible amendment to minimum wage law for teenagers
Economy
-Unemployment
-Full employment
-Blacks compared with whites
-Full employment
-Burns’ speech
-Minimum wage suggestion
-Forthcoming meeting with Meany
-Burns’ field of expertise
-Minimum wage statement
-Building Trades Union response
-Burns’ field of expertise
-Interest rates
-Burns’ forthcoming meeting with Meany
-US, Europe
-Bank of America
-International economy
-US economy
-Position of the dollar
-West Germany
-Inflation
-Post-World War I period
-Japan
-Great Britain
-West Germany
32
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-France
-Italy
-John B. Connally's position
US economy
-Unemployment
-Current and future levels
-President's May 1, 1971 speech in San Clemente Conv. No. 495-21 (cont.)
-Lockheed
-SST
-Money supply
-Federal Reserve
-Construction level
-Government contracts increase
-Overseas trade
-Labor's position
-Louis Stokes, Paul N. (“Pete”) McCloskey, Jr.[?] and [name unintelligible]
-Shoe industry
-Labor's position
-1934 reciprocal trade agreement
-American companies abroad
-Japanese and German auto sales on West Coast
-Peter G. Peterson
-Possible meeting with Meany
-Briefings
-Bipartisan Congressional leaders
-AFL-CIO board
-Germany, Japan
-USSR, PRC
-Future prospects
-Peterson's presentation
-Length, value
-Usery's viewing
-Effect
-Trade unions
-Foreign competition
-US
-Japan
-Common market
-Peterson's presentation
-AFL-CIO board
-Length
33
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-Radios
-Foreign competition
-American companies abroad
-Labor costs
-US position in textiles
-Wage rates
-West Germany, Japan, Great Britain
-Effect Conv. No. 495-21 (cont.)
-Peterson's presentation
-Meany's office
-Scheduling
-Foreign competition
-Japan
-Cameras
-Leica and Other German cameras
-Lenses
-Textiles
-Open markets
-Japan
-Common market
-Tires
-West Germany, Belgium
-Head of the United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum, and Plastic Workers of
America [name unintelligible]
Government workers
-Attendance figures during D.C. demonstrations
-President's call to [name unintelligible]
-John F. Griner
-President's call
-George Ingram[?]
-Andy Lucas
-Georgia
-Louis [first or last name unknown]
-St. Louis
Building Trades Union
-Meeting of president of union with Usery
-President's position on Vietnam
[Transcript #3: A transcript of the following portion of this conversation was prepared under
court order from December 1978 through March 1979 for Special Access 8, Ronald V. Dellums,
34
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
et al. v. James M. Powell, et al., No. 71-2271. The National Archives and Records
Administration produced this transcript. The National Archives does not guarantee its accuracy.]
[End of transcript]
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse men, and Helpers of
America [TEAMSTERS]
-Leadership Conv. No. 495-21 (cont.)
-President's previous conversation with Meany
-James R. Hoffa
-Frank E. Fitzsimmons
-Relations with Hoffa
-Hoffa
-Possible re-election
-Current status
-Fitzsimmons
-Possible election
-Effect
-Relations with AFL-CIO
-Hoffa
-Building trades
-Membership
-Fitzsimmons
-Meany's relations
-Weldon L[amar] Mathis
-Georgia
-Leadership
-Fitzsimmons
-Hoffa
-Harold J. Gibbons
-St. Louis Teamsters vice president
-Gibbons
-Future
-Hoffa
-Effect of re-election
-Hoffa
-Jury tampering, mail fraud
-Pension funds
-Connections
-Pittsburgh
-Sentence
-Possible parole in June, 1972
35
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-An unnamed California man's actions
-Meany's and Fitzsimmons's actions
-Ray Lahaynie
-Relations between AFL-CIO and Teamsters
-Hoffa
-Fitzsimmons
-Relations with Hoffa
-Hoffa Conv. No. 495-21 (cont.)
-Unknown man's previous meeting
-Relations between AFL-CIO & Teamsters
-Attendance at meetings
-Convention
-A conversation between Meany and Fitzsimmons
-Relations between Teamsters and building trades
-Relations between Teamsters and AFL-CIO
-Hoffa
-Handling of money
-Las Vegas casinos, loans
-Current financial reports
-Hoffa
-Handling of money
-Pension funds
-Outside interests
Commission on Financial Structure and Regulation
-President's May 6, 1971 meeting
-Insurance, savings and loans, banks
-Credit unions
-Commission meeting with head of credit unions
-Membership nationwide
-Meany's meeting with head of credit unions
-Membership, methods of operation
-Unions
-Dues checkoff
-Labor position
Economy
-Savings
-Spending
-April and March retail sales
-Factors affecting apparel sales
-President's conversation with Donald McI. Kendall
36
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-PepsiCo's Wilson Sporting Goods
-Sales of golf equipment
-Sears-Roebuck, Company 1-month sales
-Betting
-An unknown man's trip to Kentucky
-Kentucky Derby
-Meeting with Louie B. Nunn
Meany's trip to Augusta National Golf Course Conv. No. 495-21 (cont.)
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
-Course
-President's visit
-Cliff Robertson
-Course
-Meany's golf game
Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 2:57 pm.
Golf balls
-Kendall
Bull left at an unknown time before 4:14 pm.
Augusta National Course
-President's trip in 1963
-Robertson
-Golf tribute to Eisenhower
-Eisenhower College in New York and Eisenhower Medical Center in
California
-Leslie T. (“Bob”) Hope, Robertson, Meany
[Transcript #4: A transcript of the following portion of this conversation was prepared under
court order from December 1978 through March 1979 for Special Access 8, Ronald V. Dellums,
et al. v. James M. Powell, et al., No. 71-2271. The National Archives and Records
Administration produced this transcript. The National Archives does not guarantee its accuracy.]
[End of transcript]
Building trades
-Administration position
-Meany's response
-Administration relations
-Support for US
37
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. 9/08)
-A parade in New York City
-Fiorello LaGuardia
-Conversation with Meany
-"C.D. thing"[?]
-Elections
-Neil Hagerty [?]
-Health
-Frank A. Bonadio Conv. No. 495-21 (cont.)
-Previous meeting with President
-Convention
-Bonavito's control of legislature
-Size
-Usery's or Hodgson's attendance
-Leadership
-Usery and Hodgson
-A Miami meeting
-Reports to President
Peterson briefing
-Scheduling
-AFL-CIO board meeting
Tommy Harris
-Office of Price Administration [OPA]
-Supreme Court
-Former work with Leon Henderson at OPA
A golf tournament
-A doctor
Bob [last name unintelligible]
Arthur [last name unknown]
Texas, South Florida
Meany and Usery left at 4:14 pm