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Conversation: 794-002

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Start Date: 9-Oct-1972 10:10 AM

End Date: 9-Oct-1972 11:35 AM

Participants:

Nixon, Richard M. (President)Shultz, George P.Burns, Arthur F.Weinberger, Caspar W. ("Cap")Stein, HerbertWhite House photographerRumsfeld, Donald H.

Recording Device: Oval Office

794-002a.mp3

794-002b.mp3

NARA Description:

On October 9, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, Arthur F. Burns, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, Herbert Stein, White House photographer, and Donald H. Rumsfeld met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:10 am to 11:35 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 794-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid:

Conversation No. 794-2

Date: October 9, 1972
Time: 10:10 am - 11:35 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with George P. Shultz, Arthur F. Burns, Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger, and
Herbert Stein, the White House photographer and members of the press were present at the
beginning of the meeting.

        Photograph session
            -Arrangements

        [Photograph session]

        Economy
                                  7
         NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                         Tape Subject Log
                           (rev. Nov-03)

-Labor relations
     -Possible union merger
          -International Longshoremen’s and Warehouseman’s Union
          [ILWU]
               -Harry Bridges
               -International Brotherhood of Teamsters [International
               Longshoremen’s Association]
                    -Jurisdictional conflicts
-Issues
     -Stein memorandum
     -1972 election
     -Post-1972 election plans
     -Donald H. Rumsfeld
          -Wage and price controls
          -Public statements
     -Budget
          -Water bill
               -Veto possibility
                    -Timing
                         -Veto override
                    -Message
                         -Domestic Council
                         -Length
                              -Camp David
                    -Cost
                    -Howard H. Baker, Jr.
                    -Russell E. Train
                    -Cost
                         -City reimbursements
                    -Justification
     -Railroads pension bill veto override
     -Appropriations bill
          -Department of Health, Education and Welfare [HEW]
     -Continuing resolution
          -October 15, 1972
          -January 31, 1972
     -Veterans education bill
          -Supplemental appropriations bill
               -Impact on budget
               -Higher education
                                          8
                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                   Tape Subject Log
                                     (rev. Nov-03)

                              -Unknown person
                -Plans for second term
                    -Stein’s memorandum
                    -Statements
                         -Staffing
                    -Burns’s schedule
                    -Staff schedules
                    -Budget
                    -Initiatives
                    -Meetings at Camp David
                    -Franklin D. Roosevelt
                    -Dwight D. Eisenhower
                    -Inaugural Address
                    -State of the Union
                    -Council of Economic Advisors [CEA]
                    -Burns’s schedule
                    -H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
                    -John D. Ehrlichman
                    -Henry A. Kissinger’s trips
                    -Budget
                    -The President’s schedule

Rumsfeld entered at 10:23 am.

                        -Edward R.G. Heath, Georges J.R. Pompidou, Willy
                         Brandt
                            -Possible visits
                        -Post-election meetings
                            -Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty [SALT]
                                 -Vienna
                            -European Security Conference
                            -Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions [MBFR]
                -Domestic Plans
                   -“Bold new programs”
                        -Spending
                   -1969-71
                   -1972 State of the Union
                        -Revenue sharing
                   -Energy, hunger, the environment
                        -Media relations
                                     9
             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                             Tape Subject Log
                               (rev. Nov-03)

             -Taxes
             -Wage and price controls
             -George E. Allen
                  -Football analogy
             -Public statements
             -Stein’s memorandum
                  -Economic mismanagement
             -Fiscal policy
                  -Spending ceiling

Congressional relations
   -Procedures
        -Radio Address on Federal Spending, October 7,1972
            -Wilbur D. Mills
        -Government reorganization
        -Revenue sharing
        -Special interests problems
        -Health, hunger, cities, race
            -Joint Economic Committee
                 -Function
        -George H. Mahon
            -Appropriations committee
        -Spending bill
            -Ceiling
            -New committee
            -Republicans
                 -Candidates
                      -Robert C. (“Bob”) Wilson, Peter H. Dominick
                           -Photograph sessions
                      -House of Representatives
                           -Age of candidates
                      -Senate
                           -Age of candidates
                      -Type of candidate desired by the President
                      -Robert M. LaFollette, Mike Manroney
            -Need for reorganization of Congress
                 -Priorities on issues
                      -Health, environment, welfare, government reorganization,
                      budget
                 -Public effect
                                       10
              NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                               Tape Subject Log
                                 (rev. Nov-03)

                  -“Rumsfeld’s raiders”
                      -Barber B. Conable, Jr.
                      -Edward G. Biester, Jr.
                  -Senate, House of Representatives
                      -Performance
                      -Legislation

The President’s readings
    -Irish foreign minister [Patrick Hillary]
    -Need for political and religious leaders for periods of
     “withdrawal and return”
         -Arnold O. Toynbee
              -Essay
         -Moses
         -Siddhartha Buddha
         -Winston S. Churchill
         -Charles A.J.M. DeGaulle
         -Jawaharlal Nehru
         -Mohandas K. Gandhi
         -Konrad Adenauer
              -Otto von Bismarck

Congress
   -Records
   -Attention to detail compared to broad view
   -Need for reflection and perspective
        -Campaigning
        -Cabinet

The President's readings
    -William Gladstone
    -Benjamin Disraeli
        -Robert Blake's biography
        -Compared to Gladstone
        -Activities
             -Hughenden Manor

The President’s August 15, 1971 announcement
    -The President's Camp David meeting
                                     11
             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                             Tape Subject Log
                               (rev. Nov-03)

Congress
   -Schedule
        -The President’s meetings with Carl B. Albert, Gerald R.
         Ford, Michael J. Mansfield

Leadership ideas
    -Administration
        -Executive branch
        -White House
             -Family Assistance Plan [FAP]
    -Professoriate
        -Sabbatical
    -Lawyers
    -Business world
        -Vacations
    -Soviet Union system
        -The President’s conversations with Leonid I. Brezhnev
         and Aleksei N. Kosygin
             -Vacations
                  -Brezhnev’s age
                      -Activities
    -Reading habits
        -Books
        -Columns, speeches, news summaries
        -Burns
        -Need for perspective
    -Economy
        -The President’s August 15, 1971 announcement
    -Foreign policy
        -People’s Republic of China [PRC]
        -Soviet Union
             -Kissinger
                  -Vietnam
                  -Latin America
                  -Europe
                  -Cyprus
                  -Middle East
    -Domestic needs
    -The President’s 1967 [Foreign Affairs] article
    -The President’s 1967 World Tour
                                     12
             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                             Tape Subject Log
                               (rev. Nov-03)

        -New York Times
    -House of Representatives
        -Members
            -Age
            -Social activities
                 -Albert
                      -Oklahoma
    -White House staff, Cabinet
        -Family problems
    -Post-1972 election needs
        -December 15, 1972
        -Inauguration, State of the Union Address

Congressional relations
    -House of Representatives
        -Ford
    -Need for Congressional reorganization
        -The President’s role
        -Ways and Means Committee
            -Federal spending ceiling
                 -Joint committee
                      -Possible meetings with the President
        -Authority
        -Speech
        -Possible magazine article
            -Saturday Evening Post
            -Press, media, political scientists
                 -Interest in Presidency
        -Budget
-Programs
    -Cost
    -Accomplishments
        -Brookings Institute
        -Great society
        -Evaluation
            -Budget
                 -Fiscal year [FY] 1974

Wage and Price controls
   -Interest rates
                              13
        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                       Tape Subject Log
                         (rev. Nov-03)

-Duration
    -Problems
         -Business inefficiency
    -Walter W. Heller’s program
    -Timing
         -Budget
         -Food prices
         -Inflation
    -Economic Stabilization Act
    -Cost of Living Council [COLC]
    -Inflationary spiral
         -1973
         -Pay Board
              -Wage guidelines
              -Price Commission
              -Market forces effect on pay demands
                   -Possible market deceleration
    -The President’s August 15, 1971 announcement
         -Effect
              -The President’s view
         -Construction Stabilization Committee
    -Construction Stabilization Committee
         -Construction unions
              -Non-union competition
              -Analogy to Congress and budget
              -James J. Davis-Robert L. Bacon Act
                   -Suspension
    -COLC meeting in Cabinet room, September 29, 1972
         -Marvin H. Kosters’s analysis
              -1973
                   -Bargaining demands
                       -Compared to previous years
                       -Newspaper reporters
                            -Edward Dale
-Action until 1972 election
    -Polls
         -George S. McGovern
              -Louis P. Harris, Albert E. Sindlinger
    -Temporary nature of controls
    -Permanent nature of controls
                                14
        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                        Tape Subject Log
                          (rev. Nov-03)

    -McGovern
    -Possibility of gradual removal in January, 1973
         -Compared with 1947
              -Jesse Wolcott
              -House of Representatives
              -Prices
    -Enforcement
    -Food prices
         -Administration action
              -Wholesalers, retail
         -Opposition program
         -Meat
              -Chuck roast
              -Jane (Dalton) Weinberger’s forthcoming speech
              -Charles G. (“Bebe”) Rebozo
                   -Anecdote
-Need for change in 1973
    -Phase II
         -October 7, 1971
         -Demand-pull inflation
    -Legislation
    -Economic developments
    -Fiscal policy
    -Federal government action
         -Food prices
         -Agricultural policy
         -Tariffs
         -Quotas
         -Legislation
         -Possible public hearings
         -Possible speech
         -Agriculture Department
         -Legislation
              -Office of Management and Budget [OMB]
              -CEA
                   -COLC
    -Spending programs
         -Effect on fiscal policy
    -Legislative enactments
         -Cost to the consumer
                                    15
             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                            Tape Subject Log
                              (rev. Nov-03)

        -Agriculture
            -Special interests
                 -Cotton subsidy
                      -John B. Connally
                          -Texas
        -Congressional relations
            -Legislative proposals
            -Inflation
                 -Public expectations
            -Fiscal policy, legislation
            -Subsidy costs
                 -Government service contract bill
                      -Defense Department
                      -Provision
                          -Labor Department
                 -Property Review Board
                 -Walter Beaman Jones, Sr. Act

Congressional relations
   -Consumer cost
        -Government subsidy programs
   -Politics
        -1976 election
        -Eisenhower
             -1952 election
                 -Adlai E. Stevenson, II
                 -Republican control of Congress
        -1946, 1948
        -1950
             -Robert A. Taft, Sr., the President
        -1952, 1954, 1956, 1958
        -1972 election
        -Republican candidates
             -Support for the President
                 -1974 election
             -New York, Connecticut
                 -Possible scenario
             -Support for the President
                 -Compared to special interests
             -Seniority
                            16
    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                    Tape Subject Log
                      (rev. Nov-03)

         -Frank T. Bow
             -Appropriations Committee Chairmanship
             -Health
             -Ambassadorship to Panama
         -Rumsfeld’s experience
             -Reapportionment
                  -Supreme Court decision
             -1964 election
                  -Barry M. Goldwater
                  -1946
             -The President
-Leadership
    -Foreign policy and domestic policy
    -Connally’s point
         -Congress
         -Governors
-Governors
    -Nelson A. Rockefeller
    -Ronald W. Reagan
    -John J. Gilligan
    -Milton J. Shapp
    -Richard B. Ogilvie
    -Michigan governor [William G. Miliken]
    -Massachusetts [Francis W. Sargent]
    -Texas
         -Dolph Briscoe
    -Congress leadership
         -Thomas E. Dewey
         -Earl Warren
         -James H. Duff
             -Pennsylvania
         -Ford
             -List
-Senate
-Mansfield
-Russell B. Long
-John C. Stennis, John C. McClellan, James O. Eastland
    -Fiscal and foreign policy responsibility
-John J. Sparkman
    -[Winston M. Blount]
                                17
        NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                        Tape Subject Log
                          (rev. Nov-03)

    -Eastland, McClellan, Stennis
          -Civil rights
    -Taft
    -William F. Knowland
    -Everett M. Dirksen
    -Hugh Scott
    -Robert P. Griffin
-House of Representatives
    -Connally’s view
    -Albert
    -[Thomas] Hale Boggs
    -Mills
    -Missouri
          -Richard W. Bolling
    -Mahon
    -Olin E. (“Tiger”) Teague
          -Veterans Affairs Committee
    -Ford
          -Leadership qualities
              -Robert C. (“Bob”) Wilson
              -Charles A. Halleck
    -Melvin R. Laird
-Lyndon B. Johnson
    -Domestic policy
-Taft
    -Foreign policy
-Mansfield
    -Relationship with the President
    -PRC discussions
-Salaries
-Retirement
-Ford
    -Barber B. Conable, Jr.
    -John J. Rhodes
          -Conable
              -Seniority
-Halleck
-Appropriations Committee
    -Elford A. Cederberg
          -Compared to Frank T. Bow
                                   18
              NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                            Tape Subject Log
                              (rev. Nov-03)

        -Age
            -Adenauer
            -De Gaulle
            -Eisenhower
            -Churchill
            -Shigeru Yoshida
            -Chiang Kai-shek
            -Chou En-lai
        -US system
        -Meeting with the President
            -Ford, Leslie C. Arends
            -Mansfield
            -Scott
            -Change
                -Bryce N. Harlow
            -Ford and Dirksen
                -Ford
                     -Speaker of the House
                -John B. Anderson
                -Rhodes
                -Arends
                     -Samuel L. Devine
                     -Arends
                          -Upcoming retirement
        -Speaker of the House
            -Role
            -Joseph W. Martin, Jr.
                -Halleck
            -Ford
            -Majority leader
            -Whip

The President's schedule
    -Russell E. Train

Food prices

The president’s schedule
    -Train
                                              19
                       NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                        Tape Subject Log
                                          (rev. Nov-03)

Rumsfeld, Shultz et al. left at 11:35 am.