Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 1 › Conversation 001-105

Nixon phone call with Shultz on Economic Policy and Gross National Product

Thursday, April 15, 1971 · 7:49 PM–7:53 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Shultz, George P.Conversation001-105 on Tape 1 (tape position 03:34:52–03:39:18)StartThursday, April 15, 1971 at 7:49 PMEndThursday, April 15, 1971 at 7:53 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 001-105 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with George P. Shultz regarding the administration's public messaging on recent positive economic indicators, specifically GNP growth and the rise in the stock market. The discussion focused on leveraging these favorable statistics to build public confidence without appearing to overstate the data or alienate CEA Chairman Paul McCracken. Shultz briefed the President on his upcoming speech, which would emphasize a steady economic course rather than reactionary policies like tax cuts.

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Position in tape: 03:34:52 – 03:39:18

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello, George.
Yes, sir.
Hope you noticed the headline in the star.
Yeah, that bounced right.
If we finally got one good headline, I don't know what the Post and the Times do with it.
They'll probably knock it down, but it's just good to have one good one right now.
Yes, but the 28 and a half is a pretty good figure, isn't it?
Well, a word that I used, Ron asked me to come in and brief on it.
I saw it.
that it was a good solid gain and i think it is the um to make it really strong i think you need to combine it with the march retail sales that we tried about the other day i'm going to hit that with editors tomorrow night because the um actually when you break that gnp down the auto increase
accounts for a very heavy proportion of the real increase, and so they'll say that's because of the strike.
Right.
And the answer to that is that retail sales, as we came toward the last month of the quarter, were strong, and that retail sales figure goes across the board.
It isn't just autos.
Mm-hmm.
so while others are strong and then you'd expect them to be in this that's fine it's uh broader than that so we tried to bring that out and of course the stock thing went up again today nine thirty above uh the date of your inaugural yeah we're not way above but we just eight or nine points above anyway yeah it's it's it's up the main thing it's above well we uh ride the good news when we got it sure right i'm i'm a believer in that and the uh and uh
put it out in a way that we don't try to overstate it.
No, no.
But I think at least I have the impression Ron felt that we gave it a good strong.
Oh, yes, he felt very good about it.
Very good, very good.
I'm a little reluctant, as I told Ron, to do that because of McCracken's sensitivity, particularly right now.
But that's all right.
I reassured, I guess.
I reassured McCracken.
And now and then we've got to put a new voice in, you know.
Everybody's got to play this game.
And he would not have played it as strongly as you did, and we've got to play it strong.
I'm over here working on this talk I have to give next week.
Oh, yeah.
And the theme that I'm using is the old Navy command, steady as you go.
Good.
And that's going to be the way I'm building that up.
I hope you'll...
i can try out a little bit of it on you sure um you bet your last year that uh you're in accord with oh i think that's exactly the right theme that we're not going to be panicked uh we weren't panicked earlier and we're not going to be panicked now to go for tax reduction or is that i think we're just going to stay right where we are and we're not going to worry about whether it's uh two billion below what we'd hoped or a billion and a half or or uh anything that we're just saying that uh you can't you we can't
fix these numbers exactly.
And on the retail sales thing, I think this is terribly important.
Yes.
Well, one of the reporters asked me the question, they said, well, how does the president interpret the consumer attitudes and their reluctance to spend?
And I said, well, the president focuses
and has been very much impressed with the actual performance of the consumers in March and the strong retail sales figure.
Also, you've got to say that consumers also are reflected in the stock market, aren't they?
And in the stock market.
Consumers, sure.
Although I think really the stock market kind of reacts the other way.
When it's going well, people tend to go ahead and spend the money like they've got it.
Yeah, I see your point.
Okay, well, we've got a good balance anyway.
Yes, sir.
Will you have some time tomorrow, or are you going to be preoccupied?
I'll be pretty, but Saturday I'll have some time.
All right.
Saturday would be a better time.
Saturday, I'd just like about ten minutes.
I'll work out this fellow Ken Dan with you.
Sure, Adam.
Well, let's talk about it Saturday morning.
All right.
I have plenty of time, then.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well?
Mr. President?

NARA Description

On April 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz talked on the telephone from 7:49 pm to 7:53 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 001-105 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 1-105

Date: April 15, 1971
Time: 7:49 pm - 7:53 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with George P. Shultz.

     Growth in the Gross National Product [GNP]
         -Washington Star headline
         -Washington Post, New York Times
         -Ronald L. Ziegler
         -Retail sales
                -President’s forthcoming meeting with editors, April 16, 1971
                -Strike
                -Automobile production
         -Stock market
         -Ziegler
         -Paul W. McCracken

     Shultz's upcoming speech
          -Theme
          -Tax reduction proposal
          -President's economic policies
     Retail sales
           -Consumer attitudes
                 -March 1971 figures
                 -Stock market

     President's schedule
           -Kenneth W. Dam

Also recorded on April 16, 1971

  • 001-098 7:26 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 7:26 pm to 7:29 pm.
  • 001-099 7:30 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:30 pm.
  • 001-100 7:31 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:31 pm.
  • 001-101 7:31 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:31 pm and 7:33 pm.
  • 001-102 7:42 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:42 pm and 7:47 pm.
  • 001-103 7:42 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:42 pm and 7:47 pm.
  • 001-104 7:47 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 7:47 pm to 7:48 pm.
  • 001-097 8:17 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 8:17 pm to 8:18 pm.

All 51 conversations from April 16, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 001-105, April 16, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/001-105 (accessed October 16, 2026).