Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 2 › Conversation 002-031

Nixon phone call with Connally on Prime rate and Banking policy

Thursday, April 22, 1971 · 8:23 PM–8:25 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Connally, John B.Conversation002-031 on Tape 2 (tape position 01:06:10–01:07:48)StartThursday, April 22, 1971 at 8:23 PMEndThursday, April 22, 1971 at 8:25 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 002-031 ↗

AI Summary

Treasury Secretary John B. Connally updated President Nixon on his immediate public criticism of Chase National Bank for raising its prime rate from 5.25% to 5.5%. Connally informed the President that he tasked Charles E. Walker with pressuring Western banks to resist following this rate hike. President Nixon expressed full support for Connally’s strategy to discourage further increases by major financial institutions.

Audio

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
Mr. President, I have Secretary Connolly asking to speak with you.
Fine.
All right.
There you are.
Hello.
Mr. President, I'm sorry to bother you.
It's all right.
I'm sure you've been told, but the Chase raised their prime rate this afternoon.
Raised it?
Yes, sir.
From five and a quarter to five and a half.
And I put out a statement.
right on the heels of it the minute i heard it i just said i'm extremely disappointed good that i knew of nothing uh i didn't i have no knowledge that the loan demand had reached such proportions that an increase in the prime rate was justified good good good good and uh in addition i've got charlie walker calling on the west coast he's talked to arbuckle of wells fargo he's talking to peacock of crocker citizens good and there's a good chance that peacock
who is under Solomon out there, you know.
Yes.
That's Crocker Citizens.
We'll issue a statement saying we're not about to raise our prime rate.
We're tired of just following like sheep the eastern banking institutions.
Good.
And we're prepared to loan to
uh money at five and a quarter percent as long as we got a dime left we're not about to raise our prime good good i don't know whether they'll do it we're trying to promote this type of uh well your your statement though is good the fact that we're against this sort of thing is just good to say it well i just thought i ought to i ought to test because i didn't know when you might uh that's all right get caught on the phone or something but don't worry i'm for i'm for it all the way all right sorry about you it's all right thank you all right

NARA Description

On April 22, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 8:23 pm to 8:25 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 002-031 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 2-31

Date: April 22, 1971
Time: 8:23 pm - 8:25 pm
Location: White House Telephone

John B. Connally talked with the President.

     Prime rate increase
          -Chase National Bank
          -Connally's statement
          -Charles E. Walker
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       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

            -Western banks
                 -Ernest C. Arbuckle, Wells Fargo Bank
                 -Leslie C. Peacock, Crocker-Citizens National Bank
                 -Peacock's possible statement

Also recorded on April 23, 1971

  • 002-030 8:10 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:10 pm to 8:23 pm.
  • 487-001 9:15 AM · 49 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:15 am to 10:10 am.
  • 487-002 10:12 AM · 22 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Arthur S. Flemming, John B. Martin, Elliot L. Richardson, and Leonard Garment met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:12 am to 10:34 am.
  • 002-032 10:34 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 10:34 am.
  • 487-003 10:34 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:34 am and 10:35 am.
  • 002-033 10:35 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John A. ("Jack") Mulcahy talked on the telephone from 10:35 am to 10:38 am.
  • 487-004 10:35 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John A. ("Jack") Mulcahy met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:35 am to 10:38 am.
  • 487-005 10:40 AM · 59 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), William L. Safire, Stephen B. Bull, and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:40 am to 11:56 am.

All 32 conversations from April 23, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 002-031, April 23, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/002-031 (accessed October 7, 2026).