Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 3 › Conversation 003-007

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

Wednesday, May 12, 1971 · 9:51 AM–10:12 AM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Shultz, George P.Conversation003-007 on Tape 3 (tape position 00:03:43–00:08:13)StartWednesday, May 12, 1971 at 9:51 AMEndWednesday, May 12, 1971 at 10:12 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 003-007 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and OMB Director George Shultz discussed the upcoming release of Gross National Product (GNP) figures to ensure the data was handled appropriately to avoid perceptions of political manipulation. They reviewed positive underlying economic indicators, specifically noting downward revisions in inventories and an increase in corporate profits, while strategizing on how to secure favorable press coverage without appearing overly celebratory. Ultimately, they decided to allow the report to be released through standard channels while tasking Press Secretary Ron Ziegler with providing necessary context to explain the data's impact.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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uh mr president yeah hello good morning mr president hi george hi okay i was wondering uh whether you had given more thought to uh the possible uh stepping up the data that thing due to the fact that it may leak before friday we get a and it won't put up be put out properly well uh yes i have i've uh i don't want i don't want it to appear that i don't want i don't want us to juggle a thing and because we i mean we we're not ones that you know
Our whole policy has been never to put anything out in advance or any of that sort of thing.
We want to be honest about it.
But if they know the figures on Tuesday, they shouldn't be putting them out Friday, in my opinion.
Well, Friday is their scheduled date.
I see.
Now, I did call yesterday back through the statistical channels using this fellow, Julie Shiskin, who they all respect.
Yeah.
had him reinforce our policy that we don't sit on numbers yeah and that as soon as they that then his instructions to them at this point are that they should get their material ready as fast as they can and when they've got it ready release it right but let us know in advance what they're going to do sure so it may be that they'll do it on thursday good see what we got was can you remember that was about 4 30 or so in the afternoon yeah
Julie was the first person they called the minute they got that end number.
Yeah.
And so I just brought it down to you.
Right.
They now have to get all of the component parts of this all set.
That number's still a stand one.
Oh, yeah, sure.
That's it.
And get their release material ready so that people will want to know what was revised, what was revised up, what was revised down.
Incidentally, inventories were revised down by quite a substantial amount, which is a very bullish thing in the sense that they've got to fill up.
What about the profits?
Profits went up on an annual rate basis by $10 billion from the fourth quarter.
A lot of that is GM, of course.
I see GM being so huge, but it's still...
uh not grounds for business to be feeling pretty good now one other thing that you might talk to bill sapphire about uh sometimes on a thing like this the way to get a double bounce on it is to get an inspired leak on it i'm not sure i'm not sure it should be done that way but uh why don't you just talk to bill because who's quite sophisticated in this area
Don't tell him to leak anything, but chat with him, and then the two of you decide to do anything you want.
I don't want to know what you do.
See what I mean?
All right.
Mike?
Your feeling is to just let it come its normal way.
Well, I think we should have it come its normal way, and we should have some comment on it, but we shouldn't kind of hail it as a great thing, but rather...
have the attitude well this is sort of what we expected i agree i agree you guys are all surprised but we're not surprised let me say that let me say what i was thinking about bill uh is not and i sort of get my thoughts wrong not in terms of what we say i don't think we ought to say a hell of a lot
My point is, but I would like the story to get a good play.
I want the facts to get a good play, and then let them say something about it.
See my point?
I couldn't agree more.
If we say a lot, they'll say the lady doesn't protest too much again.
And I just let the story play.
Now, they're all squealing around about that we had expected.
I was looking at a story here a couple weeks ago.
$30 billion, or disappointed that it wasn't $30 billion.
Okay, well, now it is, right?
$30.8.
So it's going to be higher before they get through, I'm just sure of it.
Right, right, right, right.
Okay, well, I think it's well, just let it come out.
And I imagine a few of the honest economists have just got to pick this figure up.
Don't you think they'll pay some attention to it, or will they?
Well, we should, sure.
We should have somebody go out, I should think, with Ron Ziegler and explain it, because it's
it's a big revision two and a half billion dollars and uh people wonder how did that come about where is it where is the impact and so on and uh somebody should answer that but right right good okay

NARA Description

On May 12, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz talked on the telephone from 9:51 am to 10:12 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 003-007 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 003-007

Date: May 12, 1971
Time: 9:51 am - 10:12 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with George P. Shultz.

     Gross National Product [GNP] figures
          -Release date
               -Possible change
               -Julius (“Jule”) Shiskin
          -Other components
               -Inventories
               -Profits
                     -General Motors
                     -Importance
          -Release date
               -William L. Safire
          -Administration handling
               -Safire
          -Release
          -Economic comment
          -Ronald L. Ziegler's briefing

Also recorded on May 12, 1971

  • 003-005 8:07 AM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:07 am and 9:51 am.
  • 003-006 8:07 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:07 am and 9:51 am.
  • 003-008 10:12 AM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:12 am and 10:25 am.
  • 003-009 10:25 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 10:25 am to 10:35 am.
  • 003-010 10:35 AM · 2 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:35 am and 2:19 pm.
  • 003-011 2:19 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Walter R. Tkach talked on the telephone from 2:19 pm to 2:22 pm.
  • 003-012 3:27 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 3:27 pm.
  • 003-013 3:27 PM · 2 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:27 pm and 3:33 pm.

All 37 conversations from May 12, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 003-007, May 12, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/003-007 (accessed October 12, 2026).