Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 7 › Conversation 007-025

Nixon phone call with Colson on Arthur Burns and Economic Policy

Wednesday, July 28, 1971 · 8:59 PM–9:08 PM ET · White House Telephone · 8 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation007-025 on Tape 7 (tape position 01:20:28–01:28:20)StartWednesday, July 28, 1971 at 8:59 PMEndWednesday, July 28, 1971 at 9:08 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 007-025 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson discuss their recent, contentious interaction with Federal Reserve Chairman Arthur Burns, focusing on the need to manage his influence and public messaging. The conversation shifts to evaluating positive indicators in the economy, such as strong retail sales data, which Colson reports from recent industry meetings. Nixon instructs Colson to distill these economic findings into concise flash bulletins rather than lengthy reports to better communicate the administration's economic narrative.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 4 minutes of this recording (about 48% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yes, sir, Mr. President.
Well, anything new in your fund?
Well, we had a kind of a fun day, I would say, with Arthur Burns, right?
Yeah, oh, yeah, that was...
He was wheeling pretty hard, wasn't he?
I know, I know.
That's why I let him school a while.
Yeah, I'll tell you that I hit him.
Oh, yes, I got all that.
Okay.
I put it down pretty hard.
Arthur, please, I'm going to publish it.
No he didn't.
Well,
He's not going to do that again, because I've been chewing that egg for a few times, and he's just going to try to lecture about it, and he's not going to do that again.
So, I think the tough question is, you know, he's probably going to do something with some of these eggs.
He's going to do it, right?
Right.
I'm sure he's going to do it, right?
I have to mention, I think, there's a report today from one of the other fellows who is here at that gathering, I don't know if he's...
I don't know, but I just wanted to point out to you that George Bell worked with me and Henry Cashman, one of the brothers I asked him to do the next one I did with him.
He looked at me and asked me, what's his name, what's his picture like?
And I said, no, exactly.
And he said, gosh.
This is one of the best years they've ever had.
There may be more, uh, there, there could be more strength in the thing here, just to mention, you know, the, uh, the international members of the market.
And Arthur Burns is that more effective than anybody else in the, uh, for, uh, I mean, you get one
It may go off in the mind.
Well, partially that, but partially...
Oh, God.
Well, no use in getting all that.
It's just too much of a risk.
But put stands on.
Or he should have done that.
He was the man.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
He was the man.
Yeah, I know.
We've got a very busy section at the beginning of the day.
We've got to get back to you every time.
... ... ... ... ...
And when you get it, you get a good retail sale.
Send it down sort of on a basis of just a flash bulletin.
All right?
One like that.
Do it that way rather than with a huge mass of material.
Bye.
Bye.

NARA Description

On July 28, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:59 pm to 9:08 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 007-025 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 7-25

Date: July 28, 1971
Time: 8:59 pm - 9:08 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

     The economy
          -Arthur F. Burns
          -Alan Greenspan
          -Burns
           -Retail sales
          -Burns
          -Greenspan
          -American Society of Association Executives, July 27, 1971
                -George T. Bell
                      -Henry C. Cashen II
                      -Housewares Association
                      -Construction
                      -Boat manufacturers

                     -Machine tool industry
          -Burns
               -International economics
          -Meeting
               -John B. Connally
               -Paul W. McCracken
               -Maurice H. Stans
               -James D. Hodgson
               -Connally
          -The President's conversation with George P. Shultz
               -House briefing by Connally
                      -Leaders briefing
          -Retail sales
          -Economic bulletins

Also recorded on July 29, 1971

  • 007-023 8:42 PM · 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz talked on the telephone from 8:42 pm to 8:58 pm.
  • 007-024 8:58 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 8:58 pm.
  • 551-001 8:55 AM · 1 hr 53 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Manolo Sanchez, Stephen B. Bull, unknown person(s), John G. Tower, Elliot L. Richardson, Clark MacGregor, White House photographer, William D. Eberle, Peter G. Peterson, Frederic V. Malek, and John N. Mitchell met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:55 am to 10:26 am.
  • 551-002 10:26 AM · 1 min — Manolo Sanchez and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:26 am and 10:37 am.
  • 551-003 10:37 AM · 25 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Murray M. Chotiner met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:37 am to 11:05 am.
  • 551-004 11:05 AM · 43 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles M. Teague, Olin E. Teague, George P. Shultz, Donald E. Johnson, Clark MacGregor, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:05 am to 11:48 am.
  • 551-005 11:48 AM · 37 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:48 am and 11:50 am.
  • 551-006 11:50 AM · 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Agha Hilaly, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:50 am to 12:20 pm.

All 30 conversations from July 29, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 007-025, July 29, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/007-025 (accessed October 9, 2026).