Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 7 › Conversation 007-146

Nixon phone call with Rinfret on New Economic Policy and Wage-price freeze

Sunday, August 15, 1971 · 11:15 PM–11:17 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Rinfret, PierreConversation007-146 on Tape 7 (tape position 05:41:43–05:43:41)StartSunday, August 15, 1971 at 11:15 PMEndSunday, August 15, 1971 at 11:17 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 007-146 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417189579 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with economist Pierre Rinfret to gauge early reactions to his New Economic Policy announcement, specifically the newly implemented wage-price freeze. Rinfret expressed strong support for the measures, assuring the President that the business community would view the initiative and Nixon's direct involvement favorably. The two discussed the expected positive impact of these interventions on gold, income taxes, and private enterprise, with Rinfret committing his support to the administration's economic agenda.

Audio

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NARA Description

On August 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Pierre Rinfret talked on the telephone from 11:15 pm to 11:17 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 007-146 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 7-146

Date: August 15, 1971
Time: 11:15 pm - 11:17 pm
Location: White House Telephone

Pierre Rinfret talked with the President.

     Wage-price freeze speech
         -Rinfret's reaction
         -Preparation
         -Business community reaction
         -International monetary issue

                -Japanese
          -Gold
          -Income tax
          -Private enterprise
          -Rinfret's talk with John B. Connally
          -Rinfret's letter to the President

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hi, how are you?
Good evening, Mr. President.
How are you, sir?
I appreciated your comment.
I just saw it on the wire.
Well, I just think it's one of the most thrilling days, certainly in 50 years, not 40.
Well, you know, you've been writing about this, and you probably were aware we've been working on this for about two or three months, but we had to hold everything close because if anything had come out on us, then we would have raised prices and run on the dollar and everything.
We had to do it all at once, you know.
You certainly did.
I think you're going to get the reaction that you talked about.
How will it be in the business community here at the ER?
Very favorable.
This is what they've been waiting for.
They need the investment credit desk within some form.
Right.
They need the fact, the most critical fact is, believe it or not, your own personal involvement.
Right.
They need to know that.
Right.
They've been worried stiff about you at these conferences.
Right.
And Japanese.
So that is a really good question.
Right.
And I see no hope.
Well, we...
I think tonight's talk and what you did on the gold front, the income tax thing, and the fact that you're going to propose more tax taxes, and that you're doing private enterprise in real hope, you're going to see the effect very rapidly, and I can very well say that.
Well, we'll work on it.
We're going to really dig in on this thing now.
Well, I appreciate it.
Connelly told me about the long talk he had with you and the rest.
You can be sure you had a great influence on us.
Well, thank you for saying that.
We paid attention.
Don't worry.
Well, the only thing, as you well know, is I wrote to you sometime.
Yeah, I know.
It's my heart.
It's you I want to be back in.
Well, I appreciate it.
We are...
Now we've got to make it work, Pierre.
Yes, sir.
We will.
And I give you my word, no more recommendations for my clients to raise their prices.
Okay, boy.
All right.
Bye-bye.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.

Also recorded on August 15, 1971

  • 007-143 11:10 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:10 pm and 11:12 pm.
  • 007-144 11:12 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Freeman F. Gosden, Jr. talked on the telephone from 11:12 pm to 11:14 pm.
  • 007-145 11:14 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 11:14 pm.
  • 007-147 11:18 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 11:18 pm.
  • 007-148 11:18 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 11:18 pm.
  • 007-149 11:18 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:18 pm and 11:20 pm.
  • 007-150 11:20 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire talked on the telephone from 11:20 pm to 11:22 pm.
  • 007-151 11:22 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:22 pm and 11:24 pm.

All 70 conversations from August 15, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 007-146, August 15, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417189579). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/007-146 (accessed November 2, 2026).