Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 7 › Conversation 007-150

Nixon phone call with Safire on Wage-price freeze and Economic policy

Sunday, August 15, 1971 · 11:20 PM–11:22 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Safire, William L.Conversation007-150 on Tape 7 (tape position 05:44:04–05:45:14)StartSunday, August 15, 1971 at 11:20 PMEndSunday, August 15, 1971 at 11:22 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 007-150 ↗

President Nixon and speechwriter William Safire discussed the reception and delivery of the President’s televised address announcing the wage-price freeze. The conversation focused on the public impact of the speech's rhetoric and the successful launch of the new economic policy. Nixon concluded the brief call by confirming he had scheduled a follow-up meeting with his team for the following morning.

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Well, we got the baby launched.
Boy, that was a pinstripe.
Really a beautiful delivery.
Well, we, uh, we, uh, we, uh, shook up a little.
See, that's not what I heard.
No, I mean shook up good.
Yeah.
Possibly.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
In a great direction.
Oh, I caught a man.
Yeah, he, he, he, he told me, he told me.
And, uh, uh, some of those lines really fit.
That's, uh, that's the hostage thing, which is what's going on right here.
And I think you had your lips at the end.
You think it got through to you?
Yeah.
I got through some.
Well, anyway, it's been a, quite a,
exercise.
Now I'll take a little rest.
No, I got everybody called in tomorrow morning.
Okay, bud.
Well, many thanks.
It was a great trip.
Thank you.
Well, good.
Bye.

On August 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire talked on the telephone from 11:20 pm to 11:22 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 007-150 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 7-150

Date: August 15, 1971
Time: 11:20 pm - 11:22 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with William L. Safire.

     Wage-price freeze speech
         -Safire's reaction
         -The President's talk with Pierre Rinfret
         -Wording
         -Safire's reaction
  • 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.
  • 007-146 11:15 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Pierre Rinfret talked on the telephone from 11:15 pm to 11:17 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.
  • 007-151 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.
  • 007-152 11:24 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Arthur F. Burns talked on the telephone from 11:24 pm to 11:28 pm.

Conversation 007-150, August 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/007-150 (accessed October 12, 2026).