Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 7 › Conversation 007-159

Nixon phone call with Connally on Wilbur Mills and Bipartisan leadership

Monday, August 16, 1971 · 11:48 AM–11:50 AM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Connally, John B.Conversation007-159 on Tape 7 (tape position 05:58:35–06:00:16)StartMonday, August 16, 1971 at 11:48 AMEndMonday, August 16, 1971 at 11:50 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 007-159 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Treasury Secretary John B. Connally discuss strategic preparations for Connally's upcoming press conference regarding the administration's new economic proposals. They coordinate a plan to announce a bipartisan leadership meeting at the White House, specifically highlighting the support of House Ways and Means Chairman Wilbur Mills to ensure legislative cooperation. The discussion emphasizes the need to give public credit to Mills while organizing a comprehensive group of congressional committee chairs and leadership to bolster the administration's agenda.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
Ready, Mr. President.
Yes, sir.
Didn't want to bother your thinking for your conference, but I thought there was a good thing you could announce, which would give you a good lead.
I just talked to Wilbur on the phone, and he said he would cooperate all the way.
And I said, Wilbur, would you be willing to come in for a meeting with the bipartisan leadership?
He said, yeah.
He says, you ought to have it this week.
And so I thought that 10 o'clock tomorrow morning, I get to, basically, this would be a
like ranking on ways and means, appropriations, making in currency, and the top leadership of the House and Senate bipartisan.
How does that sound to you?
That sounds great.
It's follow-up, and so if you will announce that, that the president is calling the bipartisan leadership together, and that we have indications of very strong support from Chairman Mills of the major proposals.
Roger.
I said, let's give him credit.
Give him credit.
Archer.
Yeah.
Archer.
Good.
And you intend to include ways and means.
Ways and means, appropriations, banking currency, and then we will include the legislative leaders.
In other words, the majority and minority leaders and whips.
Right.
Appropriations Committee of both houses.
Both houses.
All of both houses.
Ways and means.
The banking and currency, I think, ought to be included just for... Don't you think so?
Yes, sir, I do.
I think you'll include banking and currency.
Also, they're our friends.
Most of those people are our friends.
Yes, sir.
Like John Sparkman, people like that.
Yes, sir.
All right, fine.
Good luck.
Thank you.
Good luck.
I thought that was a good cabinet meeting.
They enjoyed it.
I say they enjoyed it.
Thanks to you and what you did last night.
Goodbye.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On August 16, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 11:48 am to 11:50 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 007-159 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 7-159

Date: August 16, 1971
Time: 11:48 am - 11:50 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with John B. Connally.

[See Conversation No. 564-4B]

     Connally's press conference
         -The President's talk with Wilbur D. Mills
                -Bipartisan leadership meeting
                      -Congressional committees
                           -Ways and Means, Appropriations, Banking and Currency
                      -House and Senate leaders
                      -Announcement

                       -Credit to Mills

     Cabinet meeting

Also recorded on August 16, 1971

  • 007-160 11:50 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:50 am and 10:23 pm.
  • 007-161 11:50 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Kenneth E. BeLieu talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:50 am and 10:23 pm.
  • 008-001 1:08 PM · 37 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:08 pm and 1:18 pm.
  • 008-002 1:08 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:08 pm and 1:18 pm.
  • 565-001 1:08 PM · 27 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, Rose Mary Woods, Stephen B. Bull, White House operator, Charles W. Colson, John B. Connally, and Bernard J. ("Bunny") Lasker met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:08 pm and 1:40 pm.
  • 008-003 1:18 PM · 5 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:18 pm and 1:20 pm.
  • 008-004 1:18 PM · 7 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:18 pm and 1:20 pm.
  • 008-005 1:18 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:18 pm and 1:20 pm.

All 88 conversations from August 16, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 007-159, 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/007-159 (accessed October 12, 2026).