Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 8 › Conversation 008-009

Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Wage and price controls and John B. Connally

Monday, August 16, 1971 · 8:41 PM–8:46 PM ET · White House Telephone · 8 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation008-009 on Tape 8 (tape position 00:10:16–00:16:40)StartMonday, August 16, 1971 at 8:41 PMEndMonday, August 16, 1971 at 8:46 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 008-009 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 645078689 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discuss the positive reception of the administration’s new economic policies, specifically noting Treasury Secretary John Connally's reports of bipartisan support and favorable market reactions. They review a commitment from General Motors to maintain 1971 vehicle prices in response to the President's wage and price freeze. The conversation concludes with administrative planning regarding the President's upcoming travel to New York City and schedule adjustments to avoid distractions at the White House.

Audio

Download MP3 · 11.6 MB

NARA Description

On August 16, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 8:41 pm to 8:46 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 008-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 8-9

Date: August 16, 1971
Time: 8:41 pm - 8:46 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

     Drafts

     John B. Connally
          -The President's attempts to contact
                -Location
                     -Dinner
          -Talk with Joe M. Kilgore
                -Headliner’s club
                -Support for the President
                     -Jake Pickle
          -US Treasury securities
                -Bonds
                     -Strength
                           -Corporate
                           -Municipal
          -Call from James M. Roche
                -General Motors [GM]
                     -Forthcoming statement
                           -1972 price increase
                                 -Suspension
                           -1971 prices on new models

                         -Price reduction
                         -Response to President’s wage and price freeze
         -Press conference
         -Mood
         -Attitude toward President’s action
         -Telephone conversation with President, August 12, 1971

    Haldeman’s conversation with Arthur F. Burns
         -Burns’ forthcoming talk with Connally
         -George P. Shultz
         -Unknown appointment

    [Unintelligible]

    The President's schedule
         -Haldeman's talk with Peter M. Flanigan
              -Stock exchange
                     -Possible speech topic in New York City
         -Forthcoming trip to New York City
         -Forthcoming speech at Knights of Columbus meeting, August 17, 1971

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 3s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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         -Bi-partisan leadership meeting
         -Swearing-in ceremony for James R. Schlesinger and William O. Doub
         -Departure time for New York trip
         -Connally's possible call to the President

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 3 minutes of this recording (about 39% 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.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

What I was calling you about was trying to get these drafts over here.
Okay.
I understand you were trying to reach Conley.
No, no, no.
He called me.
He had called you earlier.
He had...
He had some things he wanted to, some good news he wanted to give you.
Right.
He gave it to me to pass on to you, but I know he'd like to tell you if you want to call him.
Well, fine.
Or I'll cover it with you if you don't need to either way.
He said not to have you call him.
Well, if he's at dinner, I don't think I'd call him.
Okay.
What he wanted to tell you was that he had talked to Joe Gilgar, a former convict.
Right.
And he's been in lunch with the headliners, but he's down there with a bunch of top people, and he talks to many people from all walks of life during the day.
So he's got all praise for what he did.
Not one word of good, but all good about that.
Jake Pickle, I believe his name is.
Good.
But that was funny.
And he went to two parts of the U.S. Treasury Security and had one of the strongest days in his life.
and we'll hold the 71 prices on the new model
So it means that knockout, instead of the 100, he would have asked for the knockout and knocked out 100.
Isn't that doing?
He would have to make those sorts of cards.
Correct.
Well, he's doing that in light of the president's courage about it.
So he would, you know, do different things with that.
Correct.
Doing all the good about that.
The whole day.
Yeah.
Really up, baby.
Good.
Oh, yeah.
He kept talking about how proud he was to be a great son.
I told him the same last night that he was the guy that had done the work, got it rolling.
He gave me a phone call on Thursday.
He said you were coming up and something had to be done.
I said, yeah, but he said any jackass would come up with the idea.
The guy with the balls to do it.
Well, he must be okay.
Oh, yeah.
I had it.
I had it.
Yeah.

— 1 min 8 s with no transcribed speech —

Good.
Yeah, fine.
I just did that.
I think I will go up early, however.
Why so?
Well, I just don't want to...
If I stick around here, I'm going to get clenched.
I think put it up, Bob.
The jackass will come in and want to do the line papers, and I'll let you set up, for instance.
I need to get up and get to who's speaking.
I think there's something to be said to get up there and get in the room.
You know what I mean?
Get it open.
I just don't want to be here.
When I'm out of town, everybody will not love me.
That's right.
That's fine.
Hopefully, we can go a little deeper.
That'll take about 12.
Then after that.
You can call me if you want.
Good.

Also recorded on August 16, 1971

  • 008-008 8:08 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 8:08 pm.
  • 008-010 8:50 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Peter M. Flanigan talked on the telephone from 8:50 pm to 8:54 pm.
  • 008-011 8:54 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:54 pm and 8:59 pm.
  • 008-012 8:54 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:54 pm and 8:59 pm.
  • 008-013 8:59 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo talked on the telephone from 8:59 pm to 9:02 pm.
  • 008-014 9:03 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire talked on the telephone from 9:03 pm to 9:05 pm.
  • 008-015 9:05 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:05 pm and 9:07 pm.
  • 008-016 9:07 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 9:07 pm to 9:10 pm.

All 66 conversations from August 16, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 008-009, August 16, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 645078689). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/008-009 (accessed November 2, 2026).