Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 9 › Conversation 009-090

Connally & Petty on IMF and Treasury Department

Monday, September 20, 1971 · 10:50 AM–11:23 AM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsConnally, John B.; Petty, John R.Conversation009-090 on Tape 9 (tape position 02:27:16–02:29:46)StartMonday, September 20, 1971 at 10:50 AMEndMonday, September 20, 1971 at 11:23 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 009-090 ↗

AI Summary

Treasury Secretary John Connally and John R. Petty discuss logistical planning for an upcoming reception for International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegates. Connally seeks guidance on the best timing for a potential presidential event, weighing the impact of preempting the traditional U.S.-hosted reception at the Smithsonian. They also review the size and composition of the guest list, specifically concerning finance ministers, central bank governors, and their spouses, to determine how to scale the event.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Hello.
I have Mr.
Petty.
All right.
John.
John.
Hello.
John.
Yes, sir.
I'm here with the president.
We're trying to get these dates.
You don't have your calendar with you, do you?
You're not in the office, are you?
I am.
I might ask.
Yes, sir.
Oh, you are?
Okay.
What...
What night is Treasury planning on having its reception?
Wednesday.
Wednesday what?
Wednesday, September 29th.
Wednesday, September 29th.
Okay.
That's at the flag hall at the Smithsonian.
Yeah.
Okay.
Now, what other events are taking place?
Assume for the moment that the President might want to have a reception and supplant the Treasury, but soon we want to have it some other night.
What night would be the best?
What other official functions are there, in other words?
There are a whole series of different countries that give their own receptions for their visiting ministers.
And ordinarily, Wednesday night has been reserved pretty much for the U.S. big show.
Wednesday the 29th.
Now, if we chose any other time, obviously we'd be preempting
which is possible.
Every other night there are a bunch of parties being given functions.
And there's not much competition with the U.S. from 6 to 8 o'clock on Wednesday.
Okay.
Now, what's the least number of people that we could invite?
Who comes to this IMF?
Obviously the finance minister.
The finance minister and the central bank governor are almost always the delegates, and they have their undersecretaries.
Most of them come with their wives.
Okay, so you do have the central bank governors.
Central bank governors.
Let's say there's 120 country members.
Right.
How many of them will be here?
Oh, they'll all be here.
They'll all be here, 120 of them.
Yeah.
120 finance ministers and their wives and 120 central bank governors and their wives.
And there's, in addition to that, there's sort of the Paul Volkers of the delegation, things like that.
Now, at the...
The Secretary's reception in the past, we've invited as much as, oh, about 22 to 2,500 to about 1,500 coming.
Yeah.
Now, that includes the big banks of the respective countries that are in town, and they don't need to become that type of thing.
Okay.
Okay.
Thanks very much.
Okay.
Bye.

NARA Description

On September 20, 1971, John B. Connally and John R. Petty talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:50 am and 11:23 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 009-090 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 9-90

Date: September 20, 1971
Time: Unknown between 10:50 am and 11:23 am
Location: White House Telephone

John Connally talked with John R. Petty.

[See Conversation No. 576-8C]

     Meeting with the President

     Treasury Department reception
          -Time and location
          -Smithsonian

     Official functions

     Treasury Department reception for members of the International Monetary Fund [IMF]
          -Attendants
               -Finance Ministers
               -Central bank governors
               -Numbers
               -Paul A. Volcker
               -Past numbers

Also recorded on September 20, 1971

  • 576-008 9:52 AM · 1 hr 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, John B. Connally, Manolo Sanchez, White House operator, John R. Petty, Romana A. Banuelos, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:52 am to 11:27 am.
  • 009-088 10:03 AM · 11 sec — John B. Connally and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:03 am and 10:50 am.
  • 009-089 10:50 AM · 16 sec — John B. Connally and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:50 am and 11:23 am.
  • 009-091 10:50 AM · 10 sec — John B. Connally and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:50 am and 11:23 am.
  • 009-092 11:23 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:23 am and 11:59 am.
  • 576-009 11:27 AM · 55 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:27 am and 11:32 am.
  • 576-010 11:32 AM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry G. Cisneros, Peter W. Cook, Robert A. Dey, Antoinette Ford, Stephen J. Gage, Franklin R. Gannon, John S. Grinalds, Glen R. Kendall, John M. Maurice, Terence D. McCann, Rogert C. McFarlane, Michael S. Noling, Deanell Reece, Martin E. Seneca, Jr., Richard E. Stephenson, Brandon W. Sweitzer, Arthur E. Dewey, Frederick Tentschler, Frederic V. Malek, Stephen B. Bull, and Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:32 am to 11:47 am.
  • 576-011 11:47 AM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, John N. Mitchell, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:47 am and 12:01 pm.

All 41 conversations from September 20, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 009-090, September 20, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/009-090 (accessed October 12, 2026).