Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 9 › Conversation 009-124

Nixon phone call with Buchanan on Economic Policy and Public Relations

Wednesday, September 22, 1971 · 5:37 PM–5:38 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Buchanan, Patrick J.Conversation009-124 on Tape 9 (tape position 03:53:15–03:55:04)StartWednesday, September 22, 1971 at 5:37 PMEndWednesday, September 22, 1971 at 5:38 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 009-124 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan coordinate a media strategy to emphasize optimistic economic indicators to the public rather than focusing on complex policy details like Phase II or the Japanese yen. Nixon instructs Buchanan to collaborate with George Shultz and William Safire to generate a concise list of positive trends in retail, housing, and automobile sales. The primary goal is to bolster public confidence by highlighting tangible economic growth that resonates with ordinary citizens.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Yeah.
Ready, Mr. President.
Yes, sir.
We've got McCracken stuff, and we'll get that stuff over from Rockefeller House's people within an hour or so.
If they want it, fine.
Now, the other thing is that Schultz had some, I called him and I said, you know, we ought to use, and one thing we, a little weekend in this, is to talk about some of the optimistic side of the economy.
In other words, there's a lot of stuff that is, you know, some is not, I mean, there's a tendency for the press to only deploy the
But, you know, everything from housing to, you know, just the litany.
Right.
And why don't you get a hold of him and get... You want that long list of... or a shortened list of... A short list.
A short list of the best, huh?
So you can do it for a minute, you know, retail sales, housing, automobiles up, you know, and...
Okay.
The...
economy generally moving and so forth and so on.
Okay, fine, sir.
Confidence factor.
Right.
Which he thinks is very important to mention.
The confidence factor is moving up.
Okay.
So maybe you can get a little rhetoric on that.
That would be a good thing.
I mean, I think these things are
probably more important from the standpoint of making that kind of a point than to try to give them a lot of damned information about phase two.
I agree with you.
And what are you going to do about the Japanese yen?
You see, the thing is, the press pad is only interested in that kind of crap.
Right.
But the folks are interested in the other things, right?
Right.
I agree with you.
Okay.
And so let's see if you can find a few little demagogue points to make.
Okay, fine.
Sapphire might have some of that, might have him work that up for you, too.
He's been working on that.
Okay, fine, sir.

NARA Description

On September 22, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan talked on the telephone from 5:37 pm to 5:38 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 009-124 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 9-124

Date: September 22, 1971
Time: 5:37 pm - 5:38 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Patrick J. Buchanan.

[See Conversation No. 279-31]

     Economic policy
         -Paul W. McCracken
         -William D. Ruckelshaus
         -George P. Shultz
               -Talk with the President
                    -Optimism
                          -List
                                -Retail sales
                                -Housing
                                -Automobile sales
                                -Confidence factor

          -Press approach
                -Phase II
                -Japanese yen
          -William L. Safire

Also recorded on September 22, 1971

  • 009-123 5:31 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:31 pm and 5:37 pm.
  • 279-030 5:31 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:31 pm and 5:37 pm.
  • 279-031 5:37 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:37 pm to 5:38 pm.
  • 009-125 5:38 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:38 pm and 5:41 pm.
  • 279-032 5:38 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:38 pm and 5:41 pm.
  • 279-033 5:38 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:38 pm and 5:41 pm.
  • 009-126 5:41 PM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 5:41 pm to 5:58 pm.
  • 279-034 5:41 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:41 pm to 5:58 pm.

All 84 conversations from September 22, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 009-124, September 22, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/009-124 (accessed October 12, 2026).