Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 10 › Conversation 010-112

Safire & Connally on Economic policy and Price Commission

Thursday, October 7, 1971 · 9:22 AM–10:24 AM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsWhite House operator; Safire, William L.; Connally, John B.Conversation010-112 on Tape 10 (tape position 03:29:35–03:30:53)StartThursday, October 7, 1971 at 9:22 AMEndThursday, October 7, 1971 at 10:24 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 010-112 ↗

AI Summary

William Safire consulted Secretary of the Treasury John Connally regarding revisions to a presidential speech draft concerning windfall profits and the Price Commission's regulatory approach. The participants agreed to remove a contentious line regarding unfair profits, replacing it with a policy mandate requiring businesses to pass cost savings directly to consumers. Connally confirmed his approval of the new language, noting that the revised messaging would likely avoid public controversy.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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?
Mr. Sapphire?
Yes.
I have Secretary Conley for you, and he's in his car.
Right.
Mr. Sapphire?
Yes, sir.
Hello, Mr. Secretary.
Hi, Bill.
The President wanted me to run this additional change in the profits area by you to make sure that you're completely comfortable with the entire passage.
You recall the line, that's not fair and we won't let that happen, talking about windfall profits.
Please cut that line out.
and followed it with this.
Well, I better read you the preceding paragraph.
When wages and other costs are held down, even though prices are also held down, circumstances could arise in some cases that might generate exorbitant profits.
And now here's the new following.
In the few cases where this happens, rather than tax such profits, the price commission's policies will be that business should pass along a fair share of its cost savings to the consumer.
That's good.
Yeah, that's fine.
All right.
Now, are you completely satisfied with that, and it won't cause a ruckus, or do you think it should be further?
No, I think that's fine.
I don't think anybody will object to that.
Okay, that's fine.
I think that's fine, Bill.
Okay, sir.
All right.
Thanks a lot.

NARA Description

On October 7, 1971, the White House operator, William L. Safire, and John B. Connally talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:22 am and 10:24 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 010-112 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 10-112

Date: October 7, 1971
Time: Unknown between 9:22 am and 10:24 am
Location: White House Telephone

The White House operator talked to William L. Safire.

     Call from John B. Connally

Safire talked with Connally.

[See Conversation No. 285-10C]

     Speech draft
          -Profits
                -Windfall
                    -Price Commission
          -Connally’s agreement

Also recorded on October 7, 1971

  • 285-006 8:30 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:30 am and 8:50 am.
  • 285-007 8:30 AM · 24 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 8:30 am and 8:50 am.
  • 285-008 8:50 AM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:50 am to 9:10 am.
  • 010-110 9:22 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:22 am.
  • 010-111 9:22 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:22 am and 10:24 am.
  • 285-009 9:22 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 9:22 am.
  • 285-010 9:22 AM · 50 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, William L. Safire, White House operator, John B. Connally, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:22 am and 10:24 am.
  • 010-113 10:24 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 10:24 am.

All 106 conversations from October 7, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 010-112, October 7, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/010-112 (accessed October 6, 2026).