Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 10 › Conversation 010-127

Nixon phone call with Safire on Phase II economic policy

Thursday, October 7, 1971 · 12:26 PM–12:27 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Safire, William L.Conversation010-127 on Tape 10 (tape position 04:10:55–04:10:56)StartThursday, October 7, 1971 at 12:26 PMEndThursday, October 7, 1971 at 12:27 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 010-127 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and speechwriter William Safire discuss the strategy for an upcoming Phase II economic speech, specifically focusing on how to manage the release of accompanying letters to the press. Nixon instructs Safire to withhold the letters from the prepared text to maintain a spontaneous appearance, preferring they emerge as a secondary story. Regarding a report from George Shultz on labor cooperation, Nixon decides against including a reference to George Meany’s support, choosing instead to let labor leaders speak for themselves to avoid potential public contradiction.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Leave out of the text that is given to the press the letters and that section of the letters.

Okay.

It's far more effective for me to just do it as if I just thought of it at the last minute and inserted it.

See?

Got it.

And then have the letters available.

It'll cut down what they have to print and then the letters will get out as a sidebar story.

Right.

See?

All right.

I'll make sure that Ron has the letters photostatted and ready.

Fine.

Now one other thing, George Shultz called and said, after that Productivity Commission meeting, that Meany said that you can expect me to cooperate fully.

And George thought maybe we'd want to have a line in the speech saying that he's been assured, that you've been assured by leaders of these groups that they'll cooperate fully.

Might be a thought, or else that's something that they'll be turned to for a reaction right away anyway.

I'd rather not say it and then have them piss on it.

Let's let them say it.

Good point.

Yeah.

Okay, see what I mean?

I understand.

Let them say it.

Okay.

All right.

NARA Description

On October 7, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire talked on the telephone from 12:26 pm to 12:27 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 010-127 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 10-127

Date: October 7, 1971
Time: 12:26 pm - 12:27 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with William L. Safire.

[See Conversation No. 285-18]

     Phase II speech, October 7, 1971
          -Text for press
                -Letters
                      -Ronald L. Ziegler
          -George P. Shultz
                -Productivity Commission [National Commission on Productivity] meeting
                      -George Meany

Also recorded on October 7, 1971

285-017 12:16 PM · 5 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 12:16 pm and 12:26 pm.
285-018 12:16 PM · 39 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:16 pm to 12:27 pm.
010-128 12:28 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:28 pm.
010-129 12:28 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire talked on the telephone from 12:28 pm to 12:31 pm.
285-019 12:28 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 12:28 pm.
285-020 12:28 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:28 pm to 12:31 pm.
010-130 12:31 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:31 pm and 12:48 pm.
285-021 12:31 PM · 4 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 12:31 pm and 12:48 pm.

All 106 conversations from October 7, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 010-127, 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/010-127 (accessed October 6, 2026).