Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 10 › Conversation 010-138
Nixon phone call with MacGregor on Legislative Affairs
Thursday, October 7, 1971 · 3:43 PM–3:48 PM ET · White House Telephone · 5 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and Clark MacGregor discuss the administration's recent legislative successes, specifically a Senate vote on federal pay and House passage of a tax bill, which serve as positive momentum for the upcoming Phase II economic policy announcement. The President outlines his strategy for an upcoming meeting with Senator Russell Long to expedite tax legislation and pressure the Senate to act more decisively on his broader domestic agenda. MacGregor confirms his plans to attend a Midwest Republican Conference in Indiana, where he will promote the administration’s legislative programs and the President's vision for government reform.
- Legislative Affairs
- Phase II Economic Policy
- Russell Long
- Congressional Relations
- Tax Legislation
- Government Reform
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
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Mr. McGregor, sir.
Good afternoon, Mr. President.
Well, congratulations.
You won another one.
Well, we won by a bigger margin.
You have won two this week, Clark, and without any assistance from me, I know.
Well, that isn't true, sir.
Well, a statement or two.
But my point is that the whole team did it, and I want you to know that that's the kind I appreciate, where I just very quietly go about the job and just knock their pins off.
Well, thank you, sir.
It was a sweet one, I tell you.
And you're correct in saying that it was a good case of teamwork.
Gene Cowan and Tom Korologis and Bill Timmons and I, and we had help, departmental help as well, and we just... Well, I talked to Dick Schweiker as late as 10 minutes to 12 last night, and we got Dick to go with us.
That's unusual.
Don't tell me anymore.
He's a nice fellow, but he never was with us.
We had 45 solid votes when we went to bed last night, and we went to work again this morning, and it crept up to 46, 47, 48, and then...
But it appeared you were going to win.
Then, of course, our margin swelled.
But you know, that's good for the country.
Oh, wonderful, Mr. President.
Oh, it sets it up just beautifully.
You know, the consumer, I mean, the wholesale price index, you've probably heard those figures.
They're really sensational.
I mean, well, we've got to brag when they're good.
When they're bad, we won't.
But that's good.
These votes are good.
The House passing the tax bill yesterday was good.
I'm going to see Russell in the morning.
Yes, I got the word yesterday.
They don't want Wally with him.
Do they just want him alone?
They want, I think, just John Connolly there and you and Russell, Mr. President, preparing a briefing paper for you.
That's probably better.
Russell likes to, you know, shake his purse.
Yeah, I think so.
I thought you might want to take a look at some of the things Russell said yesterday in commenting on the House bill.
But I'll give you the benefit of that if you want to look at it in a tab.
I think it's very important that Connolly get that, too.
Oh, yes.
Oh, yes.
He knows.
Because I'm not knowledgeable enough on some of these things, and Connolly can pick up the heart and hit him over the head with it.
Well, Russell will tell you in the morning, Mr. President, there's still too much trickle-down theory in that House-pass bill, and we've just got to do more for the poor little man and less for big business.
Yeah.
We've got to try and hold him just as close as we can to the house pass bill.
And we've got to move him fast.
But he's indicated he would move fast.
So hopefully we can...
I'm putting a little note in the speech tonight.
that I'm asking the Senate to act as promptly as the House did.
And I think I may just add, Liv, that I'm having breakfast with, no, I'm meeting tomorrow with Chairman Russell Long of the Senate Finance Committee to pursue this objective.
Oh, boy, that'll... You know, how you like that?
Won't have Wilbur Mills on the telephone.
Do you think it might help?
I think it'd be a great touch.
Sure, I think it'd be great.
um i'll call wallace bennett and tell him that you may make something that's always well he's recommended it that i may make this mention just to put him on the spot i'll do that i'll call him right away and then naturally wally will be there when we have our own leaders meeting sure well it was a sweet one mr president especially then this afternoon we meet with these people i'm not going to stay but about i'll stay 15 minutes and give them a little and just give them a little highlight and
Then I've got to trickle out and get a few thoughts pulled together.
All right.
I'm sure you do.
And I'm sorry I will not be there.
I'm on my way to Indianapolis for a Midwest Republican conference.
They want me to speak about your legislative program tonight.
But I'll arrive in time to hear you on television, and then I'll be able to tell the troops like it is and fire them up a little bit.
Bob Dole and I are the program.
Right.
Well, you can really tell them that he's handling the politics, I'm handling the legislation.
Yeah, basically the whole point that when you really come down to it,
This Congress ought to get off its butt and do something.
I mean, sure, they're going to have to do this economic thing, but revenue sharing, everybody's for revenue sharing.
God damn it, pass it.
Welfare reform, they ought to do something about it.
I mean, there go rather light, you know what, Indiana ain't much for it.
But you could say we ought to, let's do something about welfare reform.
That's right, just let it sit.
They want to leave it as it is.
If they have something better, let's come up with it.
But then all these other things, programs in the environment and
and health program, and education reform, and that this is the greatest period of reform in the history of government, reorganization.
And as I say over and over again, our system works best when the president proposes, the Congress promptly disposes.
You've proposed.
You're lagging on the disposal side.
I'll give them my best.
I will.
I'm always happy to send my best to my mother state, that Indiana has...
Of the industrial states, you can point.
Indiana is the best state for Nixon in the country of the big industrial states.
Call them a big industrial state.
The president said Indiana has given the president in 60 and again in 68 the biggest margins of all.
Of any industrial state?
Of the major industrial states.
Major industrial states.
Right?
I will, sir.
Okay.
And I'll arrive in time to watch you.
I know you'll do a great job.
Yeah.
Well, it'll be short.
Get the hell out of there.
All right, boys.
Thank you for your call.
I'll pass it along to all the troops.
NARA Description
On October 7, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Clark MacGregor talked on the telephone from 3:43 pm to 3:48 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 010-138 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 10-138
Date: October 7, 1971
Time: 3:43 pm - 3:48 pm
Location: White House Telephone
The President talked with Clark MacGregor.
[See Conversation No. 285-42]
Congressional affairs
-Senate Vote on federal pay raise
-Expressions of congratulations
-Eugene S. Cowen
-Tom C. Korologos
-William E. Timmons
-Richard S. Schweiker
-Setting for President's speech announcing Phase II of the new economic policy
-Wholesale price index
-House of Representatives passage of the tax bill
-President's schedule
-Meeting with Russell B. Long, October 8
-Wallace F. Bennett
-John B. Connally
-MacGregor’s briefing paper
- Trickle down Theory
-Wilbur Mills
-Bennett
-Call by MacGregor
-Meeting with legislative leaders, October 7
MacGregor's schedule
-Legislative program
-Midwest Republican Conference, Indianapolis
-Robert J. Dole
Congressional affairs
-Revenue sharing
-Welfare reform
-Environment,
-Health
-Education reform
-Reorganization
President’s best wishes to Indiana
-Support for the PresidentAlso recorded on October 7, 1971
- 010-136 3:25 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and William L. Safire talked on the telephone from 3:25 pm to 3:32 pm.
- 010-137 3:32 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:32 pm and 3:43 pm.
- 285-040 3:32 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:32 pm and 3:43 pm.
- 285-041 3:32 PM · 7 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 3:32 pm and 3:43 pm.
- 285-042 3:43 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Clark MacGregor met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:43 pm to 3:48 pm.
- 010-139 3:48 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:48 pm and 4:12 pm.
- 285-043 3:48 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:48 pm and 4:12 pm.
- 285-044 3:48 PM · 7 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 3:48 pm and 4:12 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 010-138, 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/010-138 (accessed October 6, 2026).