Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 11 › Conversation 011-003

Nixon phone call with Safire on Economic policy and Speechwriting

Thursday, October 7, 1971 · 5:49 PM–5:50 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Safire, William L.Conversation011-003 on Tape 11 (tape position 00:00:57–00:02:29)StartThursday, October 7, 1971 at 5:49 PMEndThursday, October 7, 1971 at 5:50 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 011-003 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and speechwriter William Safire consult on the specific language for an upcoming economic address, focusing on the historical significance of a decline in industrial prices. Nixon insists on characterizing the drop as a seven-year first to maximize the rhetorical impact, explicitly instructing Safire to omit technical caveats like seasonal adjustments. Additionally, they discuss the inclusion of a short passage requested by Donald Rumsfeld, with Nixon agreeing to incorporate a brief five-word mention to satisfy Rumsfeld’s concerns.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Bill, I'm just checking back again to be sure we're correct on that.
This is the first time in seven years that industrial prices have declined.
That's what it says here.
That's right.
Declined.
They've never gone down in seven years, or is it the biggest decline in seven years?
See, the wholesale prices is the biggest decline in five years, and that I can buy.
But what this says now is this is the first time in seven years that industrial prices have declined.
Right.
It's the first time in three and a half years that industrial prices have declined on an unadjusted basis.
I don't give a damn about unadjusted because we'll call it declined.
Okay.
I'll double check it again.
Well, I'm going to leave it at seven years.
Right.
Leave it the way it is.
And then if it turns out that I'm wrong, I'll call it a big flop.
Seven?
It's seven years.
That's in the text, isn't it?
Yes.
Seasonally adjusted.
I didn't put seasonally adjusted.
Well, I don't think you need to.
You don't.
You don't because that's good.
I didn't make a difference to everybody.
You just say, of course, that's what we always talk about.
Okay.
One other thing.
Yeah.
Don Rumsfeld is anxious to get... Yeah, I got that and I'm putting it in.
You are putting it in?
Yeah, if they want it.
Yeah.
You think there's a problem with that?
Uh...
No problem with it.
It means a lot to him.
That's the whole point.
Well, he's given me a... No, no.
I don't want his line.
I know.
I haven't got 40, 50 words.
I've put it in five.
Okay.
Okay.

NARA Description

On October 7, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire talked on the telephone from 5:49 pm to 5:50 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 011-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 011-003

 Date: October 7, 1971
 Time: 5:49 pm - 5:50 pm
 Location: White House Telephone

 The President talked with William L. Safire.

 [See Conversation No. 286-6B]

        William L. Safire

        Text of speech for October 7, 1971
             -Industrial prices
                   -Wholesale prices
             -Donald H. Rumsfeld

Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

Also recorded on October 7, 1971

  • 011-001 5:36 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 5:36 pm.
  • 011-002 5:36 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:36 pm and 5:49 pm.
  • 286-005 5:36 PM · 31 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 5:36 pm.
  • 286-006 5:36 PM · 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Charles W. Colson, White House operator, and William L. Safire met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:36 pm to 6:10 pm.
  • 011-004 5:50 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:50 pm and 8:11 pm.
  • 286-007 6:10 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:10 pm and 7:11 pm.
  • 286-008 6:10 PM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:10 pm and 7:11 pm.
  • 286-009 6:10 PM · 2 min — 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 6:10 pm and 7:11 pm.

All 106 conversations from October 7, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 011-003, 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/011-003 (accessed October 6, 2026).