{"conversationCode":"011-003","tapeNumber":11,"conversationNumber":3,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-011-003","startDateTime":"1971-10-07T21:49:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-10-07T21:50:00.000Z","startDate":"7-Oct-1971","startTime":"5:49 PM","endDate":"7-Oct-1971","endTime":"5:50 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Safire, William L.;","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.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":2,"chronRelease":"Second Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"26-Oct-2000","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 011-003\n\n Date: October 7, 1971\n Time: 5:49 pm - 5:50 pm\n Location: White House Telephone\n\n The President talked with William L. Safire.\n\n [See Conversation No. 286-6B]\n\n        William L. Safire\n\n        Text of speech for October 7, 1971\n             -Industrial prices\n                   -Wholesale prices\n             -Donald H. Rumsfeld\n\nRichard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542","filename":["011-003.mp3"],"tapeStart":"00:00:57","tapeEnd":"00:02:29","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Safire, William L."],"prevCode":"011-002","nextCode":"011-004","transcript":[{"start":1.11,"end":6.98,"text":"Bill, I'm just checking back again to be sure we're correct on that."},{"start":7.46,"end":12.25,"text":"This is the first time in seven years that industrial prices have declined."},{"start":13.79,"end":14.71,"text":"That's what it says here."},{"start":15.75,"end":16.51,"text":"That's right."},{"start":16.53,"end":17.11,"text":"Declined."},{"start":17.17,"end":21.06,"text":"They've never gone down in seven years, or is it the biggest decline in seven years?"},{"start":21.54,"end":25.25,"text":"See, the wholesale prices is the biggest decline in five years, and that I can buy."},{"start":25.71,"end":31.92,"text":"But what this says now is this is the first time in seven years that industrial prices have declined."},{"start":32.2,"end":32.42,"text":"Right."},{"start":32.94,"end":38.53,"text":"It's the first time in three and a half years that industrial prices have declined on an unadjusted basis."},{"start":38.63,"end":41.25,"text":"I don't give a damn about unadjusted because we'll call it declined."},{"start":41.79,"end":42.29,"text":"Okay."},{"start":42.39,"end":43.34,"text":"I'll double check it again."},{"start":44.7,"end":46.18,"text":"Well, I'm going to leave it at seven years."},{"start":47.78,"end":47.9,"text":"Right."},{"start":47.92,"end":48.78,"text":"Leave it the way it is."},{"start":48.8,"end":51.62,"text":"And then if it turns out that I'm wrong, I'll call it a big flop."},{"start":51.65,"end":51.95,"text":"Seven?"},{"start":52.67,"end":53.29,"text":"It's seven years."},{"start":53.55,"end":54.95,"text":"That's in the text, isn't it?"},{"start":54.97,"end":55.25,"text":"Yes."},{"start":57.37,"end":58.35,"text":"Seasonally adjusted."},{"start":59.05,"end":60.2,"text":"I didn't put seasonally adjusted."},{"start":60.22,"end":61.28,"text":"Well, I don't think you need to."},{"start":61.58,"end":62.16,"text":"You don't."},{"start":62.18,"end":63.68,"text":"You don't because that's good."},{"start":63.72,"end":64.8,"text":"I didn't make a difference to everybody."},{"start":64.86,"end":66.64,"text":"You just say, of course, that's what we always talk about."},{"start":66.94,"end":67.24,"text":"Okay."},{"start":67.61,"end":68.19,"text":"One other thing."},{"start":68.45,"end":68.77,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":68.81,"end":72.13,"text":"Don Rumsfeld is anxious to get... Yeah, I got that and I'm putting it in."},{"start":72.43,"end":73.25,"text":"You are putting it in?"},{"start":73.27,"end":73.99,"text":"Yeah, if they want it."},{"start":75.25,"end":75.35,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":75.37,"end":76.52,"text":"You think there's a problem with that?"},{"start":77.18,"end":77.46,"text":"Uh..."},{"start":78.35,"end":79.17,"text":"No problem with it."},{"start":79.21,"end":80.09,"text":"It means a lot to him."},{"start":80.13,"end":80.93,"text":"That's the whole point."},{"start":81.19,"end":83.12,"text":"Well, he's given me a... No, no."},{"start":83.2,"end":84.12,"text":"I don't want his line."},{"start":84.44,"end":84.7,"text":"I know."},{"start":84.78,"end":87.21,"text":"I haven't got 40, 50 words."},{"start":87.25,"end":88.33,"text":"I've put it in five."},{"start":88.49,"end":89.15,"text":"Okay."},{"start":89.17,"end":89.89,"text":"Okay."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"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.","topics":["Economic policy","Speechwriting","Industrial prices","Donald Rumsfeld","Rhetoric","Wholesale prices"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-05T23:15:36.101Z"},"topicSlugs":["economic-policy","speechwriting","industrial-prices","donald-rumsfeld","rhetoric","wholesale-prices"],"audioDurationSec":92,"audioFiles":[{"file":"011-003.mp3","bytes":2954710,"durationSec":92.2,"bitrate":256373,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:21.709Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:42:35.679Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/011-003.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/011-003","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/11/conversation-011-003","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}