Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 11 › Conversation 011-042

Nixon phone call with Shultz on Press Conference and Administrative Planning

Monday, October 11, 1971 · 4:33 PM–4:35 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Shultz, George P.Conversation011-042 on Tape 11 (tape position 01:02:50–01:03:52)StartMonday, October 11, 1971 at 4:33 PMEndMonday, October 11, 1971 at 4:35 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 011-042 ↗

President Nixon and George P. Shultz coordinate an upcoming meeting to prepare for the President's scheduled press conference. Nixon emphasizes his desire to focus exclusively on immediate, short-term issues and pending administrative actions rather than long-range policy planning. Shultz receives approval to bring Donald Rumsfeld to the meeting and confirms that they will prioritize time-sensitive matters, including a potential move by James D. Hodgson.

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Yes, sir.
Whenever you're ready, George, I can go over that stuff with you.
Okay, why don't I come right along?
I thought I'd bring Don Rumsfeld with me, if that's all right.
Yeah, yeah.
He's the new director of that, so.
Yeah, that's fine.
The only thing I was going to say is that I would prefer to concentrate, however, on things that might come up in this conference tomorrow.
I don't want to go into any long-range plans at this point.
Just the questions, you see.
The executive council meeting you mean?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I'm not going to talk about that.
I mean when I meet, when I do my press thing tomorrow.
Oh.
That's what I'm trying to think about now.
I don't want to get...
I see.
I don't want to get into long-range problems now.
I'd prefer not to.
Well, we wanted to get your okay on a...
A move that Hudson might make tonight or early tomorrow morning with us.
Oh, sure, that sort of thing, of course.
No, that's what I meant.
I just meant let's concentrate on things we have to do tomorrow.
Okay, fine.
All right, I'll be right back.

On October 11, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz talked on the telephone from 4:33 pm to 4:35 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 011-042 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 011-042

 Date: October 11, 1971
 Time: 4:33 pm - 4:35 pm
 Location: White House Telephone

 The President talked with George P. Shultz.

 [See Conversation No. 287-19]

        Shultz's schedule
              -Forthcoming meeting with the President
              -Donald H. Rumsfeld
              -The President's schedule
              -James D. Hodgson

Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
  • 287-020 4:33 PM · 51 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:33 pm to 4:35 pm.
  • 287-021 4:35 PM · 1 hr 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), George P. Shultz, Donald H. Rumsfeld, and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:35 pm and 5:50 pm.
  • 011-043 5:43 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 5:43 pm.
  • 011-044 5:43 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:43 pm and 5:55 pm.
  • 287-022 5:50 PM · 11 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 5:50 pm and 5:55 pm.
  • 287-023 5:50 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:50 pm and 5:55 pm.
  • 287-024 5:50 PM · 53 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 5:50 pm and 5:56 pm.
  • 011-045 5:55 PM · 45 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 5:55 pm to 5:56 pm.

Conversation 011-042, October 11, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/011-042 (accessed October 23, 2026).