Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 11 › Conversation 011-062

Nixon phone call with Meany on Inflation and Organized Labor

Tuesday, October 12, 1971 · 1:32 PM–1:34 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Meany, GeorgeConversation011-062 on Tape 11 (tape position 01:31:27–01:33:36)StartTuesday, October 12, 1971 at 1:32 PMEndTuesday, October 12, 1971 at 1:34 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 011-062 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and AFL-CIO President George Meany discussed the administration's economic policies, specifically coordinating on inflation control and labor participation. The two men confirmed their mutual agreement on a precise policy statement regarding economic goals, which had been reviewed by Treasury Secretary John Connally. Additionally, Nixon signaled his intent to issue a public statement welcoming organized labor's cooperation, while acknowledging their continued disagreement regarding specific tax proposals.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello.
Mr. George Meany, Mr. President.
Hello.
Mr. President, how are you?
All right, fine.
I was just going to say that on just looking out this pretty day, you ought to go out and play golf.
I'd love to, but I'm busy.
I've got to go down, and I know you've been busy.
I've got to go down and pay my respects to Eddie Hebert.
They're hanging his picture today in the armed services room.
Oh, I see.
He's a good man.
He's a good, strong man.
I wanted to tell you, I just got your...
George Schultz has brought in your statement, and I greatly appreciate your willingness to work on this thing.
And you saw the piece of paper which we sent over.
That is my understanding as to what the policy is.
That's all right.
And when I told the press, I told the press about Connolly.
I read the Connolly thing carefully, and then this piece of paper is, and we've also checked it with Connolly, and he totally agrees with it, too.
Yeah, well, and that's perfect.
So you see, we've got Connolly, as I understand it.
Yeah, well, that's all right, except that this piece of paper was a little more precise.
More precise.
Well, I looked it over, and as you noticed, I initialed it.
You've got a copy of it, I think.
Yes, yes.
But I did want you to know that Connolly also has seen it and agrees that that's what he meant to say.
Well, I... Fair enough.
That's fine.
I hope we can do something on this.
I can tell you privately, you'd say between 2% and 3% a year.
I'd settle for, if we could get it down to 3.5%.
Well, look, the main thing is to make progress, and 3.5% is a damn good number.
I'd say so, yes.
Right.
Considering what we've got.
Right.
Well, we're trying to... Oh, incidentally, I will put out a statement today, say I welcome the participation of organized labor, etc.,
And bring down the customer request.
I'm going to, the only thing that we do have some agreement, a disagreement on is on the tax proposal.
But I, of course, have to, as you can imagine, push for those.
I think you're going to beat us on it.
Well, sure, that's fine.
But as you understand, if the darn thing works, which it might, then it's more jobs.
Yep.
Okay.
Fine.
Bye.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On October 12, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and George Meany talked on the telephone from 1:32 pm to 1:34 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 011-062 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 011-062

 Date: October 12, 1971
 Time: 1:32 pm - 1:34 pm
 Location: White House Telephone

 The President talked with George Meany.

 [See Conversation No. 588-12B]

        The President's schedule
             -F. Edward Hébert
             -George P. Shultz

        Economy
             -Administration policy
             -John B. Connally
             -Inflation
             -Presidential statement
             -Labor
                   -Tax proposal

Also recorded on October 12, 1971

  • 011-063 1:34 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:34 pm and 1:55 pm.
  • 588-013 1:43 PM · 23 sec — Rose Mary Woods and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:43 pm and 1:55 pm.
  • 588-014 1:43 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:43 pm and 1:55 pm.
  • 588-015 1:43 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:43 pm and 1:55 pm.
  • 588-016 1:43 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:43 pm and 1:55 pm.
  • 588-017 1:43 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:43 pm and 1:55 pm.
  • 011-064 1:55 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 1:55 pm to 1:59 pm.
  • 588-018 1:55 PM · 25 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, Henry A. Kissinger, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:55 pm to 1:59 pm.

All 71 conversations from October 12, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 011-062, October 12, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/011-062 (accessed September 28, 2026).