Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 11 › Conversation 011-115

Nixon phone call with Holifield on Consumer protection legislation

Monday, October 18, 1971 · 5:19 PM–5:21 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Holifield, ChetConversation011-115 on Tape 11 (tape position 03:15:20–03:17:12)StartMonday, October 18, 1971 at 5:19 PMEndMonday, October 18, 1971 at 5:21 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 011-115 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417190121 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon initiated this call to express his appreciation to Congressman Chet Holifield for his instrumental role in shaping a balanced consumer protection bill. The two discussed the importance of incorporating Administrative Procedures Act guidelines and agreed on the necessity of appointing a judicious, competent administrator to oversee the new organization. Holifield affirmed his commitment to the legislation's success while noting his upcoming schedule for committee work on Capitol Hill.

Audio

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NARA Description

On October 18, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Chet Holifield talked on the telephone from 5:19 pm to 5:21 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 011-115 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 011-115

 Date: October 18, 1971
 Time: 5:19 pm - 5:21 pm
 Location: White House Telephone

 The President talked with Chet Holifield.

 [See Conversation No. 291-14A]

        House of Representatives
            -Consumer bill
                  -The President's appreciation
                  -Frank J. Horton
                       -Richard A. Cook

                          -Gerald R. Ford
                    -Administrative Procedures Act
                    -Appointee
                          -Ralph Nader
                    -Virginia Knauer

        Holifield's schedule

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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?
Hello?
Hey, Chet?
Yes, hello.
I just called to thank you for the fine work you did on that consumer bill.
Well, we...
Both Frank and I want to thank you for the help that Dick Cook and Jerry Ford gave us, too.
Well, I'll tell you, we couldn't have done it, my boys told me.
It's a well-balanced bill.
It's carefully guarded with guidelines and tied to the Administrative Procedures Act, and if a good person is appointed to it, well, they can do some good, and they can feel their way gradually, you know.
Well, if you...
You say a good person appointed.
I say if you appoint a good person to be the administrator, why, you know, a person that is, I don't mean a nadir.
Yeah, that goes a little too far.
Well, if you've got any good ideas, let us know.
I honestly don't have, Mr. President, but I'm sure you can find somebody that's judicious.
The main thing is to put together a competent organization.
That'll take several months.
Right.
And we're both very pleased.
We've worked awfully hard to rescue this from an impossible situation.
The one you got, you mean?
The bill that we've got, we've worked hard to get it in the shape that it is in, and we're proud of the job we've done on that.
We've taken a lot of heat from hearing some others on this thing, and we appreciate Ms. Norris' statement, too.
I'm going to write her a letter, but I went out to the district over the weekend.
I just got back today, so I haven't had time, but I'll take care of it.
I appreciate it.
Many thanks.
And I'm going to try to be there in the morning.
I've received this invitation on this briefing in the morning, but I will have to leave so I can be at the Hill at 10 o'clock because I've got a committee meeting to get out a bunch of reports we've been putting off.
Oh, boy.
Okay.
Thanks for calling, Mr. President.
Bye.
Thank you.

Also recorded on October 18, 1971

  • 291-014 5:15 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Chet Holifield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:15 pm to 5:20 pm.
  • 011-116 5:21 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:21 pm and 5:24 pm.
  • 291-015 5:21 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:21 pm and 5:24 pm.
  • 291-016 5:21 PM · 13 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 5:21 pm and 5:24 pm.
  • 011-117 5:24 PM · 32 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 5:24 pm to 5:25 pm.
  • 291-017 5:24 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:24 pm to 5:25 pm.
  • 011-118 5:25 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:25 pm and 5:32 pm.
  • 291-018 5:25 PM · 4 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 5:25 pm and 5:32 pm.

All 46 conversations from October 18, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 011-115, October 18, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417190121). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/011-115 (accessed November 2, 2026).