Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 14 › Conversation 014-026

Nixon phone call with Timmons on Foreign aid and Legislative strategy

Wednesday, November 10, 1971 · 8:04 PM–8:06 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Timmons, William E.Conversation014-026 on Tape 14 (tape position 00:34:38–00:38:14)StartWednesday, November 10, 1971 at 8:04 PMEndWednesday, November 10, 1971 at 8:06 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 014-026 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with William E. Timmons regarding the status of pending foreign aid legislation and military procurement bills in Congress. They assessed the recent Senate passage of an economic aid bill and strategized for upcoming votes on security-related amendments and military funding. The President directed Timmons to monitor legislative developments and prepare signals for House leadership concerning the necessity of a new foreign aid authorization bill versus relying on appropriations.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 41% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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. Simmons, Mr. President.
Yeah.
Mr. President.
Hello, Bill?
Yes, Mr. President.
What's the situation in the House and Senate today?
The Senate has just passed the economic humanitarian bill on foreign aid, 6123.
I knew they'd pass it.
Rogers said, oh, it's close.
I said, for Christ's sake, they're all going to vote for that.
Yeah.
Some of the hard conservatives didn't vote, of course, but we'll pick them up tomorrow on the Senate's amendment on the security part of it.
You think we will?
Oh, sure.
Our projection is pretty good tomorrow, although it's going to be closer than today's vote.
You think we can pass it, though?
I think so.
I think so.
Now, in the House, they have a continuing resolution to keep the foreign aid and the other unregulated programs alive.
And Stebering, from Ohio, offered an amendment to that to strike all defense in the money.
And he got to pick ten votes.
They didn't have a separate vote, apparently, on the Anfield and all the rest.
No, they didn't.
Put it all in the package.
Good.
We may have that tomorrow, though, because they're going to take up the military procurement conference report tonight.
Oh, yeah.
Les Aaron's told me that they probably have to just take this down a bit.
They might as well.
Yeah, they've ordered it down a little bit.
There's still policy on the state, of course.
We don't like that.
But they took up the six-month stuff, and I think Walter is going to have to take it.
Oh, well, just pay no attention to it.
Just say, well, let's read it to you.
They're going to lay it down tonight and vote it tomorrow, I think.
Everybody up here is talking about Secretary of Agriculture, of course.
Oh, God, yes.
But I'm pleased with the vote today.
The tough one will be tomorrow on the Senate Amendment on the security part, because we're a little bit liberal.
I don't think it's bad.
Well, it's better.
Yeah, that's good.
We'll have to devise a strategy because the thing tomorrow is today and tomorrow's authorization.
And we'll have to give Tom Morgan and Bill Maillard and the House guys signals on whether they should take up a new authorization or not.
Your colleague passed one earlier in the course.
And they're kind of waiting for us to give them some signals if we should do it or not.
What do you mean by that?
Well, they'll have to pass another bill, of course, a foreign aid bill, which will have higher levels than probably a conference would come out with.
On the other hand, we've got the appropriations moving along.
Even though they're not authorized, the appropriations could fund our program without an authorization.
That's a possibility.
Good.
Okay.
Well, I think the dinner's went all right.
Oh, great.
And I'm glad you hit the 4 and 8 thing in there.
I think it was very helpful today.
Tomorrow's okay.
Yeah.
Win it tomorrow.
Okay.
All right.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On November 10, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and William E. Timmons talked on the telephone from 8:04 pm to 8:06 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 014-026 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 14-26

Date: November 10, 1971
Time: 8:04 pm - 8:06 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

     William E. Timmons

The President talked with Timmons.

     Congressional activity
         -Foreign economic aid
               -Senate
               -William P. Rogers’ view
               -Vote
               -House of Representatives
                     -John F. Seiberling's amendment
                     -John G. Dow's amendment

                      -Continuing resolution
                      -Michael J. Mansfield's amendment
          -Military procurement
                -Leslie C. Arends’ conversation with the President
                -Mansfield amendment
          -Secretary of Agriculture
          -Foreign Aid Authorization Bill
                -Thomas E. Morgan
                -William S. Mailliard
                -Appropriations Bill
                      -Passage

     Republican fund-raising dinners
         -Foreign aid

Also recorded on November 11, 1971

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  • 014-029 8:25 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 8:25 pm.
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All 91 conversations from November 11, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 014-026, November 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/014-026 (accessed October 12, 2026).