Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 16 › Conversation 016-074

Nixon phone call with Byrnes on Tax legislation and House of Representatives

Thursday, December 9, 1971 · 2:46 PM–2:48 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Byrnes, John W.Conversation016-074 on Tape 16 (tape position 02:31:36–02:32:57)StartThursday, December 9, 1971 at 2:46 PMEndThursday, December 9, 1971 at 2:48 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 016-074 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon calls Representative John W. Byrnes to express his gratitude for the successful House passage of tax legislation, specifically noting the victory in keeping opposition votes below 100. Byrnes expresses confidence that the Senate will follow suit and pass the conference report, citing the pressure on senators to adjourn for the session. Both men agree that the momentum makes it highly unlikely the Senate will seek to restart the legislative process.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yeah.

Well, that was a fine win on the tax thing, Johnny.

Oh, it was real great.

And to hold our enemies to less than 100 was really an enormous achievement.

Well, pretty good, pretty good.

But listen, you know, my goodness gracious, you don't have to waste your time on calls to me.

That's all right.

I mean, I don't call you very often, but it's the end of the session.

I know that.

But I was just looking at it.

I was so pleased, and I just hope the Senate does likewise.

Yeah, that would be a nice thing.

You think it looks pretty good there?

I just haven't any idea, but I would assume that when you have a situation where all of the Senate conferees sign the conference report, that hell, they're certainly not going to turn them down.

Now that the house is active, it also means that, hell, they'd have to start all over again.

That's right.

And they want to go home, too.

Well, sure.

That's right.

No, we've got them in the spot because now you've got to start from the beginning.

That's right.

Okay.

So I wouldn't worry too much, but it's nice to have it out of the way so there's no worry.

I'll go out and buy my new car right away then.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, I imagine you've been waiting.

Yeah, that's right.

Okay.

All right.

NARA Description

On December 9, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John W. Byrnes talked on the telephone from 2:46 pm to 2:48 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 016-074 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 16-74

Date: December 9, 1971
Time: 2:46 pm - 2:48 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with John W. Byrnes.

[See Conversation No.634-5A]

     Tax legislation

          -President’s gratitude
                -Vote
          -Senate
                -Outlook
                     -Byrnes view
                            -Conference report
                            -House of Representatives

Also recorded on December 9, 1971

016-072 2:38 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Wilbur D. Mills talked on the telephone from 2:38 pm to 2:39 pm.
634-003 2:38 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Wilbur D. Mills met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:38 pm to 2:39 pm.
016-073 2:39 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:39 pm and 2:46 pm.
634-004 2:39 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:39 pm and 2:43 pm.
634-005 2:43 PM · 18 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John W. Byrnes, unknown person(s), and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:43 pm to 2:59 pm.
016-075 2:48 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:48 pm and 7:42 pm.
634-006 2:59 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:59 pm to 3:00 pm.
634-007 3:00 PM · 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Hubert Maga, Sophia K. Porson, White House photographer, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:00 pm to 3:29 pm.

All 44 conversations from December 9, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 016-074, December 9, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/016-074 (accessed October 12, 2026).