Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 16 › Conversation 016-114

Nixon phone call with Connally on International Monetary System

Saturday, December 18, 1971 · 3:05 PM–3:09 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Connally, John B.Conversation016-114 on Tape 16 (tape position 03:54:52–03:58:32)StartSaturday, December 18, 1971 at 3:05 PMEndSaturday, December 18, 1971 at 3:09 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 016-114 ↗

AI Summary

Treasury Secretary John B. Connally briefed President Nixon on the ongoing international negotiations to address the global monetary crisis and the devaluation of the dollar. Connally reported significant progress in securing a 16.9% devaluation agreement with the Japanese while detailing the status of negotiations with European partners, Canada, and Sweden. The two discussed the difficulty of finalizing a formal memorandum of agreement, with Connally stressing that the interconnected nature of these currency adjustments required a delicate, high-pressure approach to ensure a successful resolution.

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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. President, Secretary Conway.
All right.
You are.
Hello, Mr. President.
Yeah, John.
I thought I'd just give you a report.
All right.
We're kind of standing at ease here, pending some calls.
They've had cabinet meetings all over the world.
The Japanese have been having one.
Yeah.
But they have now offered 16.9.
That's good.
Which I've accepted.
That's 308 yen to the dollar.
That's very good.
And...
I have sold that to the French and the British and so forth.
The Germans are having a cabinet meeting in Bonn.
About five, huh?
Chancellor Brandt, yes.
About five.
He will take it.
But apparently Chancellor Brandt wanted to have a cabinet meeting on it.
That's all right.
So we're waiting word.
And the Italians, we don't know what we're going to do with them yet.
Is there anything I could do?
No, we really, I think we'll just kind of run over them and let them take the position, but they don't agree to it.
Yeah.
But they want to study it, and then they'll decide what action to take after he returns to Italy.
Because, see, they have to, once we put in this...
In effect, it's devaluation.
They've got to affirmatively act to devalue.
So they can study it and think about it, and we hope we can get Pompey to talk to Colombo.
What is the situation on the Canadians?
Just let them out?
Well, they're going to float.
We've had some pretty strong, harsh words with them this morning, privately and publicly.
I say publicly in this meeting.
I understand.
Very hard, and...
if they float then uh that's then we have to just make our trade deals separately that's right that's correct well so uh uh now the swedes they're backing out god damn it they're no good anyway well they've met you know and they talk about they've talked to denmark and they've talked to norway and they all been having cabins all night and they say well all they can stand is seven to seven and a half percent evaluation i said well we're not going to do that
We're going to do 8.57.
So they say, well, they may have to devalue a point or two.
So I don't think that'll make any difference.
That isn't going to change our deal that much.
No, no, no.
It won't change ours if it doesn't change the European community, you see.
Every one of these damn things relates to the other.
It's like a house of cards.
So all I'm saying is that it's now 3 o'clock.
It'll be a miracle if we get this thing by 4, although we're now circulating them.
a memorandum of agreement.
If we can get these damn phone calls through around here, maybe we can wrap this thing up.
We'll try.
We'll get word to you immediately when we can, because I think it would be awfully important if we can do this.
Yes.
Be better to get it done now, really.
And then... Well, we're just moving ahead.
And then get at the trade thing later.
Particularly since you've got the Japanese.
What the hell?
Well, we're...
That's a move on the trade.
We're playing a hard line on it, so we haven't moved off anything.
Right.
But all I'm saying is we may run out of time, but we'll try to do it.
Yes, sir.
Just the earliest possible moment.
As I said, I have to leave here at about 540.
Yes, sir.
But I'll stay right to the last minute.
All right.
Well, that's fine, and I'll report back to you just in time.
Okay.
Thank you for the time.

NARA Description

On December 18, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 3:05 pm to 3:09 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 016-114 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 16-114

Date: December 18, 1971
Time: 3:05 pm - 3:09 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with John B. Connally.

[See Conversation No. 310-10]

     International monetary situation
           -Japanese
                  -Devaluation (16.9%)
                       -Information given to the French and British
           -Germans
                  -Willy Brandt
                       -Refusal to have Cabinet meeting on devaluation
           -Italians
                  -Actions questioned
                  -Georges J.R. Pompidou and Emilio Colombo
                       -Possible talks
           -Canada
                  -Actions
           -Sweden
                  -Actions
                       -Discussions with Denmark and Norway
           -Memorandum of agreement
           -US position
                  -Success with the Japanese
                  -Timing
           -President’s schedule

Also recorded on December 18, 1971

  • 016-113 2:45 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 2:45 pm.
  • 310-009 2:45 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 2:45 pm.
  • 310-010 3:05 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:05 pm to 3:09 pm.
  • 016-115 3:09 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:09 pm and 3:35 pm.
  • 310-011 3:09 PM · 32 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 3:09 pm and 3:35 pm.
  • 016-116 3:35 PM · 44 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Muriel L. Hartley talked on the telephone from 3:35 pm to 3:36 pm.
  • 310-012 3:35 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Muriel L. Hartley met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:35 pm to 3:36 pm.
  • 016-117 3:36 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:36 pm and 5:26 pm.

All 52 conversations from December 18, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 016-114, December 18, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/016-114 (accessed October 11, 2026).