Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 19 › Conversation 019-143

Nixon phone call with Meany on Vietnam War and Defense Budget

Thursday, January 27, 1972 · 2:56 PM–3:00 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Meany, GeorgeConversation019-143 on Tape 19StartThursday, January 27, 1972 at 2:56 PMEndThursday, January 27, 1972 at 3:00 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 019-143 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon reached out to AFL-CIO President George Meany to offer private briefings regarding ongoing Vietnam peace negotiations and defense budget priorities. Nixon proposed that Henry Kissinger and George Shultz meet with Meany to provide detailed insights into the administration's strategic efforts, specifically emphasizing the necessity of an honorable withdrawal from Vietnam and the need to counter the growing Soviet naval threat. Meany agreed to the briefings, and both parties discussed the importance of maintaining a firm stance against congressional deadline amendments that could undermine the administration's bargaining position.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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All right, I have George Meany.
There you are.
Hi, Mr. President.
I understand you're feeling a lot better.
Yes, I feel quite well.
I'm working part-time mostly.
Oh, that's great.
Doing very well, thank you.
That's great.
Let me tell you, if it doesn't put a burden on you, a couple of things that I think might be useful for your information.
I'd be glad to have Henry drop over and give you a sort of behind-the-scenes analysis of those talks that he had with the North Vietnamese, if you'd like to have it.
Now that's, as you well understand, all we have revealed are simply the offer and what they turned on this, but it's a very fascinating story.
It is not altogether as hopeless as it appears, although we're going to take a very tough line because these people that say that we've got to go further, they just want to turn the damn country over to the communists.
I think the vast majority of the people agree with what old John Stennis said.
He said the person has done all that he can honorably do.
Up to this point, and I think this is the whole story.
We want to get the hell out.
I know you want to get out.
We've got to get out honorably.
We can't get out the other way.
Well, if we don't get out honorably here, we can't fight honorably.
But, you know, a lot of these folks, George, that are all concerned about the Mideast, I hit them right in the nose.
I says, look here.
I said, if the United States puts its tail between its legs here, just forget the Mideast.
They aren't going to go there.
And also, that tells the Russians something, too.
I told that to some of my Jewish friends, you know.
Oh, yes.
Well, I had one fellow say to me, oh, a year or so ago, for God's sake, let's get the hell out of Vietnam so we can help Israel.
Oh, boy.
Yeah, that'll be the day.
The other one, which is directly related to it and will not take a great deal of time,
I know that you're interested in the defense budget and things, but George Shultz would be glad to come over and give you a rundown on that.
We have a very strong posture on defense, particularly looking to the future, like shipbuilding and things like that, where the Soviet Navy is concerned.
So he'd be glad to come over.
So I don't want to burden you with stuff, but I think these two things you ought to know about.
Well, I'd be glad to talk to Henry and George, too.
I expect to be over there for this meeting.
productivity meeting, I think it's... Oh, fine.
I think that's on the second.
That's what I see.
I expect to be able to do that.
Right.
Well, fine.
But I'm...
Right, fine.
Well, I've got several meetings in the next couple of days, but I could find time to talk to George.
Well, I'll tell you what I'll do.
I'll have their office then get in touch with your secretary and set it up.
And I just think it would be good to keep posted on it, okay?
Thank you.
Thank you.
All right.
Thank you.
Hello.
Yeah.
One thing I thought it'd be interesting to know, you know, I know that you, some of your friends probably took you to task for standing up against some of those amendments down there, you know, the so-called deadline amendments.
But you now see why we had to fight them.
We hadn't fought them.
We were conducting these negotiations all the time.
So that looks so bad now.
of course as far as the the negotiations i hear some people grumbling all right your friend mccluskey said this uh the president tried to conceal i said look this is this is absolutely ridiculous because i say that many a time we get the collective bargaining situation and we're dead locked all around a bargaining table and you decide to take one of the leaders and ask them to breakfast the next morning that's right and maybe that's where you're settling that's right
Oh, sure.
Well, I don't think anyone's really called.
The only one I heard complaining about that was McCluskey, and he's way off pace.
Okay, many again.
Keep well.
Bye.

NARA Description

On January 27, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and George Meany talked on the telephone from 2:56 pm to 3:00 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 019-143 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 19-143

Date: January 27, 1972
Time: 2:56 pm - 3:00 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with George Meany.

[See Conversation No. 658-26A]

     Meany's health

     Vietnam
          -Negotiations
              -Henry A. Kissinger's possible meeting with Meany
              -Status
              -The President's January 25, 1972 speech
                     -John C. Stennis's reaction
                          -Honorable withdrawal
              -The Middle East
                     -Soviet Union

                     -Meany's conversation with Jews

     Defense budget
          -George P. Shultz's possible meeting with Meany
          -Shipbuilding
               -Soviet navy
          -The Soviet navy

     Meany's schedule
         -Productivity meeting

     Vietnam
          -Deadline amendments in Congress
          -Negotiations
               -Paul N. (“Pete”) McCloskey, Jr.’s statement
               -Analogy to collective bargaining

Also recorded on January 27, 1972

  • 019-142 2:40 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 2:40 pm to 2:45 pm.
  • 658-026 2:50 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, Stephen B. Bull, and George Meany met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:50 pm to 3:00 pm.
  • 019-144 3:00 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:00 pm and 3:07 pm.
  • 658-027 3:00 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:00 pm and 3:07 pm.
  • 658-028 3:00 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:00 pm and 3:07 pm.
  • 019-145 3:07 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 3:07 pm.
  • 658-029 3:07 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 3:07 pm.
  • 658-030 3:07 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:07 pm and 3:13 pm.

All 57 conversations from January 27, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 019-143, January 27, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/019-143 (accessed October 12, 2026).