Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 20 › Conversation 020-048

Nixon, Price & Haldeman on Speechwriting and Economic policy

Monday, February 7, 1972 · 3:41 PM–3:44 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Price, Raymond K., Jr.; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation020-048 on Tape 20 (tape position 01:55:00–01:57:39)StartMonday, February 7, 1972 at 3:41 PMEndMonday, February 7, 1972 at 3:44 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 020-048 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with speechwriter Raymond Price and H. R. Haldeman regarding revisions to his upcoming address for the White House Conference on the Industrial World Ahead. Nixon instructed Price to reorganize the speech by splicing the existing introductory draft with a set of substantive talking points to create a roughly 2,000-word text. He authorized Price to finalize the draft by cutting and pasting sections, while noting the need to manage potential overlaps regarding the wage and price freeze.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Mr. President.
Mr. President.
Hello.
Mr. President.
Yeah.
Mr. Price on the line.
Yeah.
Yes, sir.
Yeah, well, before when?
Just a second.
Oh.
Well, he could come right now then, fine.
Well, before I get
Hello, Ray.
You know, I think maybe we just might try this one on a red basis tonight.
I'm not.
But I think that what I would do, I think it needs, we're going to need more than that.
I think what would be well would be to fit the first part
In other words, the part that has been prepared for the script.
When you go down to page six, other nations and America has to exert itself.
Then start right after that on page six for America.
You got that?
Let's see.
In the formal draft.
Yeah.
Then just pick up
the talking points, which, incidentally, they are in speech form anyway, you see.
Why don't you try splicing the two together, and it'll make about a 2,000-word operation.
But I don't think it's too bad, perhaps, to just lay it out that way.
And then I won't have to make the effort to try to put everything together.
It might be just as well to...
to put out something like this in written form.
Wait a minute, I don't know if you can... Yeah, it will work.
I don't think there's much overlapping when you do that.
Well, yes, you do mention the wage price freeze a little earlier, but... Well, I think you see what I mean.
If you could pick up
the two and put them together.
The last is substance.
I mean, what the talking points are, the principal points of substance, and the first is, you know, good introductory stuff, see?
Would you like to try that and get me something back as soon as you can?
Just spice together, scissors and paste.
You can tell, strike out a paragraph here and put another and bring something back as soon as you can.
Fair enough.
Bye.

NARA Description

On February 7, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Raymond K. Price, Jr., and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 3:41 pm to 3:44 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 020-048 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 20-48

Date: February 7, 1972
Time: 3:41 pm - 3:44 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Raymond K. Price, Jr.; H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman can be heard in the
background.

     The President’s schedule

     The President’s forthcoming address to White House Conference on the Industrial World
         Ahead
          -Speech changes
               -Talking points
               -Splices
               -Length
               -Use in written form
               -Overlap of terms
                      -Wage and price freeze

Also recorded on February 7, 1972

  • 319-005 3:04 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:04 pm to 3:09 pm.
  • 319-006 3:15 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:15 pm to 3:16 pm.
  • 319-007 3:16 PM · 6 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 3:16 pm and 3:41 pm.
  • 319-008 3:16 PM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:16 pm and 3:41 pm.
  • 319-009 3:41 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:41 pm to 3:44 pm.
  • 020-049 3:44 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:44 pm and 4:44 pm.
  • 319-010 3:44 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:44 pm and 3:50 pm.
  • 319-011 3:50 PM · 50 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:50 pm to 4:40 pm.

All 41 conversations from February 7, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 020-048, February 7, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/020-048 (accessed October 12, 2026).