Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 21 › Conversation 021-133
Nixon phone call with Colson on Wage Board and George Meany
Wednesday, March 22, 1972 · 3:24 PM–3:29 PM ET · White House Telephone
AI Summary
President Nixon and Charles Colson discussed the political fallout following George Meany's resignation from the Wage Board, agreeing on the need for a hardline public relations strategy to frame Meany as an obstructionist to the public interest. The two men explored strategies for restructuring the board—potentially moving toward a wholly public membership—while leveraging the conflict to align the administration with the public's concerns regarding rising food prices. Nixon instructed Colson to pressure George Shultz to finalize a new board proposal and develop a stronger stance on controlling food costs despite potential friction with the agricultural sector.
- Wage Board
- George Meany
- Charles W. Colson
- Wage and Price Controls
- Consumer Price Index
- Public Relations
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.8 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 71.1 MB
This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 05:12:47 into the tape and ends around 05:17:45.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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3:16:16Well, the old man walked off.
3:16:18Yes, he did.
3:16:19Yes, he did.
3:16:19I think he's made a very unwise move, but I just heard your statement from Ziegler read it to us.
3:16:27I just stepped out of Schultz's office where we've been meeting, and I think it's excellent.
3:16:31Well, the thing Schultz had prepared was just too bland.
3:16:34Oh, I told George that.
3:16:36We have to hit it very hard.
3:16:37He can't do that, and you've got to hit him hard every day you can.
3:16:40Exactly.
3:16:41Use words like sabotage for men.
3:16:46Group representing only a small percentage of the 80 million American workers.
3:16:49That's exactly right.
3:16:50Things like that.
3:16:51Doesn't George understand that now?
3:16:53He does now.
3:16:54You've got to hit it.
3:16:55I've got George now stiffened up considerably.
3:16:58Right.
3:16:59He understands that we ought to hit him again tomorrow.
3:17:02Very hard when you have the opportunity, or...
3:17:06when we announce the new board, which Connolly's on his way over here to meet with.
3:17:11Which we've got to announce quickly.
3:17:12I hope tomorrow, at the very latest.
3:17:14The big question, of course, is Fitzsimmons.
3:17:16He has now issued a public statement that he will stay on the board.
3:17:20The difficulty is that having just one man on the board from Labour is not good.
3:17:24Well, what we've just proposed, or what we're presently considering, Mr. President, is a public board, and one man who's a Labour expert, and one man who's a
3:17:35business expert, but not having it tripartite, in other words, having it wholly public, but you could then have FITS redesignated as a public member.
3:17:45There are some advantages in keeping him publicly split.
3:17:48We don't know on Woodcock.
3:17:49Woodcock is meeting presently with his people.
3:17:51He'd probably follow Meany, I think, don't you think?
3:17:53Well, he's going to be in a very tough spot, because Fitz has a lot of leverage over him.
3:17:57But by the same token, he's political.
3:18:01Political as hell.
3:18:01He's solidly musky, and he delights in embarrassing us.
3:18:06Sure.
3:18:06Or thinking he is, I really question whether he does.
3:18:10I think this gives you just that... We've been worrying about how to get you on the right side of the issue.
3:18:16And I think Manny has put us precisely there, that you're talking about we're not putting the selfish interest ahead of the public interest.
3:18:24You won't tolerate that.
3:18:26And public interest is where we are, on prices and wages.
3:18:30And just hardline that very hard.
3:18:32Well, we've got to continue to hardline that, and continue to fight it.
3:18:36Well, we'll have some recommendations for you before the afternoon is out on the composition.
3:18:41You know, we've gone through this exercise before.
3:18:43Yeah, we're supposed to have had a plan.
3:18:44Well, we have one.
3:18:46I have one in my office which I've just sent for, and we will have that and review it.
3:18:51We've agreed on it once before.
3:18:53Right.
3:18:54And have something to propose to you.
3:18:57Right, right.
3:18:58The meanie posture, I just really can't understand him.
3:19:02I think you're right that he's...
3:19:04The arterial sclerosis has got him living in another era.
3:19:10It really does.
3:19:12He's just wrong in the public mood.
3:19:15Well, we have to make him appear wrong.
3:19:18We can't let him out there thumbing his nose, basically.
3:19:23Well, in more ways than one, this is going to be a real break for us.
3:19:29cpi comes out tomorrow which is now six tenths of one percent that's not as bad as it could have been oh hell no we were expecting uh stein was expecting something on food well six tenths is about what it was but uh that's just an aberration upward two-thirds of it two-thirds of it are food prices and uh well we gotta have something to say about food prices tomorrow too tomorrow you will just have to maybe that's a reason that's it yeah that's uh an option i think meanies
3:19:57In Meaney's statement, he blasts food prices, and the fact that they're not subject to controls, which is going to have the farmers up in arms, you know, you start that traditional hostility between the unions and the farmers.
3:20:10Well, of course, on this point, though, Meaney is...
3:20:13Very much in the public side, Chuck.
3:20:15Yes, indeed.
3:20:15People want food prices controlled.
3:20:17They don't give a goddamn about the farmers.
3:20:18They're on the meaning side on this one.
3:20:19Yeah, they just want, they don't want to keep paying more in the super rights.
3:20:23Damn right.
3:20:24And we've got to be there on that side, too, so.
3:20:26Oh, absolutely.
3:20:27Pour that to Schultz a little and say, how do we do, what do we do about food prices other than just jawbone?
3:20:32Yeah, well, let's... See, I, because I just assume take a little heat from the farmers, too, at this point.
3:20:36Well, you can.
3:20:37You can afford to, because they're so damn happy.
3:20:39I mean, they're... Well, we'll take some heat from them.
3:20:41We just have to say that.
3:20:43We're going to have to, everybody's going to have to tighten the belt a bit.
3:20:47I think, as a matter of fact, it's the time that you can get away with it, because they've had several good months now, and they're out of that problem they were in last summer, so that we can afford to do this.
3:20:59And I think if you're fighting Meany, the farmers are for you anyway.
3:21:02Well, we hope so.
3:21:04Okay.
3:21:05That's the best part.
3:21:06We'll be back to you, sir.
3:21:07Thank you.
NARA Description
On March 22, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 3:24 pm to 3:29 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 021-133 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 21-133
Date: March 22, 1972
Time: 3:24 pm - 3:29 pm
Location: White House Telephone
The President talked with Charles W. Colson.
[See Conversation No. 324-34]
Wage Board
-George Meany’s resignation from board
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-The President’s statement
-George P. Shultz
-John B. Connally
-Frank E. Fitzsimmons
-Statement
-Public board
-Leonard Woodcock
-The President’s view
-Colson’s view
-Edmund S. Muskie
-Wages and prices
-Public interest
-New board composition proposal
-Meany
-Colson’s view
Consumer Price Index [CPI]
-Herbert Stein
-Food prices
-Possible freeze
-Meany’s statement
-Farmers compared to unions
-Public view
-Farmers
-The President’s view
-Shultz
-Good season
-MeanyAlso recorded on March 22, 1972
- 324-030 2:55 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:55 pm to 3:15 pm.
- 324-031 3:15 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:15 pm and 3:24 pm.
- 324-032 3:15 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 3:15 pm and 3:24 pm.
- 324-033 3:15 PM · 2 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 3:15 pm and 3:24 pm.
- 324-034 3:24 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:24 pm to 3:29 pm.
- 324-035 3:29 PM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:29 pm and 4:01 pm.
- 324-036 3:29 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:29 pm and 4:01 pm.
- 022-001 4:01 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 4:01 pm to 4:03 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 021-133, March 22, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/021-133 (accessed September 18, 2026).