Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 39 › Conversation 039-120

Nixon phone call with Ford on Minimum Wage Bill and Presidential Veto

Wednesday, June 6, 1973 · 4:56 PM–5:02 PM ET · White House Telephone · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ford, Gerald R.Conversation039-120 on Tape 39StartWednesday, June 6, 1973 at 4:56 PMEndWednesday, June 6, 1973 at 5:02 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 039-120 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with Gerald Ford and Hugh Scott regarding legislative strategy, specifically potential vetoes for the Minimum Wage Bill and the necessity of including a youth differential. The group coordinated scheduling changes for upcoming Cabinet and bipartisan Congressional meetings to better align with the President's upcoming Vietnam and Brezhnev summit briefings. Additionally, Nixon discussed economic policy concerns, expressing skepticism toward a prolonged wage and price freeze, and dismissed concerns regarding a speech by Representative Pete McCloskey about impeachment.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hi, Mr. President.
I understand you're tied up down there.
Apparently the policy was going to come down and they said they couldn't come today.
Well, we had a tough blow on this damn minimum wage thing and we lost the substitute and so we're now going through the process on about 20-some amendments to try and clean it up.
We aren't very optimistic, but we're going to make the effort.
You think it's something, all right.
Well, then you go to conference, huh?
Yeah, I think there will be a fairly substantial vote against the bill, and my recommendation would be that if the bill comes to your desk the way it is, that you ought to veto it.
Okay.
What's Pete Brennan's view?
Of course, he's pro-labor, but why, it's just a bad bill, huh?
Well, if we don't get the, honest to goodness, youth differential in there...
then I think you've got to veto it.
If they were to take the youth differential with all this other extra coverage and the wage, why, you might have a problem.
But if they knock out the youth differential or keep it out of the committee bill, then I think you've got a good, legitimate reason to veto it because it doesn't coincide with your recommendations.
That'll be a hairy thing with Brennan, I'm afraid.
Well, we'll do our best.
Oh, he's—we're having a cabinet meeting tomorrow, and I'll try to— Say, are you having a cabinet meeting after our bipartisan meeting?
Oh, the bipartisan has shifted to Tuesday, Larry—I mean, Sherry.
Oh, the bipartisan— Yeah, so you can pass that.
We were going to have it tomorrow, but we've had—I decided that I wanted to wrap it up with—so that I could take Vietnam
and the Brezhnev Summit all in one meeting, so Tuesday is a better day for it.
That bipartisan meeting is Tuesday, not— Yeah, you probably should have a call by now, but we are changing it from tomorrow, Thursday, until Tuesday at the same time.
Scott is here with me, and— He may not have the word, but— How about you and me coming down to that cabinet meeting?
Great.
I'd like to do that.
Yeah.
Great.
You're invited.
All right.
What time is it?
10 o'clock.
10 o'clock.
Yeah, that's a good idea.
It'll be Mel's first one.
Good.
Good.
Well, I think you and I would like to come if we could.
You're invited.
All right.
You're invited.
Great.
You tell Hugh, yeah.
All right.
Hugh just said he'd like to speak with you.
Sure.
OK.
Wait just a second.
Pardon?
Wait a second.
How'd you do with our friend Klosky?
Well, I got a copy of his speech, and I was just going over it hurriedly.
It, frankly, is what I discussed with you.
He doesn't make any affirmative recommendation.
He doesn't say he's going to introduce a resolution.
He talks about the need for study, and he gets into some other details.
But my judgment is we still ought to ignore it.
I agree.
I agree.
I'll see that you get a copy.
No, don't bother.
Don't bother.
All right.
I just told Jerry we'd like for you and him to attend the cabinet meeting tomorrow.
We're putting the bipartisans of Tuesday so that I can wrap the Soviet summit in the one meeting.
But we have an 830 meeting, I believe, with you, sir.
That is off.
We put that off to Tuesday.
All right.
But you're both to attend on cabinet meeting, if you like, you and Jerry.
I think it'd be a good idea.
It'd be an interesting, you know, it's a little different thing to do.
Why, John Connolly's here.
This idea doesn't come from me.
It comes from him.
It comes from me.
We were just ready to sound it out, and that was if you have an economic package coming up, and it's one that you think is a strong one, whether you'd consider addressing a joint session with Congress.
It goes right to the people line.
The difficulty with it is that it isn't that strong.
Yes.
I'm going to see John Connolly tonight.
He's going out—you know, I'm going to see him at 6 o'clock.
I'll talk to him about it.
It doesn't have the stuff in it that we really need for that sort of thing.
You know what I mean?
I don't want to go to that joint session on us.
We've really got something that's a thing.
Yes, sir.
But I'll talk to John about it.
Because it appalls me, you know, to read one of your economists in U.S. News that there's no consumer hurting anyone in the country.
And that's absolute crap because... We know that.
We know that.
Sure, sure, sure, sure.
We know that.
Particularly the food prices going up 50% in about six months.
What we need is some movement, some strong counteraction to this freeze because they plan to put on the debt limitation.
A freeze running as long as the debt limitation, five months.
Oh, my.
All those freeze.
And...
On labor, too?
Well, we believe it's going to be on wages and prices.
Well, I'll tell you, that would break it off.
It would ruin the economy, of course, and it would have... Lopp has met the day with the labor and management group, and labor is strenuously opposed to a freeze.
That's interesting.
And management, a little less strenuously, but also...
So that's interesting, too, isn't it?
Yes, sir.
I just mention it because of what you do, if you can anticipate doing that, you take a play with it.
I know.
That's what we've been thinking about.
You can't do it.
Well, you did a fine job yesterday, I must say.
Well, thank you, sir.
It was a good shot across the bow.
Thank you.
And Mike is being very supportive now on the fact that I said this morning to the Senators that I wish all Senators in both parties would do what they could to restore confidence in the country by...
Speaking of the strength of the country and the fact that we continue our commitments and that we are strong and unimpaired.
That's right.
And Mike's given some support on that.
Good, good, good.
Good.
So we'll be there tomorrow.
Yeah, at the cabinet meeting.
Yeah.
Right.
Good.
Thank you very much.

NARA Description

On June 6, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:56 pm and 5:02 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 039-120 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 39-120

Date: June 6, 1973
Time: Unknown between 4:56 pm and 5:02 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Gerald R. Ford.

[See also Conversation No. 443-27]

       Congressional relations
             -President’s schedule
                     -Policy Committee
             -Minimum Wage Bill
                     -Substitute
                     -Amendments
                     -Conference
                     -Possible need for veto
                     -Peter J. Brennan
                             -Support for labor
                     -Youth differential
                             -Veto
                             -Committee bill
                             -President’s recommendations
                             -Veto
                                    -Brennan’s reaction

       President’s schedule
              -Cabinet meeting
              -Bipartisan Congressional leadership meeting
                      -Postponement
                      -Vietnam and Leonid I. Brezhnev summit
                      -Timing
              -Cabinet meeting
                      -Ford and Hugh Scott
                      -Timing
                      -Melvin R. Laird
                                               -98-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                                Conversation No. 39-120 (cont’d)

       Watergate
             -Paul N. (“Pete”) McCloskey, Jr.
                    -Forthcoming speech
                            -Impeachment
                            -Content
                            -Possible White House reaction

The President talked with Hugh Scott at an unknown time.

       President’s schedule
              -Cabinet meeting
              -Bipartisan Congressional leaders meeting
                      -Vietnam and Soviet summit
                      -Postponement
              -Cabinet meeting
                      -Ford and Scott

       President’s forthcoming economic package
              -Scott’s conversation with John B. Connally
                       -Possible presentation to joint session of Congress
                              -Difficulty
              -President’s forthcoming conversation with Connally
              -Readiness
                       -Possible presentation to Congress

       National economy
              -Unknown economist’s statement in US News and World Report
                     -Effect on consumers
              -Food prices
              -Wage and price freeze
                     -Duration
                             -Debt limitation bill
                     -Possible effects on labor, economy
                     -John T. Dunlop’s meeting with labor and management
                             -Opposition

       Watergate
             -Scott’s statement, June 5
                                              -99-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                            Conversation No. 39-120 (cont’d)

              -Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield

       President’s schedule
              -Cabinet meeting
                      -Scott, Ford

Also recorded on June 6, 1973

  • 039-118 4:51 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at 4:51 pm.
  • 039-119 4:51 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:51 pm and 4:56 pm.
  • 443-025 4:51 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 4:51 pm.
  • 443-026 4:51 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:51 pm and 4:56 pm.
  • 443-027 4:56 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, and Hugh Scott met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:56 pm to 5:02 pm.
  • 039-121 5:02 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:02 pm and 5:05 pm.
  • 443-028 5:02 PM · 23 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 5:02 pm and 5:05 pm.
  • 443-029 5:02 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:02 pm and 5:05 pm.

All 80 conversations from June 6, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 039-120, June 6, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/039-120 (accessed October 12, 2026).