Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 73 › Conversation 073-002
Nixon, Cost of Living Council & Connally
Saturday, September 11, 1971 · 9:29 AM–12:53 PM ET · Cabinet Room · 1 hr 16 min
Audio
This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.
Listen to the full tape segment
part A, 8:40
073a.mp3
073b.mp3
073c.mp3
NARA Description
On September 11, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and the Cost of Living Council, including John B. Connally, Paul W. McCracken, Clifford M. Hardin, James D. Hodgson, George W. Romney, Maurice H. Stans, George P. Shultz, Gen. George A. Lincoln, Virginia H. Knauer, Arnold R. Weber, Herbert Stein, Arthur Burns, and the White House photographer, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 9:29 am and 12:53 pm. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 073-002 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 73-2
Date: September 11, 1971
Time: Unknown between 9:29 am and 12:53 pm
Location: Cabinet Room
John B. Connally, Paul W. McCracken, Clifford M. Hardin, James D. Hodgson, George W.
Romney, Maurice H. Stans, George P. Shultz, General George A. Lincoln, Virginia H. Knauer,
Arnold R. Weber, Herbert Stein, and Arthur F. Burns met
[General conversation/Unintelligible]
The President entered at 10:51 am; the White House photographer was present at the beginning
of the meeting
Arrangements for group photograph
Cost of Living Council’s work
-The President’s conversation with Connally
[Unintelligible -- Camera noise obscures conversation]
Previous meeting on economic action
-Telephone call to George Meany
Meeting agenda
-McCracken, Weber, Lincoln
The economy
-Recently imposed 90-day wage-price freeze
-Impact on newly-negotiated contracts
-Wage increases
-Pricing system
-US economic system
-Report on effect of August 15, 1971 freeze
-Work with Lincoln regarding staffing
-Internal Revenue Service [IRS] and Department of Agriculture
details of personnel
-Compliance
-Effectiveness of freeze
-Problems
-Consistency of treatment of landlords, wage-earners, and businessmen
-Handling of teachers
-Summer recess
-Organization of enforcement effortShow the rest of the log (171 more lines)
-Cooperation of federal agencies in detailing staff
-Support from all parts of society
-Unionized labor
-Report
-IRS
-Exemption requests
-Denial percentage
-Cooperation of business
-State and local governments
-Governors
-Unnamed governor’s negative reaction
-Mayors
-Policy making
-Council staff reports
-Questions for regional offices
-Phase II
-Stein
-Review of options
-Office of Price Administration [OPA]
-Voluntary cooperation
-Planning for Phase II
-Options
-Outcome
-Background
-Support
-Paper
-Main ingredients
-Government goals
-Reconciliation of the interests of the different parties
-Agreement on goal
-Inflation
-Acceptance by US public
-Display of leadership in action taken
-Unbridled inflation
-Interest
-Options
-Profits
-Wages, salaries, executive salaries
-Strike by longshoremen
-Restraints
-Inflationary expansion
-Need for sustainable policies
-The President’s leadership
-Public opinion
-Guidelines
-Confidentiality
-Decision making
-Timetable
-October 10, 1971
-Final decision
-Announcement
-Recommendations from Council
-Implementation of policy
-Wage-price freezes
-Psychological impact of action
-Business decisions
-Wage-price control system
-Public attitudes in support of controls
-Union members
-Support of initial action
-Union leaders oppositions
-Business price increases
-Christmas sales profit
-Restraint on leaders of businesses, unions, professions
-Change
-Consumer, business and labor groups
-Psychological factors
-Labor union
-Business
-Labor
-Professionals
-Cost of living policies
-Public relations effects for assurance on nature of economic action
-Announcement of program, October 7, l971
-Deadlines
-Objectives
-Incomes policy
-Recommendations
-Labor-management response
-Public announcement 30 days prior to end of 90-day freeze
-Partisans view
-Views of labor leaders
-Frank E. Fitzsimmons
-Cooperation
-Permanent restraint
-Attitude
-Attitude toward criticism of issues involving labor
-Prices and profits
-Walter P. Reuther’s previous actions
-Leonard Woodcock’s philosophy
-Meany’s philosophy
-Free enterprise
-Decisions on Phase II implementation
-Timing
-End of freeze
-Extension beyond 90 days
-Business view on economic issue
-Labor’s role
-Price controls
-Utilities
-Interest rates
-Voluntary tripartite board
-Objectives in cost of living increase
-Price restraint
-Meany’s view
-Voluntary control
-John H. (“Jack”) Lyons’ view
-Government sanctions
-Congress
-Freeze extension
-Phase II parts
-Preparation for rest of program
-Public perception of business leaders, union leaders, and politicians
-Knauer’s September 10, 1971 memorandum for Shultz and Connally
-Leaders
-Labor
-Business
-Congressional
-Consumers
-Rents
-Housing
-Wages and prices
-Rent control
-Governors and mayors
-Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
-Council meeting
-State and local government costs
-Executive council of governors
-Richard G. Lugar
-Counties
-Representatives
-State, local, and county groups
-Focus of special interest group meetings
-Stans
-Ability to characterize business attitude
-Shultz
-Ability to characterize labor attitude
-Sense of cooperation
-Congressional support for Phase II
-Tax bill
-Use of legislation
-Tax diversion
Cabinet
-Forthcoming September 13, 1971 meeting of Cabinet members and their wives
The President left at 12:06 pm; unknown members of the Cost of Living Council remained
[Unintelligible]
Cost of Living Council’s work
-Investment bankers
-[Lincoln?]
-Gordon [?], head of Kidder, Peabody
-[Unintelligible]
-Pressure
-Contrast to John F. Kennedy administration action
-Stock market perceptions
-Possible telephone call to Bill [?] [Surname unknown]
-Schedule
-Paul’s [McCracken?] office
-Unknown business
-Bankruptcy
[Unintelligible]
The unknown council members left at a unknown time before 12:53 pmTranscript (AI-generated)
No transcript is available yet for this conversation.
Also recorded on September 11, 1971
- 073-001 9:29 AM · 2 min — unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 9:29 am and 10:51 am.
- 570-001 9:40 AM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:40 am and 9:50 am.
- 570-002 9:50 AM · 56 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, Manolo Sanchez, and Gerald L. Warren met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:50 am to 10:51 am.
- 570-003 10:51 AM · 46 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:51 am and 12:07 pm.
- 073-003 12:06 PM · 4 min — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 12:06 pm on September 11, 1971 and 8:40 am on September 13, 1971.
- 073-004 12:06 PM · 35 min — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 12:06 pm on September 11, 1971 and 8:40 am on September 13, 1971.
- 570-004 12:07 PM · 45 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John B. Connally, Arthur F. Burns, Gerald L. Warren, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:07 pm to 12:53 pm.
- 008-085 12:53 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:53 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 073-002, September 11, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 648452361). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/073-002 (accessed November 2, 2026).