Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 134 › Conversation 134-011

Nixon phone call with Stein on Arthur F. Burns and Argentina

Saturday, June 24, 1972 · 2:45 PM–2:46 PM ET · Camp David Study Table · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Stein, HerbertConversation134-011 on Tape 134 (tape position 00:32:45–00:33:55)StartSaturday, June 24, 1972 at 2:45 PMEndSaturday, June 24, 1972 at 2:46 PMRecording deviceCamp David Study TableSourceNixon Library record for 134-011 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with Herbert Stein to provide cautionary instructions regarding Federal Reserve Chairman Arthur Burns' upcoming trip to Argentina. Nixon expressed skepticism regarding the long-standing health justifications for restricting Argentine beef imports and tasked Stein with coordinating with Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz to ensure Burns did not inadvertently make unsustainable trade promises. This conversation served to manage potential diplomatic fallout and domestic political complications surrounding international trade policies.

Audio

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Position in tape: 00:32:45 – 00:33:55

134a.mp3

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Hello?
Yes, please.
Stein, please.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Mr. Stein is up.
Yeah.
Hello?
Hello?
Herb, I wondered if you would pass one thing to Burns before he gets to Argentina.
He raised the point about Argentine beef coming in, and I said, sure, that's great.
I may explore it with him, because we were going to record it so far.
The fact of the matter is that...
Then Butt says the reason it doesn't come in is because it has a mouth disease.
Well, of course, I'm inclined to think there's a lot of phoniness in that.
The British take it, and, you know, in the French, everybody eats Argentine beef except us.
But that apparently is a very, very...
tough issue over there so what i'd like i just want to be sure that burns when he goes down there is aware of the problem and doesn't tell the argentine government look we're going to start taking your beef yeah and then all hell break loose here so if if you would do a little check with butts and then you just uh cable arthur at some place or talk to him on the phone and pass the word would you do that please sure good okay thank you

NARA Description

On June 24, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Herbert Stein talked on the telephone at Camp David from 2:45 pm to 2:46 pm. The Camp David Study Table taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 134-011 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 134-11

Date: June 24, 1972
Time: 2:45-2:46 pm
Location: Camp David Study Table (telephone)

The President talked with Herbert Stein.

[This is the original beginning of conversation No. 134-011, which has been merged with
conversation 134-010.]
[See also Conversation No. 194-14B]

     US foreign policy
          -Instructions for Arthur F. Burns
                -Trip to Argentina
                      -Imports of beef
                            -Earl L. Butz
                            -Hoof and Mouth Disease
                                  -Great Britain
                                  -France

Also recorded on June 24, 1972

  • 134-007 1:00 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at 1:00 pm.
  • 134-008 1:32 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at 1:32 pm.
  • 134-009 1:32 PM · 40 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Camp David operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 1:32 pm and 1:36 pm.
  • 194-012 1:32 PM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Camp David operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 1:32 pm and 1:36 pm.
  • 194-013 1:36 PM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 1:36 pm and 2:29 pm.
  • 134-010 2:29 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 2:29 pm and 2:45 pm.
  • 194-014 2:29 PM · 52 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Camp David operator, and Herbert Stein met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 2:29 pm to 3:50 pm.
  • 194-015 3:50 PM · 2 min — Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 3:50 pm and 4:35 pm.

All 34 conversations from June 24, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 134-011, June 24, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/134-011 (accessed October 22, 2026).