Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 148 › Conversation 148-003

Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Spending ceiling and Wilbur D. Mills

Tuesday, October 10, 1972 · 8:16 PM–8:20 PM ET · Camp David Study Table · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation148-003 on Tape 148StartTuesday, October 10, 1972 at 8:16 PMEndTuesday, October 10, 1972 at 8:20 PMRecording deviceCamp David Study TableSourceNixon Library record for 148-003 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman discuss the successful House passage of a spending ceiling, which passed with a larger-than-expected margin due to intensive lobbying by cabinet members and a decisive floor speech by Wilbur Mills. Following this victory, the two coordinate a strategy to pressure the Senate, scheduling a meeting with key senators for Thursday morning to push for a cloture vote. The conversation also touches on ongoing efforts by Charles Colson to capitalize on George McGovern's controversial statements regarding amnesty and foreign policy.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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. Haldeman.
Yeah.
Yes, sir.
I just wanted to let you know the spending ceiling passed 221 to 163.
That's good.
221 to 163.
Right.
Which has just astonished everybody.
Because it's just a hell of a lot bigger margin than they expected.
Bill said he really worked on the cabinet officers this morning and gave them all assignments and they all did it.
He thinks they did a hell of a job on that.
The crew working the floor did a job.
And he said Wilbur Mills gave the greatest speech of his career on the floor that was a ringing endorsement of the president's integrity in managing fiscal affairs, which was the key.
Because, see, the bitch was that, obviously, the line they were using was they shouldn't give you this power.
And he made the case that your record and integrity and so forth was such that they could do that without concern.
Right.
So they're all quite excited.
It was, I guess, quite a deal.
With that kind of a margin, I wonder if you want to reconsider the question of meeting with the senators.
Well, I have to go back there.
I don't want the assholes up here.
No, why not do it Thursday morning?
All right.
They won't move to consider at all until Thursday, and that will give you the thing to do.
Even if you meet with Henry, you only need a half hour with the senators anyway.
Right.
Have the senators at 10 o'clock.
Well, he'd like to do it a little earlier, at 8.30 or 9. Who?
Bill.
If we're going to do it.
Well.
They have a cloture vote at 11, which is one problem.
Then make it 8.30.
It'll make a long day, but we'll do it.
Well, I'll make it 9 o'clock.
Make it 9 o'clock.
That's right.
They'd just soon come at 9.
They'd rather.
Why?
They'd rather come at 9.
And catch them and then catch Henry at 9.30.
What time's our cloture vote?
The cloture vote's at 11.
Just make it 9.
That's right.
That's right.
9 o'clock's good.
That gives them plenty of time.
And then, see, they'd go out and catch a little press afterwards, which, because it now, that wouldn't be a grandstand.
It now looks as though, you know, you could consider there might be a chance.
It's very slim.
Bill says he doesn't want to kid you into thinking you might have it.
What he knows is they're going to screw it up with amendments.
There's no chance, Bob, really.
That's all right.
We'll put the heat to them.
He's got 35 votes, and he figures if he can pick up a few more, he might just do it.
How's he going to get it to a vote?
He's got a culture.
See, that's the problem.
Well, I don't know.
Okay, well, good.
It's worth a swing.
Now, they've drafted a statement they're going to put out down there.
I assume you don't need to...
I don't need to see it.
It just praises their action, urges the Senate to follow suit.
Very responsible Senate to follow suit, right.
And you might want to consider calling Wilbur.
That would be the only follow-up on it.
Jerry was our leader, but there's no need to call him.
Oh, God, no.
We've done that enough.
the mill if you call mills refer to his speech right i know that you heard he did and his courage in the taking the lead on this thing but that uh okay you set the meeting up and uh we'll take a swing at it good okay they uh colson's got all the other things operating on the uh
McGovern thing.
God, that was the silliest son-of-a-bitching thing I ever heard, when you come to think of it.
That Shriver thing is so preposterous, they ought to laugh out of court.
Yeah, well, he doesn't make a big thing out of that.
That's just one of his...
I know, but I mean, it's still just to throw it in.
He threw amnesty in, too, which is good.
Good.
Okay.
All right.
Bye.

NARA Description

On October 10, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at Camp David from 8:16 pm to 8:20 pm. The Camp David Study Table taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 148-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 148-3

Date: October 10, 1972
Time: 8:16 pm - 8:20 pm
Location: Camp David Study Table

The President talked with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

[See Conversation No. 219-5]

        House of Representatives

            -Spending ceiling
                -Vote passage
                    -Margin
                    -William E. Timmons
                         -Cabinet officers
                              -Assignments
                    -Wilbur D. Mills
                         -Speech
                         -The President's handling of fiscal affairs
                              -Mill’s endorsement

        The President's schedule
            -Meeting with Senators
                -Meeting with Henry A. Kissinger
                -Timmons
                -Cloture vote
                     -Press
                     -Timmons
                     -Statement
            -Telephone call to Mills
                -Telephone call to Gerald R. Ford
                -Mills’s speech
            -George S. McGovern foreign policy speech, October 10, 1972
                -Charles W. Colson
                -R. Sargent Shriver
                -Amnesty

Also recorded on October 11, 1972

  • 148-001 8:15 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at 8:15 pm.
  • 148-002 8:15 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:15 pm and 8:16 pm.
  • 219-003 8:15 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at 8:15 pm.
  • 219-004 8:15 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:15 pm and 8:16 pm.
  • 219-005 8:16 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 8:16 pm to 8:20 pm.
  • 148-004 8:20 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at 8:20 pm.
  • 148-005 8:20 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:20 pm and 8:24 pm.
  • 219-006 8:20 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at 8:20 pm.

All 48 conversations from October 11, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 148-003, October 11, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/148-003 (accessed October 11, 2026).