Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 267 › Conversation 267-019

Nixon & Hodgson on Labor relations and Steel industry

Friday, July 30, 1971 · 4:37 PM–4:45 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building ·8 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Hodgson, James D.Conversation267-019 onTape 267 (tape position 05:06:37–05:14:34)StartFriday, July 30, 1971 at 4:37 PMEndFriday, July 30, 1971 at 4:45 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 267-019 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Secretary of Labor James D. Hodgson discussed strategies to force immediate settlements in ongoing steel and railroad labor negotiations. Concerned by the inflationary impact and the public's exhaustion with labor disputes, Nixon authorized Hodgson to convey a stern ultimatum to both industries, signaling that the administration was prepared to take aggressive action if negotiations failed. Nixon further expressed his willingness to personally intervene in the steel talks if a breakthrough appeared imminent, emphasizing the necessity of resolving productivity and work rule issues.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Yeah.
Hello.
I was wondering what the situation is on the steel engine.
Do they have anything in on the productivity or work rules thing?
59.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
It's ridiculous.
It's ridiculous.
Well, now, they're going to make an effort tonight.
I will be out of town tonight.
But will they try tomorrow night again?
Yeah, yeah.
Although, if they get it tomorrow and they look like there's a chance that they're going to make a settlement or something like that, I mean, I would not mind.
I know that this settlement, of course, is going to be equationary.
I mean, they all are, but it's no more equationary than any other challenge.
When I was in this, I would run mine and I used my computer and I did the most important things I would try.
And I would be glad to come down and really sit with it for several hours, you know what I mean?
What I'm getting at, I don't know, but if it's going to break,
If we can get it to break, I won't sit with them if they're not going to break, but if they are, I'll just sit right in there and we'll get them in here and get the dam settled.
I don't know whether that's a good idea or a bad idea, but I think that there's something to be said for re-climbing.
You know, I mean, people get the dam to be settled.
That's correct.
You've got that incident.
I mean, don't worry about it.
You have it now.
I'm giving you that authority.
And just say that you write it out and you say that I called and I requested for, you know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Now, as a matter of fact, if we want, I don't even mind going to a hotel or anything like that.
But it's something that's really, really shows that we're together on it.
And they shouldn't have us do it.
It's ridiculous.
They're going to eventually agree.
They're going to have to do it just right now.
It's not a good thing.
I leave them.
No, I don't leave until 6.30.
I leave at 6.35.
Now you're going to work with the railroads tonight.
Now we've done as much there, as much as I can do.
If you stay with them, they say, if you want to steal them, if you want to grab them, I don't know, sit with them.
I don't know how to ask for it.
It might be better than you do it.
But they need another job.
I mean, I know that the states here are, that the company, I don't think it will take up the green light to raise prices.
That's part of the problem.
Yeah, yeah.
All right, fine.
Good luck.
And then that railroad thing, you tell them, God damn it, we want it settled.
No, no, that's it.
Tonight.
Tonight.
Or, now, the other thing is this.
You know, we want it settled.
But I didn't frankly be American.
People are sick of the railroad.
Both times.
And I didn't be American.
And this means that there's something they have drafted in Manhattan.
It is going to happen.
And it's better.
I'll leave the charge to myself.
We should.
That's right.
And that we're going to push that.
And I've got to tell them that I, that the President said, and I'll let you guess that, that I've tried to be reasonable here.
But if they don't settle, that the gloves are going to come off.
And I'm going to do it.
I'm going to take it right on, finally.
And we're going to have to say that this industry is no longer able to handle the welfare.
And they ought to, and they've got to have, and they've got to have the word pool thing in there, but it's nuts that they don't put it in.
Because basically they use the dams, that is, the roads that are running, or the hybrid up there, the average dams, and they, the roads that don't have to have the, basically, the Georgian concrete.
We should run our life.
By the time this is done, that's the thing to put me to work.
Let me say, if the government runs these things, if we decide there isn't going to be any, we're not going to run both, we're going to run both of them.
There isn't going to be any of this, and better yet, that's what it's going to be now.
We're not going to travel around with this thing.
It will be run efficiently.
And maybe that's what hasn't happened.
But I don't want any fooling around with this.
We're not going to take this one.
Okay, we'll get to it, get to what we're working on.

NARA Description

On July 30, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and James D. Hodgson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:37 pm to 4:45 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 267-019 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 267-019
Date: July 30, 1971
Time: 4:37 pm - 4:45 pm
Location: Old Executive Office Building
The President talked with James D. Hodgson.
Labor management
-Report on negotiations on steel settlement
-Productivity and work rules issues
-Forthcoming negotiations
-The President's schedule
-Possible settlement
-Inflationary impact
-The President's role
-The President's schedule
-Railroad negotiations
-Public reaction to railroads
-Work rules issue
-George P. Shultz

Also recorded on July 30, 1971

  • 267-014 4:17 PM · 39 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Marjorie P. Acker met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:17 pm to 4:19 pm.
  • 267-015 4:19 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:19 pm and 4:35 pm.
  • 267-016 4:35 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 4:35 pm.
  • 267-017 4:35 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 4:35 pm.
  • 267-018 4:37 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 4:37 pm.
  • 267-020 4:45 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 4:45 pm.
  • 267-021 4:46 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 4:46 pm.
  • 267-022 4:46 PM · 54 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, Henry A. Kissinger, and Bart Starr met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:46 pm to 5:43 pm.

All 45 conversations from July 30, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 267-019, July 30, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/267-019 (accessed September 18, 2026).