Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 269 › Conversation 269-012

Nixon & Usery on Steel industry and Labor negotiations

Tuesday, August 3, 1971 · 9:53 AM–9:56 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Usery, Willie J., Jr.Conversation269-012 on Tape 269 (tape position 01:38:17–01:40:44)StartTuesday, August 3, 1971 at 9:53 AMEndTuesday, August 3, 1971 at 9:56 AMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 269-012 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Assistant Secretary of Labor Willie J. Usery, Jr. to formally acknowledge and express gratitude for his pivotal role in negotiating the recent steel industry labor settlement. The discussion centered on the successful conclusion of these negotiations and the strategy for managing the immediate aftermath of the agreement. No specific follow-up actions were recorded, as the meeting served primarily as a debriefing and recognition of Usery’s diplomatic efforts.

Steel industry
Labor negotiations
Collective bargaining
Willie J. Usery Jr.
Industrial relations

Audio

Download MP3 · 1.0 MB

This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.

Listen to the full tape segment

Position in tape: 01:38:17 – 01:40:44

part A, 1:38:28

269a.mp3

269b.mp3

269c.mp3

269d.mp3

NARA Description

On August 3, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Willie J. Usery, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:53 am to 9:56 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 269-012 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 269-12

Date: August 3, 1971
Time: 9:53 am - 9:56 am
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Willie J. Usery, Jr.

     Steel settlement
           -President's appreciation for Usery's work
           -Next steps

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

So, Bill, I always seem to be thanking you for doing a great job.

I know you haven't had much sleep, but I think it's just another fine achievement.

I, on all accounts, just went back and forth, back and forth, and got that three-year-old man to be out.

Oh, boy, it's a miracle.

Let me ask you, what's the next step on the next series?

We're going to have a couple more down the middle of the street.

You don't think they're going to come?

Yeah.

Oh, man.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, I'll tell you what, they've done a great job now.

You sure take some time off this week.

Okay.

Thank you.

Also recorded on August 3, 1971

269-009 9:48 AM · 42 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 9:48 am and 9:53 am.
269-010 9:48 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:48 am and 9:53 am.
269-011 9:48 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:48 am and 9:53 am.
269-013 9:57 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and James D. Hodgson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:57 am to 9:58 am.
269-014 9:59 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and J. Curtis Counts met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:59 am to 10:02 am.
269-015 10:02 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 10:02 am and 10:19 am.
269-016 10:02 AM · 9 min — 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 10:02 am and 10:19 am.
269-017 10:02 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 10:02 am and 10:19 am.

All 45 conversations from August 3, 1971 →

Nixon & Hodgson on Labor relations and Steel industry July 30, 1971 · 8 min
Nixon White House recording on wage-price freeze and Cost of Living Council September 11, 1971 · 35 min
Nixon, Blount & Shultz on Postal Service and Labor Negotiations April 27, 1971 · 31 min
Nixon & Butterfield on Winton M. Blount and Cabinet meetings June 27, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon & Rigley on Utility Workers Union and 1972 Election September 16, 1972 · 2 min
Nixon & Shultz on Phase III and Wage and price controls May 16, 1973 · 4 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 269-012, August 3, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/269-012 (accessed November 1, 2026).