Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 269 › Conversation 269-014

Nixon & Counts on Steel industry and Labor negotiations

Tuesday, August 3, 1971 · 9:59 AM–10:02 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Counts, J. CurtisConversation269-014 on Tape 269 (tape position 01:43:07–01:46:31)StartTuesday, August 3, 1971 at 9:59 AMEndTuesday, August 3, 1971 at 10:02 AMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 269-014 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Director J. Curtis Counts to express his appreciation for Counts' successful efforts in mediating a recent steel labor settlement. The conversation addressed the necessity of the resulting price increases while affirming that avoiding a strike remained the administration's primary objective. Nixon also commended Counts' personal dedication throughout the grueling negotiation process and encouraged him to take time off to recuperate.

Steel industry
Labor negotiations
Collective bargaining
J. Curtis Counts
Price increases
Strike prevention

Audio

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

Listen to the full tape segment

Position in tape: 01:43:07 – 01:46:31

part A, 1:43:13

269a.mp3

269b.mp3

269c.mp3

269d.mp3

NARA Description

On August 3, 1971, 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. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 269-014 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 269-14

Date: August 3, 1971
Time: 9:59 am - 10:02 am
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with J. Curtis Counts.

     Steel settlement
           -President's appreciation for Counts’ work
           -Price increase
           -James D. Hodgson
           -Railroad strike
           -Curtis’ background

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Hello, Kurt.

Well, I guess, I know you haven't had much sleep, but I want you to know that that was really a great job on the steel thing, and you tell all the people in your shop tonight, I'm most grateful.

You know, after all, of course, the company did have to raise prices, but all in all, it's foolish to have a strike about as close as 11 when they finally came down to 11,000.

Well, you get a little time off to go to the country or something.

You must be tired.

I understand you didn't take your shoes off for three nights, according to Jim Hodgson.

Railroad?

No, you steal people, steal in a more orderly way.

You only stay up for three o'clock at night.

Oh, boy.

All right.

Gotta get some rest in a little while.

Okay.

I've been talking about it all year long.

You were an All-American baseball player and they don't believe you.

And I said they don't remember that far back.

Okay.

Bye.

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.
269-012 9:53 AM · 1 min — 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.
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.
269-015 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 & Shultz on Phase III and Wage and price controls May 16, 1973 · 4 min
Nixon phone call with Shultz on Railroad strike and Collective bargaining July 30, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Shultz on Labor relations and Robert W. Packwood July 21, 1972 · 6 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 269-014, 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/269-014 (accessed November 1, 2026).