Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 270 › Conversation 270-009

Nixon & Shultz on Economic Policy and Inflation

Tuesday, August 3, 1971 · 4:50 PM–4:56 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Shultz, George P.Conversation270-009 onTape 270 (tape position 00:34:49–00:50:22)StartTuesday, August 3, 1971 at 4:50 PMEndTuesday, August 3, 1971 at 4:56 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 270-009 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and George P. Shultz consulted on messaging strategy for an upcoming press conference regarding the state of the national economy. The two discussed positive economic indicators, specifically noting strength in retail sales and housing markets, while weighing how to address ongoing concerns about inflation and the Consumer Price Index. Nixon directed Shultz to synthesize these data points and determine the administration's next steps in publicizing the economic narrative.

Audio

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This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 00:34:49 into the tape and ends around 00:50:22.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 · Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.

34:59George, what, if you were to answer a question on the safety of the Republican Corps, that's a positive point.
35:08Everybody is being made to know what's going on.
35:30For those people, to be honest with you, I don't have any.
35:36They don't have any strong fears.
35:41They are strong.
35:42Okay, good.
35:44Yes, they retail certainly strong.
35:47Right.
35:49Good.
35:50Housing strong.
35:51That's right.
36:00Yeah.
36:00Yeah.
36:59Also, if we get a... say it goes up to six, then that's our problem.
37:40Now, uh, you can also read the information.
37:44I guess the... the SEP, the rate of inflation is slower than... from 5.5 in 1973, from 9 in the first month of 1970.
37:58Well, I don't know.
37:59I don't know.
38:00I don't know.
38:02Yeah.
38:02Weird, huh?
38:13That's up there.
38:14Well, that's not that now.
39:26Yeah, yeah.
39:27Right, right, right.
39:28Okay.
39:29Good.
39:29And if you get that, figure out what you want to do next.
39:33Okay, okay.

NARA Description

On August 3, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:50 pm to 4:56 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 270-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 270-9

Date: August 3, 1971
Time: 4:50 pm - 4:56 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with George P. Shultz.

     Forthcoming press conference
          -Possible question
               -National economy
                     -Figures
                     -Indicators
                           -Retail sales
                           -Housing
                           -Construction
                           -Stock Market
                           -Inflation
                                 -Consumer Price Index [CPI]
                                       -Figures
          -Preparation
               -Timing

Also recorded on August 3, 1971

  • 270-006 4:09 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:09 pm to 4:10 pm.
  • 270-007 4:11 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:11 pm to 4:12 pm.
  • 270-008 4:12 PM · 1 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 4:12 pm and 4:50 pm.
  • 270-010 4:56 PM · 2 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 4:56 pm and 5:10 pm.
  • 270-011 5:10 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:10 pm to 5:25 pm.
  • 270-012 5:25 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 5:25 pm.
  • 270-013 5:25 PM · 35 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 5:25 pm and 5:31 pm.
  • 270-014 5:25 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:25 pm to 5:31 pm.

All 51 conversations from August 3, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 270-009, 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/270-009 (accessed September 18, 2026).