Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 273 › Conversation 273-041

Nixon, Safire & Woods on Economic Policy and Speechwriting

Sunday, August 15, 1971 · 5:43 PM–7:14 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 7 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Safire, William L.; Woods, Rose MaryConversation273-041 on Tape 273 (tape position 04:03:17–04:10:23)StartSunday, August 15, 1971 at 5:43 PMEndSunday, August 15, 1971 at 7:14 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 273-041 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with speechwriter William Safire and secretary Rose Mary Woods to refine the text of his upcoming address regarding significant economic policy shifts. The discussion focused on drafting adjustments and incorporating input from advisors like Henry Kissinger and Arthur Burns, particularly concerning foreign economic aid and dollar stabilization measures. The primary goal of the session was to ensure the linguistic precision and strategic clarity of the speech.

Audio

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Position in tape: 04:03:17 – 04:10:23

273a.mp3
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273c.mp3

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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you
And I'll change it online after that.
Just leave it with me.
Leave it with me.
Leave it with me.
Leave it with me.
I think you better stand over there.
Fine, fine, I'll assert the word.
You don't have to type the page.
Don't type the page.
No, he's right about that.
I put things like that, you know, in comparison.
You don't have to type the page.
Well, he's right about the line, correct?
All right, please.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Bill, on that, any other changes ?
That's fine.
That's fine.
That's fine.
That's a very good idea.
We haven't set a go-round yet.
I don't have it yet, but that's perfectly all right.
I don't mind it there.
Bye, Michael.
Bye.
Good.
We have an issue here.
Yeah.
All right.
Bye.
I am insisting, or I shall insist,
Great.
How do you feel about their arrest of the cyclone?
Is it bothering you?
Is he all right on it?
Yeah.
The hostage?
Yeah.
One sentence I think, Bill, is worth putting in, if I may suggest, because it was a hard response.
It just occurred to me, though, to sit here now, and I'll see if I can find it.
You know, Arthur points out that, really, this is not a deregulation, but a stabilization of the dollar.
And the place that should go in is the...
In the long run, then, will be stabilized around it, not devalued.
Why not say that?
.
.
.
.
Well, that's all they need to see, is that the rest of it they should see, because they ought to be in surprise, too.
They want to walk in to listen.
And also, we... Oh, yeah.

NARA Description

On August 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, William L. Safire, and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:43 pm and 7:14 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 273-041 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 273-41

Date: August 15, 1971
Time: Unknown between 5:43 pm and 7:14 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with William L. Safire.

     President's forthcoming speech on economy
          -Changes
          -Foreign economic aid
          -Henry A. Kissinger
          -Unknown man's views
Rose Mary Woods entered at an unknown time after 5:43 pm

           -Changes to draft
                -Arthur F. Burns
                     -Dollar stabilization
                           -Devaluation
           -Wording

Woods left at an unknown time before 7:14 pm.

Also recorded on August 15, 1971

  • 273-035 5:43 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:43 pm and 7:14 pm.
  • 273-036 5:43 PM · 48 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 5:43 pm and 7:14 pm.
  • 273-037 5:43 PM · 43 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:43 pm and 7:14 pm.
  • 273-038 5:43 PM · 23 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 5:43 pm and 7:14 pm.
  • 273-039 5:43 PM · 38 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:43 pm and 7:14 pm.
  • 273-040 5:43 PM · 13 sec — 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 5:43 pm and 7:14 pm.
  • 273-042 5:43 PM · 53 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 5:43 pm and 7:14 pm.
  • 273-043 5:43 PM · 2 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 5:43 pm and 7:14 pm.

All 31 conversations from August 15, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 273-041, August 15, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/273-041 (accessed October 12, 2026).