Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 274 › Conversation 274-040

Nixon & Price on Economic stabilization and Presidential speechwriting

Wednesday, September 8, 1971 · 3:06 PM–3:08 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Price, Raymond K., Jr.Conversation274-040 on Tape 274 (tape position 03:07:46–03:09:33)StartWednesday, September 8, 1971 at 3:06 PMEndWednesday, September 8, 1971 at 3:08 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 274-040 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and speechwriter Raymond K. Price, Jr. consulted on last-minute revisions for the President's upcoming September 9, 1971, address to Congress regarding economic stabilization. The pair focused on refining the speech's wording, specifically coordinating the inclusion of foreign policy segments involving Henry Kissinger and addressing the Vietnam War. They established a 5:00 p.m. deadline for finalizing the draft and discussed editorial adjustments to ensure the message was prepared on time.

Audio

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Position in tape: 03:07:46 – 03:09:33

part B, 1:06:42

274a.mp3

274b.mp3

274c.mp3

NARA Description

On September 8, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:06 pm to 3:08 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 274-040 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 274-40

Date: September 8, 1971
Time: 3:06 pm - 3:08 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Raymond K. Price, Jr.

[See Conversation No. 8-53]

     The President's address to Congress on economic stabilization, September 9, 1971
          -Talk with Henry A. Kissinger
               -Foreign policy section
                      -John K. Andrews, Jr.
                      -Wording
                           -Vietnam war
                                 -Generation of peace

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

That's been changed already on a bunch of stuff.

Okay.

Ray.

I have something on at six I find.

So let's set a deadline.

Five o'clock.

I'll be here in a few weeks.

But if I can find it, I'll be here in a few hours.

But don't worry about it.

Don't worry about it.

Just let that go.

That line goes next.

Fine.

Or if that line goes out on the other hand, on the other one, just don't worry about it.

There's a couple of stories going on at the moment.

I just dropped the call again.

Okay?

Fine.

Okay.

Yeah.

Ray.

I talked to Henry about that board policy, and there is a technical problem we've got to deal with.

I said we could change it earlier, right?

Let me suggest this.

Try to enlighten John.

I believe that an American now breaks the conclusion.

That's what we call it.

Try that out.

If that does not work, then we're going to go something else.

It strikes me that in the middle of a major issue to the board policy, the board will come and generate more than we thought we had.

Also recorded on September 8, 1971

274-039 3:04 PM · 5 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 3:04 pm and 3:06 pm.
008-052 3:05 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 3:05 pm.
008-053 3:06 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. talked on the telephone from 3:06 pm to 3:08 pm.
008-054 3:08 PM · 41 sec — Raymond K. Price, Jr. and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 7:40 pm.
008-055 3:08 PM · 2 min — Raymond K. Price, Jr., White House operator, and Alexander P. Butterfield talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 7:40 pm.
008-056 3:08 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:08 pm and 7:40 pm.
274-041 3:08 PM · 15 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 3:08 pm and 3:26 pm.
274-042 3:08 PM · 44 sec — 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 3:08 pm and 3:26 pm.

All 36 conversations from September 8, 1971 →

Nixon phone call with Rogers on Watergate scandal April 29, 1973 · 1 min
Nixon & Price on West Point commencement speech and Vietnam policy May 26, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon alone in his EOB office on 1973 Inauguration and Inaugural address December 28, 1972 · 4 min
Nixon, Kissinger & Bush on India-Pakistan War and United Nations December 6, 1971 · 59 min
Nixon phone call with Price on Foreign policy and 1972 election November 3, 1972 · 2 min
Nixon, Ziegler & Kissinger on Vietnam War and Paris Peace Accords January 23, 1973 · 2 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 274-040, September 8, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/274-040 (accessed November 15, 2026).