Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 275 › Conversation 275-009
Nixon, Price & Ehrlichman on Economic policy and Speechwriting
Tuesday, September 7, 1971 · 12:56 PM–2:10 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 44 min
AI Summary
President Nixon met with Raymond K. Price, Jr. and John D. Ehrlichman to review and refine a draft of his upcoming September 9, 1971, economic address to Congress. The participants discussed strategies for presenting wage and price controls, proposed tax reforms, and the goal of creating new jobs while emphasizing long-term economic competitiveness. The President provided specific revisions to ensure the speech effectively balanced temporary anti-inflationary measures with a vision for national progress and international cooperation.
- Economic policy
- Wage and price controls
- Speechwriting
- Tax reform
- Productivity
- International competition
Audio
NARA Description
On September 7, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Raymond K. Price, Jr., and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:56 pm to 2:10 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 275-009 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 275-009
Date: September 7, 1971
Time: 12:56 pm - 2:10 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with Raymond K. Price, Jr.
Draft of economic speech to Congress, September 9, 1971
-The President's perusal
-John B. Connally
-Cost of living
-Comments and criticism
-Revision
-Line
-Multiple use
-Tax proposal
-Tax cut
-Revisions
-Job development credit
-Justification
-Deletion of sentences
-10% cut
-Point previously made by Connally, Paul W. McCracken
-Controversial nature of program
-Working force
-Points of speech
-Business
-Incentives, competition
-Workers
-Wage earners
-Productivity
-Making America competitive
-World market
-The President's August 15, 1971 address
-Reiteration of arguments
-New jobs
-Number
-Emphasis
-Use of figures
-Problems
-Need
-Proposals
-Creation of 500,000 new jobs
Show the rest of the log (174 more lines)
-Estimates
-Congressional cooperation
-Wording
-90-day freeze
-Five billion dollar spending cut
-Creation of jobs
-Tax reductions
-Figures
-Separation of Congressional and Presidential action
-Explanation of actions
-Sequence of actions ordered in August 15, 1971 speech
-Freeze on wages and prices
-International front
-Revenue sharing and welfare reform
-Status
-Reduction in government cost
-Reason
-Cooperation from Congress
-Restraint in budget expenditure
-Tax cuts
-Spending outs
-Restraint of inflation
-Rise in cost of government
-Tax cuts
-Postponement of effective dates of revenue sharing and welfare reform
-Spending cuts
-Reduction of government personnel
-10% on foreign economic aid
-Revenue sharing
-Welfare reform
-Tax reform
-Proposed action
-Priorities
-August 15, 1971 speech
-Congress
-Enactment of tax proposals
-Structure of speech
-Postponement
-Budget
-Restraint
-Postponement
-Adjust budget
-Prosperity without inflation
-Second draft
-Progress in international relations
-Generation of peace
-Poker analogy
-Image
-Perceptions
-Harry S. Truman
-The President's background
-International context
-Latin America
-Japan
-Forthcoming Japanese visit to Washington
-Economic competition
-National greatness
-Poker game analogy
-Use of theme
-Use of images
-Public memory
-Public sacrifice, challenges
-Focus of speech
-"Blood, sweat, and tears"
-Relation of phrase to the President's speech
-Reality of situation
-Structure of speech
-Focus
-Wage and price freeze
-Spirit of American people
-Cooperation
-Cost of living
-Challenges
-Economic controls, free enterprise system
-Input from Peter G. Peterson, John D. Ehrlichman
-Creation of 100 million new jobs
-Wage and price stabilization in post-freeze period
-Control
-Governmental role
-Business
-Labor
-1980
-New jobs
-Price’s conversation with unknown man
-Application of technology to solve problems
-Research & development as percentage of Gross National Product [GNP]
-Compared with other countries
-National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA]
-Nuclear breeder reactors
-Industry
-Focus, planning
-Free enterprise system
-Japan
-Planning of research and development
-United States [US] position in the world
-Successful United States [US] lunar landings
-Application to economic problems
-Congress
-Cooperation
-Wage and price controls
-Program implementation
-American work ethic
-Perceptions of the good life
-Wage earners, welfare recipients
-State of the economy
-Challenges
-United States [US] position
-Healthy economy, government
-Congress
-Postponement in reform implementation
-The United States [US] and the world
-Tariffs and quotas
-Image of wall
-Competition
-Reaction to challenges
-American past history
-Discovery of New World
-Space exploration
-Image of wall
-The United States [US] as a great power
-Ehrlichman, George Shultz
The President talked with Ehrlichman at an unknown time between 12:56 pm and 2:10 pm.
[Conversation No. 275-009A]
The President's speech on economic stabilization
-Meeting with Price
-Projections and goals
-100 million jobs
-Reform proposals
-Tax cuts
-Research and development
-American accomplishment
-Apollo program
-Ehrlichman's possible meeting with Price
-National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA]
-Forthcoming State of the Union address
-Tax reform
-Shultz
-[Connally’s] recommendations
-August 15, 1971 speech
-Time factor
-Ehrlichman's forthcoming conversation with Price
-Connally
-Scheduling
[End of telephone conversation]
Draft of economic speech
-Congress
-Tax bill
-Competition
-Inflation
-Effects
-Virus metaphor
-Differentiation between ideas and programs
-Tax reform
-Creation of jobs
-Use of technology to meet challenges
-National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA]
-Wage and price stabilization
-Way-station analogy
-Tax reform
-United States [US] competitive position in the world
-Astronauts as symbol of accomplishment
-Draft revisions
-Forthcoming meeting with the President in the evening
Price left at 2:10 pm.Transcript (AI-generated)
This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 5% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.
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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Also recorded on September 7, 1971
- 275-001 12:00 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 12:00 pm and 12:16 pm.
- 275-002 12:16 PM · 38 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and James D. ("Don") Hughes met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:16 pm to 12:17 pm.
- 275-003 12:20 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:20 pm to 12:26 pm.
- 275-004 12:26 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 12:26 pm.
- 275-005 12:26 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 12:26 pm.
- 275-006 12:27 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:27 pm and 12:30 pm.
- 275-007 12:27 PM · 34 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 12:27 pm and 12:30 pm.
- 275-008 12:30 PM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:30 pm to 12:55 pm.
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Cite this conversation
Conversation 275-009, September 7, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417184153). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/275-009 (accessed November 1, 2026).