Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 277 › Conversation 277-020

Nixon & Colson on Economic policy and Wage and price controls

Wednesday, September 15, 1971 · 4:15 PM–4:38 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 14 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation277-020 on Tape 277 (tape position 01:50:23–02:02:24)StartWednesday, September 15, 1971 at 4:15 PMEndWednesday, September 15, 1971 at 4:38 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 277-020 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson met to discuss political strategy regarding the administration's economic policies and public polling. They assessed partisan support for the President's wage and price freeze initiatives, noting that public sentiment remained generally positive toward these measures. The conversation further touched upon political optics, including the importance of maintaining control over economic messaging to sustain voter support.

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Position in tape: 01:50:23 – 02:02:24

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello.
Hello.
Well, what's your new in the battlefront today?
I see muskies.
I would like to work with a person from the battlefront.
Save 28 of them.
I'm not familiar.
They're basically just turning left now.
Maybe they're... Oh, I hope there's probably no Republicans stood up for him on this.
Chavits is the best one.
Yeah.
Back off well.
Well, even, uh, even, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
They know damn well we didn't do what we had to do.
We did a lot better than Reagan than if they'd write him out of town on a stick.
Think of Mike Lennon.
Well, I guess straight up or down, support the president.
Support the wage, stop inflation, support the wage prices, whatever it is.
I'm sure he's a guy.
He's lost.
This is the guy in front of the machine.
Right next to the fellow in the green.
I mean, between the co-op guy and the other fellow.
Here, I try.
It's over.
I have the slightest idea what it's about.
Let's see.
Yeah.
That's a Minnesota one.
Now they're... Well, they're getting out.
The only sleeper issue that's difficult for us to deal with is... How do you call that?
The word.
The word.
The word.
I think I know that's a pretty good idea.
I think so.
Don't you think so?
I think so.
I believe that.
I'm not concerned about the market this time.
I think it's just marketing time.
But 900 is about what it's worth.
That's my opinion.
Where did it end today?
And also they see the older guys who are in the caucus, you know, milling around.
I must say, I think we've got as much as we can to do that.
You know, we've got to be at the speech last week, and we've got to finish it.
Awesome.
I feel like prices have been a little bit of a push.
You know, the public is supporting the 10-2 rule.
They've been doing it for a long time.
They're waiting for the announcement.
But the other hand, we're trying to do what we want to do.
We want to keep wages and prices down.
People say, yes, we're just going to keep business running on and on and on.
Great stuff going on.
I've got these polls from Lancaster.
I didn't know if I wanted to come out.
Supporting the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,
OK!
But 900 is about what it's worth.
That's my opinion.
Where did it end today?
I think strongly tomorrow, in phase two, there will be, well, I'll repeat what I've said, that we've decided there will be a follow-on program before we expand crisis, and second, that it will end.
I'm going to use that now.
It's not the way I'm going to put it, it's just that I've decided that you can't have jawbone without teeth for jawbone.
And I'm going to get that over with.
I just thought that would be kind of cool.
And also, they see the older guys, we look at the concrete, you know, going around.
I must say, I think we've got as much as we can to do that.
You know, we've got to be able to do as much as we can to do that.
I didn't know if I wanted to come out.
Supporting me with the rate price rate and what.
It's a very, very rough course here.
And we don't go too far in forever.
But you look very good.
What I got to see is a message.
Rather than be kind of like this, I'll stand up and do it.
Ok.

NARA Description

On September 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:15 pm to 4:38 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 277-020 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 277-20

Date: September 15, 1971
Time: 4:15 pm - 4:38 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

[See Conversation No. 9-27; one item has been withdrawn from the conversation]

Also recorded on September 15, 1971

  • 009-026 3:15 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:15 pm and 4:15 pm.
  • 009-027 4:15 PM · 23 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 4:15 pm to 4:38 pm.
  • 009-028 4:38 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:38 pm and 4:44 pm.
  • 277-021 4:38 PM · 1 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 4:38 pm and 4:44 pm.
  • 277-022 4:38 PM · 23 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 4:38 pm and 4:44 pm.
  • 009-029 4:44 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz talked on the telephone from 4:44 pm to 4:48 pm.
  • 277-023 4:44 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:44 pm to 4:48 pm.
  • 277-024 4:48 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Toni Sidley met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:48 pm and 5:15 pm.

All 57 conversations from September 15, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 277-020, September 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/277-020 (accessed October 9, 2026).