Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 278 › Conversation 278-006

Nixon & Colson on Welfare Reform and Economic Policy

Thursday, September 9, 1971 · 1:33 PM–1:39 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation278-006 on Tape 278 (tape position 00:06:26–00:09:02)StartThursday, September 9, 1971 at 1:33 PMEndThursday, September 9, 1971 at 1:39 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 278-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson discuss strategies for shaping public perception regarding welfare reform and national economic competitiveness. Nixon emphasizes the necessity of restructuring the welfare system to prioritize labor over government assistance to avoid societal stagnation. The dialogue reflects a broader political messaging effort to frame the administration's economic policies as proactive and competitive rather than isolationist.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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My daughter, Krisha, has made an interesting point.
She said, well, you know, Danny, economics is a territory.
And all of a sudden, I was about as interested as you were.
Maybe it worked awfully hard to get those people to put it off their hands.
Yeah, that's it.
They checked in with a hell of a good speech.
That had more interest in mind, you know, like the last night I was in Hawaii.
Let us get rid of the system that makes it more profitable for a man to go on welfare than to go to work.
That would be part of the scenario.
And any work is preferable to welfare.
They have poker chips.
They've got all of this.
We generously passed out the chips, and now it's time to play again.
The team was a response junk, which is not too healthy.
It basically was terribly isolationist.
That's why the latter part of the speech was important.
It was important, but where I said, look, we've got to compete.
But they thought of that.
Yeah, they came over well.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I hate to litter as well.
I can't put it out there very hard.
And in fact, keeping it at 30 minutes is what I do.
I always do that.
But I don't believe in letting a farm implode and dribble out.
I'd rather cut it up and step on it.
give me a call back

NARA Description

On September 9, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:33 pm to 1:39 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 278-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 278-6

Date: September 9, 1971
Time: 1:33 pm - 1:39 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

[See Conversation No. 8-67]

Also recorded on September 9, 1971

  • 008-066 1:20 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:20 pm and 1:33 pm.
  • 278-001 1:20 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 1:20 pm and 1:33 pm.
  • 278-002 1:20 PM · 8 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 1:20 pm and 1:33 pm.
  • 008-067 1:33 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and Manolo Sanchez talked on the telephone from 1:33 pm to 1:39 pm.
  • 278-005 1:33 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 1:33 pm.
  • 008-068 1:39 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:39 pm and 1:48 pm.
  • 278-007 1:39 PM · 21 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 1:39 pm and 1:48 pm.
  • 278-008 1:39 PM · 7 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 1:39 pm and 1:48 pm.

All 58 conversations from September 9, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 278-006, September 9, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/278-006 (accessed October 10, 2026).