Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 279 › Conversation 279-034

Nixon & Colson on Economic Policy and Revenue Sharing

Wednesday, September 22, 1971 · 5:41 PM–5:58 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 7 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation279-034 on Tape 279 (tape position 03:08:26–03:17:01)StartWednesday, September 22, 1971 at 5:41 PMEndWednesday, September 22, 1971 at 5:58 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 279-034 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles W. Colson met to discuss political strategy regarding economic data and the legislative agenda. Nixon directed Colson to pressure Congress to pass revenue sharing, welfare reform, and his economic program, insisting that lawmakers should not adjourn for the holiday until these measures were completed. The conversation also touched upon the reliability of economic indicators, with both men agreeing that the administration should not be overly reactive to fluctuating monthly employment and CPI figures.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 15% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Hello.
Well, it ain't late developments today.
It's usually up there by me, but I'm excited to come over and see Dad.
We already hit his heart.
He lives home, you know.
Yeah.
We have to play it that way anyway.
Because we know the breeze is working.
And now, you know, everybody knows it's working.
See if he hasn't had an award or gotten any.
TBI just knocked it down in terms of saying, look, that's a pretty, pretty diverse group.
I have some, I have some very, very great fellows of us that have gotten into BLS moments.
I just think that they've delivered a jiggered history in this one particular group.
just as they should because of how they got applied in the last month.
I think that they did.
A lot of themselves, you know, I personally think that it's a level up there.
You know, I think, for example, on the unemployment thing, I think that, you know, you said that New York, those New Yorkers just are not consistent with the national conditions.
That's right.
They're for the high side because they think people want to compare them to do a thing.
They're not as bad as that.
That's what people do.
The CPI figure, of course, would be one day.
Fortunately, I think, so that I'm going out tomorrow and making a call.
I'll just get him right here.
I'll just get him right here.
I'll just get him right here.
Tell him, what about it?
Get revenue sharing again.
Get welfare reform again.
Tell him that he should take the line, a Congress should not adjourn until they finish these programs.
I think that should be the line.
With revenue sharing, welfare reform, and the President's economic program, those must be passed before the Congress adjourns.
And they should not go home for Christmas until they do that.
I don't know what they plan on doing.
We're in Washington, and we are constantly battered by the cardinals, battered by the media, and by the bureaucrats, as far as the media and the bureaucrats.
But our own people have done a great job.
I think the best we've got is Bill Conlon.
And then we've always followed on.
Some of our people just can't help but sort of read on and off about our own things.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I noticed, though, that the Assembly here doesn't report much change.
It gets up, but not much.
So there was some hope and improvement.
We just can't live or die by the monthly numbers.
Particularly when they're not under viable.
Do they really think this blue guy is going to do better?
I don't understand why House shows can't ever convince themselves that they can do it.
It's just hard for them to do it.
Well, anyway, we'll knock it down tonight.
As far as the market is concerned, I don't worry about that.
That basically is a reflexive, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very,
They will be more effective... Five.
Oh, yeah, well... Five.

NARA Description

On September 22, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:41 pm to 5:58 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 279-034 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 279-34

Date: September 22, 1971
Time: 5:41 pm - 5:58 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

**********************************************************************

[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 04/09/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[279-034-w001]
[Duration: 1m 13s]

[See Conversation No. 009-126]

[End of telephone conversation]

**********************************************************************

Also recorded on September 22, 1971

  • 009-123 5:31 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:31 pm and 5:37 pm.
  • 009-124 5:37 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan talked on the telephone from 5:37 pm to 5:38 pm.
  • 279-031 5:37 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:37 pm to 5:38 pm.
  • 009-125 5:38 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:38 pm and 5:41 pm.
  • 279-032 5:38 PM · 6 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 5:38 pm and 5:41 pm.
  • 279-033 5:38 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 5:38 pm and 5:41 pm.
  • 009-126 5:41 PM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 5:41 pm to 5:58 pm.
  • 279-036 5:50 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Walter R. Tkach, and Dr. W. Kenneth Riland met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:50 pm to 6:25 pm.

All 84 conversations from September 22, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 279-034, September 22, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/279-034 (accessed October 12, 2026).