Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 285 › Conversation 285-001
Nixon & Safire on Phase II Economic Policy and Speechwriting
Wednesday, October 6, 1971 · 7:55 PM–9:18 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 3 min
AI Summary
President Nixon met with speechwriter William Safire to finalize the text for a upcoming speech regarding the administration's Phase II economic policies. The pair discussed specific wording and necessary revisions for the speech's concluding page. Nixon directed Safire to polish the final draft and coordinate with Rose Mary Woods to ensure the document was prepared for his review the following morning.
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 3 minutes of this recording (about 88% 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.
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NARA Description
On October 6, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:55 pm and 9:18 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 285-001 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 285-001
Date: October 6, 1971
Time: Unknown between 7:55 pm and 9:18 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with William L. Safire.
[The recording begins while the meeting is in progress]
Draft of speech on Phase II of the President's economic policy
-Textual changes
-Wording
-Marty [Surname unknown]
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
-Length
-Last page
-Rose Mary Woods
-The President's schedule
-Morning, October 7, 1971
Safire left at an unknown time before 9:18 pm.Also recorded on October 6, 1971
- 010-096 5:16 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 5:16 pm.
- 010-098 5:18 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and William L. Safire talked on the telephone from 5:18 pm to 5:19 pm.
- 010-099 5:19 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 5:19 pm to 5:22 pm.
- 284-015 5:25 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:25 pm and 5:30 pm.
- 284-016 5:25 PM · 32 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:25 pm and 5:30 pm.
- 284-017 5:30 PM · 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:30 pm to 5:45 pm.
- 010-100 7:31 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:31 pm.
- 010-101 7:31 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 7:31 pm to 7:38 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 285-001, October 6, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/285-001 (accessed October 6, 2026).