Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 292 › Conversation 292-026

Nixon & Graham on Political strategy and Tax reform

Tuesday, October 19, 1971 · 6:04 PM–6:09 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Graham, William F. ("Billy")Conversation292-026 on Tape 292 (tape position 02:37:46–02:42:05)StartTuesday, October 19, 1971 at 6:04 PMEndTuesday, October 19, 1971 at 6:09 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 292-026 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and evangelist Billy Graham engaged in a brief, informal discussion that transitioned from personal pleasantries into a deliberation regarding political strategy and economic messaging. The President solicited Graham’s counsel on a new initiative, emphasizing the need for a private follow-up meeting to refine their approach. Furthermore, Nixon touched upon the political sensitivities of tax restructuring, suggesting that any proposed tax increases must be carefully framed within the broader context of tax reform to maintain public support.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 112.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 67.0 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 02:37:46 into the tape and ends around 02:42:05.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
2:37:35John, yeah, I was going to tell you that I feel that on this initiative that that's something that we ought to perhaps, the first bite on that is you and I ought to sit down and talk about it, you know, so that I sort of get a good feel of it, and then you should get a comment, and if this is something you agree with, you should be sort of sent this kind of thing anyway, you see.
2:38:03What do you think?
2:38:04And the more I feel about it, I don't know, I think this is a really cold judgment, but I really think we've got to go for it.
2:38:12What do you think, Matt?
2:38:15And the other thing is that Pat, of course, is very, very sensitive politically, but I just wonder if the tax increase then is all that important, particularly if you can relate it to tax reform, you know.
2:38:28Let's see.
2:38:32We're restructuring the whole tax farm.
2:38:39Yeah.
2:38:39And also reform and so forth.
2:38:42I'm going.
2:38:43No, I'm not feeling like it.
2:38:50Maybe we can do it Saturday.
2:38:52We don't mind doing it again.
2:38:55Fair enough.
2:38:56All right.
2:38:57Okay.
2:38:57Anything else of interest?
2:39:02Good.
2:39:06Oh, good.
2:39:07Well, they know how they're trying to screw us into things, so be sure they know.
2:39:14All right, fine.
2:39:15Bye-bye.
2:39:23Dr. Billy Graham, please.
2:40:16Hello?
2:40:18Hello, Billy?
2:40:19You back home?
2:40:24Oh, they're all our friends.
2:40:26Give them my best.
2:40:28Tell them I like to do their ads.
2:40:30They've been great.
2:40:30I used to sell them in, you know, in the football and baseball games.
2:40:39Oh, my.
2:40:44But we've stayed there now.
2:40:47We've stayed there now in New Hampshire and Oregon and other places.
2:40:51Well, that's great.

NARA Description

On October 19, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and William F. ("Billy") Graham met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:04 pm to 6:09 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 292-026 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 292-26

Date: October 19, 1971
Time: 6:04 pm - 6:09 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with William F. (“Billy”) Graham.

[See Conversation No. 11-148; one item has been withdrawn from the conversation]

Also recorded on October 19, 1971

  • 011-147 5:50 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 5:50 pm to 6:04 pm.
  • 292-023 5:50 PM · 56 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 5:50 pm and 6:04 pm.
  • 292-024 5:50 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:50 pm and 6:04 pm.
  • 011-148 6:04 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William F. ("Billy") Graham talked on the telephone from 6:04 pm to 6:09 pm.
  • 011-149 6:09 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:09 pm and 6:16 pm.
  • 292-027 6:09 PM · 17 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 6:09 pm and 6:16 pm.
  • 011-150 6:16 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo talked on the telephone from 6:16 pm to 6:20 pm.
  • 292-028 6:16 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:16 pm to 6:20 pm.

All 93 conversations from October 19, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 292-026, October 19, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/292-026 (accessed September 28, 2026).