Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 424 › Conversation 424-019
Nixon & Shultz on Price controls and Inflation
Thursday, March 29, 1973 · 9:20 AM–9:33 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 15 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and George P. Shultz met to refine the messaging and strategy for an upcoming presidential address concerning economic policy, specifically the implementation of price controls and ceilings to combat inflation. They discussed the political necessity of restraining domestic spending and federal budget growth, while also addressing the public's anxiety regarding food and energy crises. The participants finalized the tone and content of the speech, aiming to frame the administration’s actions as a decisive effort to stabilize the economy without appearing to commit to an open-ended regulatory freeze.
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 10 minutes of this recording (about 71% 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 March 29, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:20 am to 9:33 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 424-019 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 424-19
Date: March 29, 1973
Time: 9:20 am -9:33 am
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with George P. Shultz.
Price controls
-Freeze
-Implementation
-Base date
-Statement
-Prices
-Rollback
-Phase I
-1972 attempts
-Demands by George Meany
President's address
-Tariffs
-Trade
-John D. Ehrlichman, H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman, Roy L. Ash
-President's vetoes
-Counterattack
-19-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 424-32 (cont’d)
-Price freeze
-Tariffs
-Price ceiling
-Operation
-Tone
-Drafting
-Ehrlichman
-Effects of freeze
-Budget
-Domestic spending
-Increases
-Congress
-Taxes
-Restraint
-Price ceiling
-Compared with price freeze
-Wording
-Appeal to public
-Budget
-Future conflicts
-Effects of Vietnam War
-Cost of living
-Four years of progress
-President's actions
-Inflation
-Cuts in rates
-Imports, domestic production
-Imposition of price ceiling
-President's recommendation to Congress
-Removal of tariffs
-Press conference
-Food crisis
-Energy crisis
-Imports
-Comments on President's economic program
-Edward Calvin [?]
-Republican
-Meat prices [?]
-Budget
-Price freeze on food
-20-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 424-32 (cont’d)
-Credit to President
-Housewives’ role
-Removal
-Cattlemen
-Reactions-Duration of freeze
-Shultz's statement
-Impact of President's address
-Shultz's briefing
-Advice of Ronald L. Ziegler
-Abe Bartlett [?]
-Public response
-Meat prices
-Pork
-Chickens, turkeys
-Eggs
-Soybean prices
-Chicken prices
-Production levels
-Freeze
-Call to John B. Connally
-President's address
-Contents
-Use of term “ceiling”
Shultz left at 9:33 am.Also recorded on March 29, 1973
- 044-063 9:00 AM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:00 am.
- 044-064 9:00 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:00 am and 9:06 am.
- 044-161 9:00 AM — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:00 am and 9:06 am.
- 424-015 9:00 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 9:00 am.
- 424-016 9:00 AM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 9:00 am.
- 044-065 9:06 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:06 am and 9:08 am.
- 424-017 9:06 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 9:06 am.
- 424-018 9:08 AM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:08 am and 9:20 am.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 424-019, March 29, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/424-019 (accessed October 1, 2026).