Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 426 › Conversation 426-038

Nixon & Waggonner on Executive Power and International Trade

Tuesday, April 10, 1973 · 3:34 PM–3:45 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 8 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Waggonner, Joe D., Jr.Conversation426-038 on Tape 426StartTuesday, April 10, 1973 at 3:34 PMEndTuesday, April 10, 1973 at 3:45 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 426-038 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Representative Joe D. Waggonner, Jr. to discuss the necessity of executive authority in international trade negotiations. Nixon argued that he requires broader negotiating power to effectively engage with foreign counterparts like the Japanese and Germans without being hampered by constant congressional oversight. The discussion touched upon the inflationary environment and labor market conditions while emphasizing the need for tools to streamline executive diplomacy.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 5 minutes of this recording (about 63% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Thank you.
Oh, you're my core colleague, too.
I know it's a funny job, too, for you both.
But it really is no joke, because I know when the party guys put their arm on me, I always say it's worth it.
Do you want to work another night?
Let's get to work.
... ... ...
uh...
I've got that in there.
Not the old version.
If you do the old version, it's going to be highly inflationary right now at a time when inflation is pretty tough.
The problem we've got now, the recent inflation is tough because we've got a hell of a lot of money.
So it's sort of good in one way and bad in another way.
You know, there's labor shortages all through the summer.
Real, real, you know, and it's got skilled stuff.
Right now, the day that you can't get anybody to work.
Sure.
It isn't because Joe's people have got more.
People are buying more.
It's not only Joe's.
in places like Singapore, Richard.
I'd rather be that way than the other way.
It's a good one, I think.
Yeah, we have to, of course, we have to open up.
It just gives us the tools we need to do the job.
But as I told the boys today, I said, look,
I mean, some of you would be able to get the power of the president.
Now, I know all this art.
I don't want any more power.
We should put the money back here for this stuff.
But the point is that I can't send a negotiator like Beverly abroad to negotiate with the Japanese or the Germans.
And then the guy on the other side of the table says, look, I can do this.
And everybody says, well, wait, I've got to check with the Congress.
I said, I can't make any deals that way.
Right?
Correct.
Correct.
Yeah, I know.
Good.
I'd love to see it.
Good, dude.
Hey.
Tomorrow, I'm going to come down and call them.
I'm going to go over to the chair.
I'm going to sit down.
I'm going to sit down tomorrow.
I'm going to be here on Thursday.
Okay.
Okay.
Thank you.
Boy, they are fantastic.
Fantastic.
What they've gone through.
Yeah.
They believe it.
Okay.
That's right.
That's right.
Right.
Yeah, one of them.
I said, you know, I said, a lot of you may have noticed that a lot of
... ... ...
Okay.
All right.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On April 10, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Joe D. Waggonner, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:34 pm to 3:45 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 426-038 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 426-38

Date: April 10, 1973
Time: 3:34 pm - 3:45 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Joseph D. Waggonner, Jr.

[See Conversation No. 44-132]

Also recorded on April 10, 1973

  • 044-128 3:25 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 3:25 pm.
  • 044-129 3:26 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Leslie C. Arends talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:26 pm and 3:30 pm.
  • 426-035 3:26 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Leslie C. Arends met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:26 pm to 3:30 pm.
  • 044-130 3:33 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 3:33 pm.
  • 044-131 3:33 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 3:33 pm.
  • 044-132 3:33 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Joe D. Waggonner, Jr. talked on the telephone from 3:33 pm to 3:34 pm.
  • 426-036 3:33 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 3:33 pm.
  • 426-037 3:33 PM · 12 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 3:33 pm and 3:34 pm.

All 81 conversations from April 10, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 426-038, April 10, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/426-038 (accessed October 5, 2026).