Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 445 › Conversation 445-020

Nixon & Price on Economic policy and Speechwriting

Wednesday, June 13, 1973 · 3:22 PM–3:40 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 10 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Price, Raymond K., Jr.Conversation445-020 on Tape 445StartWednesday, June 13, 1973 at 3:22 PMEndWednesday, June 13, 1973 at 3:40 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 445-020 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Raymond Price met to coordinate the final revisions and logistics for an upcoming address regarding the national economy. Nixon expressed dissatisfaction with the status quo advocated by his economic advisors, George P. Shultz and Herbert Stein, and emphasized the need for decisive action to address rising costs of living. Additionally, the pair discussed the impending announcement regarding William W. Scranton and Bryce N. Harlow, evaluating their roles and public perception as outsiders in the administration.

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 53% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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I command it.
Well, how's it going?
Well, that's all right, sir.
I'm sorry, I'm supposed to sign off, don't I?
Sign off.
Is that me?
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Did not find it.
On page two.
And then they described the app.
And then, translate your money right from your email address.
You're supposed to throw in the four extra weeks paid.
Did we say expense-wise?
In the past year.
In the past year?
In the past year, 18 months.
In the past year and a half.
You see what I want to do is to nail it down.
Right.
Paid at the supermarket today.
I don't know what that is.
Paracetamol.
Paracetamol.
Back row.
Back row.
Very good job, Ray.
I don't need anything now until approximately 5.
Or, 5 in terms of the, this is 330.
Even if you could get a few pages typed and re-copied by, say, four of them, it would be helpful, you know, like that.
Then it would spend a half hour before you can get the party done.
Just, you know, several of those over here.
Whack off, you know, half of those pages for re-copying.
And then the whole re-copy by five, you know, sort of like, you know, five to five.
But I'd better have my, I'd certainly better, because I kind of mark up the rest of it when I get through the correctional, which is an hour, I'm afraid.
And I'll only really have an hour, because I'm going to work my way through it, and I'm going to get a few days over, and I can have an hour to help my life and change my situation a little bit.
I want you to go down the line and see if there is something required.
Oh, just forget that.
Just have her, or if you have her, type that darn thing off, you know, after there's so few changes.
Have her type it off, and then send in the extra pages as changes, you know.
Fair enough.
I'm coming to whack it off the other years when she can.
All right.
So just in case you're not looking at all that furniture here in the red, would you just forward it to me?
We can't support that technically because in every Kelvin year there was a period of three years, the draft was held for all except one year.
We're going to save for a generation.
Good, good, good.
Somebody told me to save for a generation.
That sounds good.
We've got making progress with Scranton coming down tomorrow.
Good, good.
We'll see Dave.
We're going to wrestle with him a little bit.
I'll work on his apartment.
We're going to announce Carlos tomorrow.
We'll be getting him.
Carlos is on Scranton Saturday.
We'll have the team finished.
It's going to be a good game.
The one guy who would do a marvelous job.
I think he would.
I would.
He would put his team, you know, away for a long time.
He just worked like they did.
Everybody would trust him.
And he also had the plus of all the other people who have grown up, of course, have been former insiders.
He'll be the outsider.
That's right.
Good.
That's a very good job.
It's a lousy program and a darn good speech.
Okay?
It's not a bad program, actually.
It had to be done, you know.
And you know, I ran two eggs on the thing because Schultz and Stein got awkward.
Just wanted to go ahead with the way things were, but you just can't allow 2% increase in the cost of living in one month and not do something about it.
Don't you think so?
I mean, clearly apart from the economic consequences, the country, this government, they don't let you care.
The 60 days, man, basically is a way to say, well, we care.
It's a way to, the old story, you know, they said, well, we're just going to sell our president for a better, you know, nothing.
This old story, the Quakers, you know, everybody's talking about, you know, about, you know, a man out there beating the hell out of a jackass in a great big club over their head.
Why doesn't he talk to him?
Man, I'm trying to get his attention.
Well, the Congress is going to pass this cup hell or high water.
They would put us in a much worse program.
And what is this?
We shall consult with other countries.
See?
Their cooperation.
All right.
That's all right.
I don't mind the consequences.
It'll make them happy if we won't do it.
Well, of course it will, but you know what I mean.
The country's got to hear the word on something.
All right.
Make the second shift.

NARA Description

On June 13, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:22 pm to 3:40 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 445-020 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 445-20

Date: June 13, 1973
Time: 3:22 pm - 3:40 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
                                             -31-

                  NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                          Conversation No. 445-20 (cont’d)

The President met with Raymond Price.

      President’s speech on nation’s economy
             -Approval of speech
                     -Herbert Stein, George P. Shultz

An unknown man entered the room after 3:22 pm.

      Refreshments
             -Coffee

The unknown man left at an unknown time before 3:40 pm.

      President’s speech on nation’s economy
             -Length
             -Content and phraseology
                     -Edits
                     -Wages
                              -Timing
             -Price’s efforts
                     -President’s approval
             -President’s schedule
                     -Typing, copying
                     -President’s edits
                     -Cabinet meeting
                     -Rose Mary Woods
                     -Congressional leaders meeting
                     -President’s edits
             -Woods’s typing
                     -President’s edits
             -Military draft
                     -Duration
                     -Exceptions
                     -Wording

      William W. Scranton
             -Schedule
                   -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
                                             -32-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                             Conversation No. 445-20 (cont’d)

       Bryce N. Harlow
              -Timing of announcement

       Scranton
              -Capabilities
              -Work history
              -Work ethic
              -Status as “outsider”

       President’s speech on nation’s economy
              -Proposals by George P. Shultz, Herbert Stein, and John T. Dunlop
                      -Status quo
                              -Cost of living increases
                              -Economic consequences
                              -Quaker anecdote about a donkey
              -Possible congressional action
              -Content and phraseology
                      -Consultation
                              -Robert C. Byrd [?]

Price left at 3:40 pm.

Also recorded on June 13, 1973

  • 040-077 3:20 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 3:20 pm to 3:21 pm.
  • 445-019 3:20 PM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:20 pm to 3:21 pm.
  • 040-078 3:41 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at 3:41 pm.
  • 445-021 3:41 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 3:41 pm.
  • 445-022 3:45 PM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:45 pm to 4:04 pm.
  • 445-023 4:05 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Raymond K. Price, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:05 pm to 4:06 pm.
  • 445-024 4:06 PM · 17 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 4:06 pm and 4:10 pm.
  • 445-025 4:10 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Marjorie P. Acker met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:10 pm to 4:11 pm.

All 95 conversations from June 13, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 445-020, June 13, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/445-020 (accessed October 9, 2026).