Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 474 › Conversation 474-002
Nixon & Ehrlichman on Economic Policy and Cabinet Meeting
Friday, March 26, 1971 · 9:55 AM–10:00 AM ET · Oval Office · 4 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and John Ehrlichman met to finalize the agenda for an upcoming Cabinet meeting focused on stabilizing wages and prices. They reviewed the roles of Paul McCracken and James Hodgson in presenting the administration's plan, which included a strategy to secure support from union leader George Meany. Additionally, the two discussed managing political tensions regarding California Governor Ronald Reagan's opposition to the California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) program.
- Economic Policy
- Cabinet Meeting
- Wages and Prices
- George Meany
- Ronald Reagan
- CRLA
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
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Yes sir.
Here is a blanket of order establishing a domestic development plan for the district.
The district.
Monitor the setup, I guess.
Criticizing him and criticizing the Fed.
This is a violation of an understanding that he had with you the other day.
Well, he wanted to lodge his complaint.
Well, I said that.
In fact, I said that.
The reason I'm mentioning this is that Arthur has his sources in this group.
And so he'll be listening for a report of what happens at the cabinet meeting.
The cabinet meeting will basically be Paul McCracken stating the problem.
And I'll call on Paul.
Statement of the problem.
a statement of a range of possible solutions.
And then Jim Hodson on the specific progress of the negotiations.
You realize they've got to be meeting a bunch of Italians at 11.
Yeah.
I don't know.
Shall I just walk out at 11?
I'll keep it moving.
I propose that it's done by 11.
All right.
And then some discussion following Hodson's exposition.
And then very brief closing remarks by you in terms of Hodson's proposal.
Do we want to say what we're going to do?
I think you might as well.
There's a story in the New York Times this morning about the fact that they have come to Hudson with this proposal.
And I think over the weekend it will be generally known that this is what you're going to do.
We'd like to sign the executive order Monday in San Clemente and have a representative of the public, the union, and the industry members of this commission present.
And, you know, try and give it a little visibility.
Good.
So I think if you want to say at the end of the meeting that, oh, and the other thing that Hodgson knows and may not say in here is that he had a very cordial reception from me, who indicated that this is what you should do, that he was for it.
that at the very least he would not criticize it and that he might be able to do more.
And then Hudson called one of the building trades presidents who had just had a call from Meany and was already lined up.
So Meany is calling around.
And so it looks pretty good from that standpoint.
That's all I have on my mind right now.
We have a problem with Ronald Reagan on this damn CRLA, this legal assistance thing.
And we're going to have a meeting this noon, and I may want to talk to you on the airplane for a minute about that, if it's appropriate.
Well, you're going to see him, you see, later in the week.
And it's that thing that Bob and I mentioned to you over in the house.
We may get it settled this morning.
If we don't, then we're moving right into, you know, where he is, and we're going to have to come to grips with it.
He's mad as hell right at the moment.
Yeah, let's settle it this way.
We cannot...
NARA Description
On March 26, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:55 am to 10:00 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 474-002 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 474-2
Date: March 26, 1971
Time: 9:55 am - 10:00 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with John D. Ehrlichman
Domestic Intelligence Advisory Board
-Executive Order
-Staff
Cabinet meeting
-Arthur F. Burns
-A speech by Herbert Stein
-Federal Reserve Board
-Burns’ previous meeting with the President
-President’s influence with Stein, Paul W. McCracken
-A report on Cabinet meeting by friends
-Agenda [Stabilization of wages and prices]
-McCracken
-Ehrlichman’s view
-James D. Hodgson
-President’s schedule
-Meeting with Justinian Society
-Ehrlichman’s role
-Length
-Agenda
-Hodgson’s proposal
-Discussion
-President’s remarks
-President’s decision
-Announcement at meeting
-New York Times story
-Signing of Executive Order on March 29, 1971 in San Clemente
-Attendees
-Hodgson’s previous meeting with George Meany
-Meany’s response
-Support
-Call to a building trade union president
Ronald W. Reagan
-Position on California Rural Legal Assistance [CRLA]
-Possible meeting of Ehrlichman and President on Air Force One
-Possible call from President
-Forthcoming meeting with President
-H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman and Ehrlichman’s previous meeting with the
President
-Possible responses
The President and Ehrlichman left at 10:00 amAlso recorded on March 26, 1971
- 474-001 9:40 AM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:40 am to 9:55 am.
- 474-003 10:00 AM · 38 sec — Nellie L. Yates and unknown person(s) [maintenance workers] met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:00 am and 11:12 am.
- 051-013 10:02 AM · 25 min — President Richard M. Nixon and members of the Cabinet, including William P. Rogers, John B. Connally, Melvin R. Laird, John N. Mitchell, James W. Hargrove, Rogers C. B. Morton, Clifford M. Hardin, Maurice H. Stans, James D. Hodgson, John G. Veneman, George W. Romney, John A. Volpe, David M. Kennedy, George P. Shultz, Robert H. Finch, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George H. W. Bush, John D. Erhlichman, Henry A. Kissinger, Clark MacGregor, Peter G. Peterson, Herbert G. Klein, Ronald L. Ziegler, Alexander P. Butterfield, Raymond K. Price, Dr. Edward E. David, Jr., William L. Safire, Paul W. McCracken, Herbert Stein, Robert J. Dole, and [First name unknown] Brown, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 10:02 am and 11:12 am.
- 474-004 11:15 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:15 am to 11:17 am.
- 474-005 11:17 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:17 am and 11:22 am.
- 474-006 11:22 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:22 am and 11:35 am.
- 474-007 11:22 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and members of the Justinian Society met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:22 am and 2:54 pm.
- 474-008 4:09 PM · 32 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Melvin R. Laird, Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, David Packard, Henry A. Kissinger, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and John B. Connally met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:09 pm and 4:53 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 474-002, March 26, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/474-002 (accessed October 12, 2026).