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Conversation 005-157

TapeTape 5StartThursday, June 24, 1971 at 10:45 AMEndThursday, June 24, 1971 at 10:47 AMTape start time04:49:12Tape end time04:51:14ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Byrnes, John W.Recording deviceWhite House Telephone
AudioNARA Description

On June 24, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John W. Byrnes talked on the telephone from 10:45 am to 10:47 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 005-157 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 5-157

Date: June 24, 1971
Time: 10:45 am - 10:47 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with John W. Byrnes.

[See Conversation No. 528-8]

     President's schedule
          -Byrnes

     Byrnes’ and Wilbur D. Mills’ legislative support

     H.R.1
          -Guaranteed annual income
               -President's previous conversation with Mills
          -Provisions

          -Russell B. Long
Transcript (AI-Generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

Hello?
Coming for John Burns, Mr. President.
Hello?
Yes, sir, Mr. President.
Hi, Johnny.
I'm going to be seeing you Monday, I guess, or Tuesday.
Yeah, Monday night, I guess.
Yeah, but I wanted you to know that I'm most grateful for the way that you and your sidekick Mills came through on that bill.
That was really something.
Well,
Getting 43 votes majority, that really surprised me.
I didn't think you, on the key vote, I just... Well, everything, you know, they got polarized.
I was sorry that we didn't have a better, a little better Republican vote than we had.
Forget it.
What the heck.
Nobody's going to remember who voted for what.
That's right.
But, you know, it would have been nice if more of our boys... Yeah, the only thing, of course, that disturbs me, Johnny, is that...
You know, I hear so many of our friends say this is a giveaway and that sort of thing.
And when they say that about you and me, good God, it really burns me.
Well, it burns me.
We're trying our best.
Mills said an interesting thing to me.
He said, you know...
When you talk about this guaranteed annual wages thing, he says, at the present time, we have a guaranteed annual income for people for doing nothing.
That's right.
But this is a guaranteed income for people that do something.
And nothing for anybody that does nothing.
That's right.
That's a good point, isn't it?
Yeah.
Oh, absolutely.
Well, we've been trying to get that message across, but, boy, it's just hard to do it.
Right.
They've got this concept of...
guaranteed income.
Well, I've said over and over that it is not a guaranteed income, and I think we've got to continue to say that.
I said it is not a guaranteed income provides that a man gets paid whether he works or not.
This provides if a man can work,
and refuses to work that he doesn't get paid.
So that's not a guaranteed income.
Well, I think you can point out that it's a guarantee that we will help somebody who is willing to help himself.
That's right.
No guarantee for a guy that is unwilling to do so.
Nobody wants to sit in his can.
Yeah.
Well, anyways, a good job.
I'm going to work on, of course, our good friend Russell now.
Yeah, yeah.
He'll come around the end.
He may put too much on it, but that's up to you guys to cut it out in conference.
Yeah.
Okay, Johnny.
Talk to you.
Okay.
Thank you.
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