Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 528 › Conversation 528-008

Nixon & Byrnes on Welfare Reform and Legislative Strategy

Thursday, June 24, 1971 · 10:45 AM–10:47 AM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Byrnes, John W.Conversation528-008 on Tape 528 (tape position 03:11:57–03:14:16)StartThursday, June 24, 1971 at 10:45 AMEndThursday, June 24, 1971 at 10:47 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 528-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Representative John W. Byrnes to express appreciation for the legislative support provided by Byrnes and Wilbur Mills regarding a recent bill. The conversation centered on justifying the administration's welfare reform proposals, with both men emphasizing that the legislation should be framed as a work incentive rather than a guaranteed annual income for the unemployed. Nixon concluded by confirming his intent to lobby Senator Richard Russell to secure further support for the administration's agenda.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello?
Hi, Johnny.
I thought I'd see you Monday, I guess, or Tuesday, but, uh, yeah, but, uh, before you, uh, do what I did, but what if you know that I, uh, am most grateful for the way that you and your, uh, your sidekick Mills came through on that deal, if that was really something?
Getting 40, getting 43 votes from a draft, that really surprised me.
I didn't think, I didn't know the key vote, I just didn't think...
I'm just going to remember who voted for Washington.
The only thing, of course, that disturbs me, Johnny, is that you don't want to hear so many of our friends say that we give away and that sort of thing.
And when they say that about you and me, good God, it really burns through me.
We're trying our best.
Mills said an interesting thing to me.
He said, you know, when you heard this guaranteeing annual wages, and he says, you've got to
At the present time, we have a guaranteed annual income for people for doing nothing.
What we're having, this is a guaranteed income for people that do something.
And nothing, and nothing for, and nothing for anybody that does nothing.
That's a good point, isn't it?
Yeah, yeah.
Right?
Yeah.
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 provided that a man gets paid whether he works or not.
This provides that the man can work and refuses to work that he doesn't get paid.
So it's not a guaranteed income.
That's right.
That's all.
Nobody wants to sit in this can.
Well, anyway, good job.
I'm going to work on, of course, our good friend Russell now.
You come around the end.
You may put too much on, but that's up to you guys to cut it off the conference.
Okay, Scotty.

NARA Description

On June 24, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John W. Byrnes met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:45 am to 10:47 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 528-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 528-8

Date: June 24, 1971
Time: 10:45 am - 10:47 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with John W. Byrnes.

[See Conversation No. 5-157]

Also recorded on June 24, 1971

  • 005-155 10:33 AM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 10:33 am.
  • 528-005 10:33 AM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 10:33 am.
  • 005-156 10:42 AM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Wilbur D. Mills talked on the telephone from 10:42 am to 10:44 am.
  • 528-006 10:42 AM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Wilbur D. Mills met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:42 am to 10:44 am.
  • 005-157 10:45 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John W. Byrnes talked on the telephone from 10:45 am to 10:47 am.
  • 528-007 10:45 AM · 2 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at 10:45 am.
  • 005-158 10:58 AM · 36 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 10:58 am.
  • 528-009 10:58 AM · 40 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 10:58 am.

All 28 conversations from June 24, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 528-008, June 24, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/528-008 (accessed October 10, 2026).