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Conversation 566-018

TapeTape 566StartTuesday, August 17, 1971 at 3:26 PMEndTuesday, August 17, 1971 at 4:30 PMTape start time03:26:07Tape end time03:44:37ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob");  White House operator;  Butterfield, Alexander P.Recording deviceOval Office
AudioNARA Description

On August 17, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:26 pm and 4:30 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 566-018 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 566-18

Date: August 17, 1971
Time: Unknown after 3:26 pm until 4:30 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

     National economy
          -Stock market
                -Volume of trading

The President talked with the White House operator at 4:12 pm.

[Conversation No. 566-18A]

[See Conversation No. 8-26]

[End of telephone conversation]

     National economy

          -Stock market
               -Volume of trading

     President's speeches
          -Importance
          -Preparation
          -Informal comments with statement
          -Importance
          -Public attention
                 -Knights of Columbus
          -Preparation

The White House operator talked with the President at an unknown time between 4:12 pm and
4:20 pm.

[Conversation No. 556-18B]

[See Conversation No. 8-27]

[End of telephone conversation]

     Connally's schedule
         -Meeting in Roosevelt Room

     President's speeches

     President's schedule
          -Connally
          -Barber

Haldeman left the room at an unknown time after 4:12 pm.

Haldeman entered the room at an unknown time before 4:20 pm.

     President's speeches
          -Preparation
                 -Milk producers
                      -Audience
                           -Size

Alexander Butterfield entered at an unknown time after 4:12 pm.

     Connally's schedule
         -Cost of Living Council [COLC] meeting

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 4:20 pm.

     President's schedule
          -Possible call to Connally

     -National economy
          -President’s program
                -Republicans

     President's forthcoming speeches
          -Distribution to press
                 -Statement
          -Knights of Columbus
          -Veterans of Foreign Wars [VFW]
          -Unknown man's practices
                 -Repetition
          -Preparation
                 -Quotes
                       -Repetition
                            -William L. Safire
                            -Raymond K. Price, Jr.
                            -Television
                            -Compared to stories
                                  -John R. Brown
                                  -Television

     National economy
          -President's program
                -Timing
                      -International monetary conditions

           -Reaction
                -Democrats
                -News media

News media
    -Charles W. Colson
    -Herbert G. Klein
    -White House correspondents
    -President's press conference
    -Administration’s attitude
    -Colson
    -President's forthcoming trip to People's Republic of China [PRC]
    -Hunger conference
    -Food stamps
    -Youth conference
          -Daniel P. (“Pat”) Moynihan
          -President's schedule

Youth
    -Attitude toward the Administration
    -Robert H. Finch
          -Role

Finch
     -Schedule
          -California
     -Role with administration

Donald H. Rumsfeld
    -Role with administration
          -George P. Shultz [?]
               -Wage and price freeze
          -Possible post
               -Office Emergency Preparedness [OEP]
                     -Gen. George A. Lincoln

OEP
      -Personnel
           -Peter G. Peterson
                 -Current responsibilities
                 -Wage and price freeze

                -Rumsfeld
                -Arnold R. Weber
                -Rumsfeld
                     -Experience
                           -Congress
                           -Office of Economic Opportunity [OEO]

Butterfield entered at 4:20 pm.

     President's schedule
          -Illinois
          -Grand Tetons
          -Briefcase
          -Possible phone calls
                 -Presidential notes
                 -Clark Reed
                 -Harry S. Dent
                 -J. P. McCarthy
                 -Jobs for veterans
                 -William S. White
                 -Reed
                 -Loretta Young
                 -J. Peter Grace
                 -Whitney N. Seymour, Jr.
                 -Norman Vincent Peale
                 -Revenue sharing
                 -Harley Ranch [?]
                 -Thomas J. Bannan
                 -Al Stratton, Jr.
                 -Otto N. Miller
                 -Chet Holifield
                 -Number

The President, Haldeman, and Butterfield left at 4:30 pm.
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.

I have the partnership.
Yeah, you try.
3-99-19.
It's about $10.90.
I mean, about 26, I think it was 26 million shares, 27 million shares.
Another damn near record there.
It's just, you know, we need to supply 10 cents under 900.
That certainly has to be the, basically, the confidence vote that's all restored because the number of shares is what's involved here.
13% of the diagrams went up steadily during the day.
It was only up a dollar at the opening.
It worked its way up and did the same thing yesterday.
The more I think about it, the more I think it speaks for the goddamn birds, you know?
And I think you agree, don't you?
In most cases, yeah.
I'll be the guy.
I'll do the repeating.
You know what I mean?
What does that mean?
Oh, it means something to the people that are there, but not for the amount of work that you put into them.
And one like this is going to get minimal public attention and get into a big thing with the Knights of Columbus.
It's a hard thing for me, though.
It's a hard work.
This isn't good enough.
Oh.
Oh.
No, I'll do it.
It's got to be true.
I'm meeting in Rosemont.
Well, I didn't do it.
That's all I can say.
It's such a temptation for people to say, well, they made a speech.
God damn it, the president should not make a speech on what she did.
What's the end?
In our heart, that's going to be a big thing, that you know how many people are going to be there for you, because you've got to listen to Thrasher's time.
What's that mean?
You know, that's kind of an unusual way to give a speech to them.
You don't get that kind of an audience very often.
Yeah.
Three speeches.
We don't have the people to do all of it.
We've got plenty of people in our town.
Well, I had to give something.
If you go out, you've got to give the goddamn press something.
Not really.
But, you know, we put out the statement to give the press, and then...
I do get up to say the same things pretty much.
So what's the difference?
Maybe people will finally begin to print some of that.
If I begin to print some of that, and it's really the basic thing you want to say, it's better to say to those people than coming up with something new to say it's not as important as the basic thing.
And it's real.
There's more to be from the Knights of Columbus as far as the people that are there and the people they talk to and their influence to say to do your basic message than to give some...
He follows the theory of giving the same speech.
He reads the speech and uses the same one, the same text, and goes, he gave it in New York, then went down and gave it in Dallas at that time.
He reads the same one?
Yeah.
Oh, man.
It's identical.
He doesn't change it at all.
How do you know?
It's recorded.
8%.
Reading the identical speech that he wrote, read last night or gave last night in New York.
Wow.
I suppose he figures, you know, when he happens to be on the MSR Center,
You can't use it on television.
It doesn't hurt if they do remember it.
It doesn't hurt to play it back.
If it's good, say it again.
Then it becomes one of your favorite quotes, and that's not bad either.
Yeah.
You know, I really think we were.
Well, it was so massive that if it were a normal little thing, it would have been lost.
But even if people were out at the beach on a week's vacation, they'd still read the paper.
And they'd watch the TV.
Yeah.
I'm curious.
You were right to take how close someone was ejected.
Idiot.
Balance, you have to reach that clock.
Well, the more you respect them, the harder you try.
I wouldn't be in doubt very often that he gets kind of, you know, he gets kind of hooked up with the optimism.
And I just can't afford, it's great fun to sell after, but you can't afford to be deluded by the cause.
Because we, we can't afford to make the mistake we made after some of our previous things.
Sorry, we did.
We probably were trying to go too much.
Plus, China is a, you know, it's there any time.
It's not something that goes away until after the trip.
And even then, it doesn't.
They sure do.
Remember the hunger conference?
Remember food stamps?
Youth conference?
Remember the youth thing?
You've never heard of a chief this horrible?
Sure.
I think also we've got to begin knocking down the message, which is that we've come to the thought that by definition we can't believe it, that by definition we can't believe it.
The key is just not to rely on the bench at any point.
It's to use it as much as we can.
Just be nice to it.
Unfortunately, you can't rely on stuff.
Both of them.
Just got to use them.
Maybe that's what we need to do.
Maybe it's the same as what happened to the other people.
It's a shame to waste that post up.
God, I was just thinking, you know, you talk to a big copper and you look at it.
And the guy that's the head of the thing goes out and says, well, look, it's totally impossible in that respect.
And you say, that is a great moral leader.
Yeah.
That's what you need.
I'm going to run you over.
Well, that's just part of that.
It's also with Peterson.
Well, it's the signal that you've got in the international economic policy, which is enormously important.
How did it all of a sudden pull out of that and get it in the account?
Also running the weight and price control.
Amazing.
And he worked, he's, you know, he was a good accomplishment of it.
He learned his assignments and become an expert and play his games.
I don't have him as an expert, but he wants to make it permanent.
That's the problem.
No, I don't think he'd do that.
He might be reluctant to preside over another dying horse.
He's going to have to regard it as an OEO and an OEP.
Okay.
Hello?
No, hello.
It's not a speech.
Isn't it?
It's not a speech, not a statement.
Well, I asked him to say a word, and then I met him.
I'm sorry.
I don't want to.
I don't want you to have to watch the background.
I don't want to.
I don't want to hear that.
You got anything wrong with Aaron?
No.
I just probably not what you mean.
Well, sometimes he can have one of the future jobs for veterans.
We can watch him, and that's a nice requirement.
He knows you from now on.
Or in advance.
No, he's got his part.
I shouldn't get into that.
I don't want to get into that, sir.
Johnny, you're correct.
He's going to stay at the top of that job.
I don't believe in that.
All right, you see, most of that, I don't want to keep those down, but that's about now.
I'm afraid to try to live with it.
Sometimes I'm a lot concerned about it.
I can't do that.
That's why I don't want to do that.
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