Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 579 › Conversation 579-008

Nixon, Stennis & Laird on Military Procurement Bill

Tuesday, September 28, 1971 · 3:59 PM–4:13 PM ET · Oval Office · 13 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Stennis, John C.; Allott, Gordon L.; Arends, Leslie C.; Hébert, F. Edward; Laird, Melvin R.; MacGregor, Clark; Timmons, William E.; Flanigan, Peter M.; Ziegler, Ronald L.; White House photographerConversation579-008 on Tape 579 (tape position 02:21:41–02:35:38)StartTuesday, September 28, 1971 at 3:59 PMEndTuesday, September 28, 1971 at 4:13 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 579-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with congressional leaders and administration officials, including John C. Stennis and Melvin R. Laird, to coordinate legislative strategy regarding HR 6531 and the broader Military Procurement Bill. The participants discussed the status of the bill in Congress, specifically focusing on managing the Mansfield amendment and navigating the conference committee process. The discussion emphasized building support for the administration's military objectives and preparing for legislative action items in the coming week.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 8 minutes of this recording (about 63% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
It was a great job.
We almost stood up and fought.
I know, I know, yeah.
Look how hard it would be if you had to disagree with him.
You'd really have to fight him.
All right.
Why don't you get a little closer?
We'll give you, we'll give you, we'll give you, we'll give you, we'll give you, we'll give you, we'll give you, we'll give you, we'll give you.
All right, there's the September one.
All right.
Who wants to be 28?
Who wants to be 21?
Turn it up.
Turn it up.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
You're, you're currently on the, uh, I'll take the current one now.
Yeah, yeah.
Moving on, we're gonna get some agreements to vote, and finish up the major parts of it this week, I think.
So, my drug go down there, that's the amendment.
Uh, it's hard on its back to the original folks, you see.
Get out of the car.
I can't think of anything else.
He's going to put him in the back.
He'll go back in the back and go back to the car.
It's a great ball, you see.
I can't get that on the pole.
So you're packing together just to let her go through now.
Make a good show on this candy.
Well, that's the way I see it.
Well, I've been to the ones that I thought looked like cheese.
The fourth page is the shelter.
Oh, gosh.
You seem to see them pulling the down line.
Then what happens?
Does that mean that if you go to the house, it's the correct concrete?
I don't know, sir.
I don't know.
We just go down.
No, we don't know.
We don't know.
We don't know.
We don't know.
We don't know.
We don't know.
You're not going to have that.
Because if you don't have a parking pass, if an officer doesn't have a parking pass, if you don't have a parking pass, if an officer doesn't have a parking pass, if you don't have a parking pass, if an officer doesn't have a parking pass, if an officer doesn't have a parking pass, if an officer doesn't have a parking pass, if an officer doesn't have a parking pass, if an officer doesn't have a parking pass,
Well, you see, on most of the people, we had something awful.
That is, the church killed this whole thing, you see.
Now, this is just a rerun of the original message.
180 degrees is all the way they go, and next we have an old-timey language.
You see, when we all turned to John, we read all that shit in the Senate.
Well, that went the other way, I mean.
What's up?
No, it's all right.
I just think in the end you're all going to look good.
That's all, all right?
But right now...
Well, let me say that I would never ask you to do something unless I thought this was the right thing for you.
and I think those that wanted to throw up their heads will have all the bad.
Well, we'll get back to you in the afternoon.
I'll be down at 6 for the picture.
Now, let's get, let's get, let's get, let's get, let's get, let's get, let's get, let's get, let's get, let's get, let's get,
Thank you very much.
I've had some fun.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, we did.
It's in the States.
It's in the States.
It's in the States.
I'm part of a lot more of the Christian community than any other.
It is bad for you, honey.
You don't have to pretend to be nice to your boys.
That's how you do it.
That's not appropriate.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I know that.
I know that.
We're going to have a story today, and then all that's going to happen, you don't want to get in the morning, so that's what we're going to do.
It's a nice thing to hear, to have your military, because the military is in there.
I know you're going to go against it, because he's calling for it.
He wants to help you.
He wants to help you.
He wants to help you.
He wants to help you.
He wants to help you.
He wants to help you.
He wants to help you.
Good morning, Mr. Bell.
Good morning, Mr. Bell.
I'll be right out.
The next time I won't give in until you tell me about this.
I'm so sorry.
I have a lot to say.
You're going to fire me, sir.
I heard a little bit more about you.
Careful means.
I'm sorry.
... ... ... ...
All right, it doesn't have to be for this sale, though.
Hey, well, maybe he didn't have to go out of his way to sell it.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
All right.
All right.

NARA Description

On September 28, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, John C. Stennis, Gordon L. Allott, Leslie C. Arends, F. Edward Hébert, Melvin R. Laird, Clark MacGregor, William E. Timmons, Peter M. Flanigan, Ronald L. Ziegler, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:59 pm to 4:13 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 579-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 579-8

Date: September 28, 1971
Time: 3:59 pm - 4:13 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with John C. Stennis, Gordon L. Allott, Leslie C. Arends, F. Edward Hebert,
Melvin R. Laird, Clark MacGregor, William E. Timmons, Peter M. Flanigan, and Ronald L.
Ziegler; the White House photographer was present at the beginning of this meeting.

      [General conversation]

      HR 6531
          -Fight in Congress for bill
               -Duration
               -Support for bill
          -Hebert's support for the President

      [Photographs]

      Allott

      Military Procurement Bill
            -Status
            -Mansfield amendment
                  -Language
                  -Conference committee
            -Herman E. Talmadge
            -Conference committee
                  -Carl B. Albert
            -Language
            -Roll call
            -Draft extension legislation
            -Laird's forthcoming trip to South Vietnam

      [Photographs]

      [General conversation]

Stennis, et al. left at 4:13 pm.

Also recorded on September 28, 1971

  • 579-006 3:05 PM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 3:05 pm.
  • 579-007 3:06 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:06 pm to 3:15 pm.
  • 077-007 3:15 PM · 38 min — President Richard M. Nixon and members of the Organization of African Unity, including Moktar Ould Daddah, Hamdi Ould Mouknass, Dr. Njoroge Mungai, Capt. Charles Sissoko, Elijah Mudenda, Jean Keutcha, Diallo Telli, Mohamed Sahnoun, William P. Rogers, Henry A. Kissinger, Emil ("Bus") Mosbacher, Jr., David D. Newsome, W. Marshall Wright, Robert Bruce, Alec G. Toumayan, and members of the press, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 3:15 pm to 3:52 pm.
  • 579-009 4:14 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:14 pm to 4:23 pm.
  • 010-011 4:21 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 4:21 pm to 4:22 pm.
  • 010-012 4:23 PM · 12 sec — Ronald L. Ziegler and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 4:23 pm to 4:55 pm.
  • 010-013 4:23 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:23 pm and 4:55 pm.
  • 579-010 4:23 PM · 1 hr 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, Hugh Scott, Robert P. Griffin, Gerald R. Ford, Leslie C. Arends, Clark MacGregor, Ronald L. Ziegler, George P. Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, and Charles W. Colson met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:23 pm and 5:21 pm.

All 30 conversations from September 28, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 579-008, September 28, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/579-008 (accessed October 2, 2026).