Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 590 › Conversation 590-012

Nixon & Fitzsimmons on Labor relations and International trade

Wednesday, October 13, 1971 · 1:43 PM–1:50 PM ET · Oval Office · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Fitzsimmons, Frank E.Conversation590-012 on Tape 590 (tape position 04:46:57–04:51:40)StartWednesday, October 13, 1971 at 1:43 PMEndWednesday, October 13, 1971 at 1:50 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 590-012 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Teamsters President Frank E. Fitzsimmons to express appreciation for Fitzsimmons' recent assistance in resolving a labor dispute. The discussion touched upon the necessity of maintaining cooperative relations despite external pressures and misunderstandings exacerbated by the press. Nixon also briefly updated Fitzsimmons on international economic negotiations, specifically referencing efforts by the Treasury Department to reach trade agreements with Canada and Japan.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 22% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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I just wanted to thank you for your various support yesterday in working out that problem we had over there with the, you know, on this waste.
And I think without you, we couldn't have made it.
And we want to work with you, and we hope that we can have some good cooperation.
But I guess I just didn't want you to – I can thank you all for that, Tom,
Well, you know, I'm sure that I initialed the understanding.
I think there was basically a misunderstanding, frankly, that I intended all along.
But, you know, by the time the press begins to breathe and all that, then one guy will say something that he didn't, was quite supposed to say, and there'll be a misunderstanding.
But it takes folks like you to sort of keep up a rocker to go to about two times a day.
Yeah, yeah.
Good point.
Well, we're going to try to do our best to get along.
I know this is tough.
It's often tough, too, with the pressures with your locals and so forth.
This battle is a good fight.
It's one where I think we're all responsible.
We've fixed my headway on it.
As I'm sure you know, our Russian trip, which now that the Chinese trip means that just exactly what it says, as I point out in the press, doesn't mean that we
change our philosophy, but it does mean that we're not going to negotiate on some of these things that otherwise might get us involved in some kind of conflict that affects the rest of Vietnam.
And I think your membership will prove it, particularly because, as you well know, I don't want to do it, but they do their job, which is good.
All right.
Frank, I'm not, I'm not a voter at the moment, but Connolly just got back in, and I told you that my last report was that that was rocking along pretty well.
I mean, I haven't had the, I can't be humble, but my recollection is that they were gonna work out some certain deal on that.
And there is,
I don't know.
I called you to do it.
What did you tell your team?
That you can absolutely turn it on, that you talk to me.
As I say, the Secretary of Treasury and I are working on the Canadian thing.
It's a special thing.
We don't want to.
We can't, of course, get an American position.
We want something now.
But we're going to work.
And also the other countries too, but they like the Japanese, they better come a little ways for me, for God's sake.
I think you agree with me.
Basically, Japan is our best overseas customer.
Japan and Canada are our best customers.
Okay, well you tell our team we're all for them.
All right.
I'll be there in a minute.

NARA Description

On October 13, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Frank E. Fitzsimmons met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:43 pm to 1:50 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 590-012 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 590-12

Date: October 13, 1971
Time: 1:43 pm - 1:50 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Frank E. Fitzsimmons between 1:43 pm and 1:50 pm.

[See Conversation No. 11-85]

Also recorded on October 13, 1971

  • 011-082 12:41 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Mrs. Dean G. Acheson talked on the telephone from 12:41 pm to 12:45 pm.
  • 011-083 12:45 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:45 pm and 1:09 pm.
  • 590-011 1:00 PM · 42 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, White House operator, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:00 pm to 1:43 pm.
  • 011-084 1:09 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 1:09 pm.
  • 011-085 1:43 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 1:43 pm to 1:50 pm.
  • 590-013 1:50 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:50 pm and 2:57 pm.
  • 590-014 1:50 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:50 pm and 2:57 pm.
  • 011-111 2:24 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:24 pm and 4:56 pm.

All 46 conversations from October 13, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 590-012, October 13, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/590-012 (accessed September 28, 2026).