Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 596-018
Date: Tuesday, October 19, 1971 at 1:26 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Mitchell, John N.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/596-018

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite it as authoritative.

[3:11:52] housing start year this year will clearly be two million on a on an annual basis and that's a hell of a strong housing right market's floundering again today and i i called up the market let's see at noon it was down eight points i called two of my friends both of them said well they're now wild when there's about tight money which i
[3:12:16] Interesting.
[3:12:16] I saw that little blurb last night and asked about it in this morning's meeting.
[3:12:23] And that's just the kind of little item that sends Wall Street into a tizzy.
[3:12:27] But the argument is that it's going to tighten up the money that it has.
[3:12:32] Although it's an article that he has tightened it up since August 15th.
[3:12:37] But he's now more concerned with inflation than expansion.
[3:12:40] And it just turns out...
[3:12:41] I wouldn't be concerned about the market.
[3:12:47] I just think that's one of those things that, I mean, we've got to remember that the market, more when it goes down, more when we have to go up.
[3:12:53] Well, the reflection, it's just one of those things.
[3:12:56] It just hasn't done it.
[3:12:57] We've had a bit of burns and all these people in here yelling around about where we're going.
[3:13:02] I mean, at least where the market helped was the day after COVID-19 went roaring through the dial dust.
[3:13:13] That's my point is I don't think there's a hell of a lot of difference between what's going on in 1878 and 1868.
[3:13:20] It's still a damn high.
[3:13:23] And one day it's going to take off.
[3:13:25] But it's only going to take it off, actually.
[3:13:27] They're good numbers.
[3:13:28] We've got a few good numbers.
[3:13:30] Well, we've got a few good numbers, but they're not as good as they want our old people to be.
[3:13:35] Those are a pretty low volume.
[3:13:36] Yesterday it was like 10 million or something.
[3:13:39] This city was a very low volume.
[3:13:40] Today it's 6 million shares, which is nothing.
[3:13:44] The, uh, I thought there was a person speaking to you on the phone.
[3:13:47] I wouldn't want to keep that motion.
[3:13:49] Ed Rumsfeld is trying to reach you on the phone.
[3:13:52] Would you try to take it, Rumsfeld?
[3:13:54] Oh, you let me know about Rumsfeld, so I might take it later.
[3:14:02] All right.
[3:14:03] Yeah.
[3:14:21] Yes.
[3:14:21] Drought.
[3:14:21] Drought.
[3:14:21] No problem.
[3:14:22] Absolutely.
[3:14:50] For a certain purpose and so there, you know what I mean?
[3:14:53] It's for life, you know what I mean?
[3:14:55] You can forget your name and have a lot of other names.
[3:15:05] Right?
[3:15:07] Nice beaches.
[3:15:08] Good, how about the other ball?
[3:15:16] Too bad.
[3:15:29] I don't know why.
[3:15:33] Oh, it's so good.
[3:15:58] I just must, I just think the fact that he raised such a thing indicates that we ought to, ought to press him.
[3:16:08] I think, I just think.
[3:16:10] Yeah.
[3:16:10] That, uh, we just, he's, two years of handling this work ought, ought to give a lot.
[3:16:14] To keep his time and give us some terribly prestigious support and some that.
[3:16:23] I frankly think we ought to press him on the job when we do that.
[3:16:26] And I'm following up with Sarah.
[3:16:29] I'd be glad to.
[3:16:30] But I really feel that the point is that I think that right now the coordination, that's the point that we need.
[3:16:36] I heard the length of time it works out.
[3:16:38] And also, this is something that the history ought to take.
[3:16:50] Well, what I had to come here to do on the phone.
[3:17:11] All right, fine, I'll pay the code.
[3:17:18] Okay.
[3:17:18] Yeah.
[3:17:18] The Baker thing would be a good one.
[3:17:21] Now, if we don't, we could get a holler.
[3:17:27] Hello there.
[3:17:37] I just think the Mulligan thing is, you know, he's thought of him originally as a top man, so he's mediocre.
[3:17:43] He's not mediocre.
[3:17:45] So he's the dean of a law school.
[3:17:47] And so that's a hell of a thing, John.
[3:17:50] Everybody else says a dean's a big thing, right?
[3:17:58] But he was a dean before he was a good Catholic law school.
[3:18:00] And I said, well, that isn't such a good thing.
[3:18:11] We're not doing it for that reason because he's already on the court, on a certain court.
[3:18:20] Would it be out of the way at all to not let me in?