Conversation 615-025

TapeTape 615StartFriday, November 5, 1971 at 12:25 PMEndFriday, November 5, 1971 at 12:49 PMTape start time04:14:23Tape end time04:39:39ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Kissinger, Henry A.;  [Unknown person(s)]Recording deviceOval Office

On November 5, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:25 pm to 12:49 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 615-025 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 615-25

Date: November 5, 1971
Time: 12:25 pm - 12:49 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Henry A. Kissinger and an unknown man.
[The recording begins at an unknown time while the meeting was is progress]
                                                48

                            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 10/06)



     The President's schedule
          -Departure time
               -Helicopter
          -Meeting with Arthur F. Burns

Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 12:25 pm.

     The President's schedule

Sanchez left at an unknown time before 12:30 pm.

     Kissinger's schedule

Bull left at an unknown time before 12:30 pm.

     The President's previous conversation with Indira Gandhi
          -The President's preceding conversation with William P. Rogers
               -US aid
                      -Possible war
          -The President’s forthcoming trip to the People’s Republic of China [PRC]
               -Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
          -Middle East
          -Vietnam
               -Possible US military action
                      -Possible message to Vietnamese, USSR
          -The President's 1969 visit to India
               -Cambodia
          -Tone

     Gandhi's visit to Cabinet

     Gandhi’s visit
         -Significance

Arthur F. Burns entered at 12:30 pm.

     Kissinger's conversation with Burns

     United States foreign policy
          -State Department
          -Kissinger's role
                                              49

                              NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                         (rev. 10/06)
                                                                   Conv. No. 615-25 (cont.)


                   -Willy Brandt
             -Peter G. Peterson

     Kissinger's schedule
          -Washington Star event
          -Soviet reception

Kissinger left at 12:31 pm.

     White House dinner for Gandhi, November 4, 1971
          -Julie Nixon Eisenhower

Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 12:31 pm.

     Refreshments

Sanchez left at an unknown time before 12:49 pm.


**************************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[National Security]
[Duration: 51s ]


     INDIA


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3

**************************************************************************


     Middle East
         -India's position
               -United Arab Republic [UAR]
                     -Gamal Abdel Nasser

     India
             -US aid
                                             50

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/06)
                                                                     Conv. No. 615-25 (cont.)


          -US popular opinion
               -USSR

     National economy
          -Money supply
                -Reactions
          -Economic indicators
                -Unemployment
                -Prices
          -Money supply
                -Expansion
                      -Timing
                -The President's letter to Burns
                      -Rose Mary Woods
                      -Copies
                      -John B. Connally, Peterson and George P. Shultz
                -Interest rates
                -Calls to Woods
                      -Bernard J. (“Bunny”) Lasker
                      -Gustave L. Levy
                -Burns's previous meetings with members of the Federal Advisory Council and
                      former Federal Reserve Board [FRB] members

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 12:31 pm.

     Arrangements for photograph

Bull left and the White House photographer entered at an unknown time before 12:49 pm.

The White House photographer left at an unknown time before 12:49 pm.

     National economy
          -Money supply
                -Burns's meetings, November 4, 1971
                     -Attendees
                           -Bankers, industrials
                -FRB policy
                -Milton Friedman

Bull entered at an unknown time after 12:31 pm.
                                                51

                           NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                        Tape Subject Log
                                          (rev. 10/06)
                                                                    Conv. No. 615-25 (cont.)


     Instructions regarding briefcase

Bull left at an unknown time before 12:49 pm.

     National economy
          -Money supply
                -Expansion
          -Dividend guideline
                -Connally
                -Charles W. Colson's call to Burns
                -Quadriad meeting
          -Pay Board
                -Wage settlements
                     -Retroactivity
                           -Congress
                -George Meany's possible action
                     -The President's response
                     -Re-imposition of freeze
                     -Cost of Living Council [COLC]
                           -Discretion
                                  -Teachers
                     -Appeal for moderation
                           -Re-imposition of freeze
                                  -Delay
          -Money supply
          -Dwight D. Eisenhower's economic advisors
                -1960
          -The President's relations with Burns, Paul W. McCracken and unknown person

     The President’s schedule
          -Recent meeting with Indians

Bull entered at an unknown time after 12:31 pm.

     The President’s schedule

Bull left at an unknown time before 12:49 pm.

     National economy
          -The President's forthcoming conversation with Wright Patman
                -Stabilization program
                                               52

                          NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. 10/06)
                                                                   Conv. No. 615-25 (cont.)


                -Talking paper
                     -Bull

     Patman's schedule
         -Pauline (Tucker) Patman
                -Forthcoming dinner for Emilio Garrastazu Medici
                -The President’s forthcoming call to Patman

     Federal budget
          -1954
               -Wage contracts
          -1956
               -Gen. Andrew J. Goodpaster
          -1970
          -Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger
          -Tax incentives
               -Politics
                     -March 1972
          -Weinberger

     The President's schedule
          -Florida

     The President's conversation with Indira Gandhi
          -Tone
          -Unknown woman and man

     Money supply

Burns left at 12:49 pm.

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.

All we know it was.
That was conventional, yeah.
They said, oh, yeah.
And I liked that.
No, no, no, it was our reason for meeting.
No, no.
No, no, but what I liked in subtlety was when I played it with you and me on the Soviet Union because, you know, she said, kittens are trying to give me the formal position to under-president.
Let it slip that they may discuss Soviet problems, which is a good plan to hang out over the...
I wanted to do that.
You want to try it?
Yeah, I thought that was a... Yeah, right.
I said, well, let's understand, Robert, we can't guarantee they won't.
I thought it was...
I love that you can handle it.
But it was a masterpiece to do it that way.
If I had said it, it would have been a formal communication the way...
She can now report it that the president sort of let that slip.
I knew it was a careful plan.
I thought it was beautiful.
I thought the whole thing was really...
This is bad.
We can never get this across to the press now.
But the way you took her into your confidence without telling her... That was true.
That's right.
Oh, yeah.
And that's going to go straight to the Vietnamese.
Oh, yeah.
Absolutely.
After that, it certainly will get to the Russians.
But it's bound to get to the Russians.
And the Russians have found some...
Well, and actually today she was extremely warm.
Well, you played on her back.
You played on her back taking her to the cabinet meeting, was it?
Great stroke.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, this visit was magnificently done.
And again, we'll have to write it someday because here you faced a potential war situation.
You had an ally to deal with.
Yeah.
And the... Mark, come in, come in.
Mark, if you just want to talk, the message means nothing at all.
We had a talk yesterday.
We had a talk already.
And there's another one next week.
We'll talk to you when you...
Let me say something.
I want Arthur to understand that this is a phrase of confidence.
It should be here.
But in this foreign field, I don't have a hell of a lot of confidence in the state.
I mean, I think they have good intentions, but I think they'd make a deal for anything.
are other people who are of responsibility here and have experience.
So when you, that's why I've asked Henry to get into it, so that where the political thing is involved, talk to him like you do to me, and then he'll give you the feeling like a Henry will know whether or not the, like you talk about when the Germans might do this or that.
You know, Dan LeWebrock can do that.
So I just want you to know that I've set this up, but don't don't
Talked to Mr. Peterson and others that were doing this.
He said to me, your talks with Henry should be, uh, uh, on the basis that you and I, uh, call this a very good attack.
Good luck.
Okay.
Sit down.
Sit down.
Sir, this is... You ought to be down there tonight, sir.
Oh, good.
Good night.
Yes, sir.
I'm going to the start, and then I'm going to the Soviet reception.
It's their national day.
That's right.
That's right.
All right.
All right.
I understand.
I'm going to be surprised.
And my daughter clearly said that to me.
After that moment, she was, I don't know, she had been a beautiful tribute to me.
She was so ungracious and criticized me.
Now I have the United States in my name.
What did you think, Arthur?
I thought I had teeth and all.
I just forgot to drink some reserved coffee.
No, I have coffee.
Coffee or tea or anything.
Coffee.
Or Coke.
Reserved Coke.
No, coffee.
Okay, fine.
I can tell you something, I can deliver the gut feeling that I'm trying to fill up with this.
But I don't mean to fool anyone.
Because God damn idiots are so horrible.
But it will help you to know what 400, 500 million people are up to.
And maybe even then, folks, I'm just looking at the, we don't know where, because I mean, don't suck around.
You've got to be told.
I was, you know, I'm not, I might totally suck, but I didn't get hurt.
I tell you what she is.
Now, that's just foolish of her.
She said, who's Patrick?
You know, and, you know, she said it with an eye.
She asked him to finish, and I gave her my dad's phone number.
God damn her.
She ought to be on her knees saying this.
We've given India $9 billion, and maybe over the last 20 years, $9 billion.
want to vote in America for India.
Nobody likes India.
I want to accept those.
And I just want to be sure that we do the thing, that we do what's necessary, because it's better to have one foot down than the other, which means we're over the world.
I'm sorry, I've got less thing.
It can't be here.
It is this thing.
It's just like a tiny fly in the pocket.
You do have a fly in the pocket.
Oh, sorry.
Who is it?
Well, you won't see these guys.
They won't know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
Is that before it takes that long?
But you are active, aren't you?
All right, sir.
If you know what I mean, Arthur, let's just be sure it's up in September.
That's all I want.
No, I got your letter and I became concerned.
Let me tell you, that letter, as you know, I had a rose to it.
There were no copies made.
It hasn't gone to Connelly, it hasn't gone to Peterson or Schultz or any of those people.
I don't want anything like that because that would be all over town.
I want you to know that sometimes, let's have a personal communication just between you and me because I will never put that certainly off of you.
But I do think you need to know what I hear and how I see them.
I want to ask you all to stay calm.
I'm concerned that you have so many things to worry about, Mr. President.
And just, well, I find your anguish, I know.
I'm a man with a lot of heart, but you would work.
I don't care about it.
I think it's time to get started.
Really, you know, hold on to it.
interest rates going down.
I noticed that.
It's an accident.
The, uh, and as far as the letters you've been reading, well, you know, I did this letter to force some calls.
Well, you know, a lot of people who are, as I had this, uh, two years, they call Rose, my secretary, and talk to her when she takes time, right?
But these are mostly good people.
Yeah, I was nervous not to
That's true.
That's true.
From all over the country, though.
They want us to be in our hearts.
They want us to be in our hearts.
Why not?
Why not?
Why not?
Why not?
Why not?
Why not?
Why not?
Why not?
Yeah, and I know that both of these things were frozen very objectively.
Yesterday, I had members of the Federal Advisory Council, I had the alumni, the graduates of the Advisory Council, and I had all former living members of the Federal Service over there who were quite a number,
100, no.
100.
100.
100.
100.
100.
100.
100.
100.
100.
Yeah, but now aren't there any old people who want to save the dollar rather than say thank you, I'm going to give you the money.
That's a fine.
These are bankers, expats, and industrialists.
Can you see?
There's a box, a throat.
But these aren't.
These are.
No, not bad.
Here is my current federal advisory council.
I had my press name pick out items, excuse me, from the press.
I didn't tell them what I wanted.
What I was saying to my fellow reserve policy, I said, I want a very objective representative sample.
And as frequent as he already had.
This is a, this is a run-up, in fact, as you see my read-through story,
We were expanding our supply of explosives regardless.
Everybody get a cell phone.
Now I am now beginning to go.
You see the thing, the staple I was saying, I don't mind, but when people say that, now let me tell you, in fact, even the devils had what they told me for a long time.
They said for four months, Burmese has not done a damn thing on their supply, and they said if you keep it on for another five or six months, or another five, maybe it's five or six months, we're dead.
That's what I don't like.
Yeah.
Hasn't been stable for only four months.
Hasn't been flat for four months.
Three months.
That's what they're concerned about.
They're afraid you're going to do it for three more months.
Oh, all right.
A little uncertainty.
I don't have any uncertainty.
I just want to know what's going to happen.
All right.
If you are all concurred, you're going to make your move.
Oh, I'm sorry.
My, my, my, look at that plan.
Take this dividend guy.
That was marvelous.
You know what I didn't call these in Harvard?
I tried to cross it up and I didn't catch it.
And I asked Olson, you know, he wrote the story.
He was your secretary.
He did.
That hit the stock markets.
Went up in Portland.
That was a reason for it.
You know, and I checked with him today and yesterday.
No, we didn't like the connection.
It was good.
And I did more for him.
As far as you're meaning, I don't agree.
I wanted four.
Better, so it makes our labor thing not look out of line at all.
I apparently get the labor thing.
Five and a half.
No.
That looks bad.
No, no.
They're asking for 6.2.
No.
And I said five and a half.
No, 575.
That probably isn't enough.
That's as good as you want it.
No.
That's at least better than 12.
Oh, no.
No, that's not.
Look, I've got a problem with the retroactive structure here.
Terrible.
Terrible.
Well, Lee, I'm going to go to work on that.
You see, that works the bargaining thing.
But believe me, I have a bill of this right up my neck.
No, you've got to be strong on this.
We are.
No, no.
I'll tell you what we're going to do.
I'll tell you what the threat is.
You should know.
If Manny walks off...
I've got to reimpose the freeze for nine days, give the cost of living council, however, more discretion, and let the teachers and others go.
If I got this, that's the only answer I can get.
Well, I think I can do a lot.
But what I had is, let me put it this way.
I don't want to, I'm not letting you know that that's what I might do.
That's not what we have to do.
We've got to have some bargaining partner.
He's the only one who can get this.
Right.
Right.
Right.
No, if he walks out, Captain, I will make an appeal to the country for moderation and indicate that if that appeal is not respected, then the priest will die.
Try it out.
Without the priest.
All right.
Is the trouble for three more months?
No.
No.
Keep your... Keep the...
Wait until I sky-fly.
Sky-fly is what you're talking about.
I see what happens for a month or two or three.
You know, that is... All right.
Well, put that down as a suggestion for you.
But, uh, don't do it unless it goes.
But have that as a contingency plan to submit to me.
Fine.
In case you are trying.
We'll know it in three days, all right?
Yeah.
All right.
Well, look, I'm... No, I'm not a supplier.
Don't worry.
I don't worry.
But you don't... You tell me.
You are...
I'm a...
I'm a...
Good.
I walked into your room late last year.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
Yeah.
on the Civilization Program and what he did as an instructor and then he's a spinny son of a few years ago.
Actually, I know him.
He can't work today, of course.
Well, he's not moving.
I mean, he's going to be there soon.
Before that time, when I asked him to do this, it was, I don't know, maybe one paragraph.
He pulled from under the seat, and out of it.
I heard him say, man, there's an army of men here.
He was just saying, I was afraid to call back.
I said, hey, this is a bad deal.
Out of it.
And he says, stop the road.
Take the road to the black.
We all want to go to the black.
Also, we can say a word about the Chisholm when we talk to them about Pauline.
By the way, I got better ideas.
She is probably going to use her magic hammer because of herself and that piece of wood.
Not wood, but trees.
Oh, yeah.
Put it down.
All right, I'll get it.
I'll get it out.
Get out of your way, Paulie.
Let me in.
For those who have watched this, I want this to end.
It is 1934.
I'm sorry for the years we've been around.
The lie is a miserable dream.
I'm not going to talk about that.
In 1956, we pried again under a big master.
He was less urgent than he should have been, of course.
But, we didn't accomplish anything.
Last year, we pried again on top of the Triangles and Jarge, close to 60 miles.
Now, let's start with an item.
If you start earlier, and put the right man in charge,
Oh, he's great.
He's great.
Well, you know, a certain amount of money
Let all those maximum sellers have a blip on that list of what we have to prepare for the Presidents, for the Senate, for the House.
And one of you, get the maximum of a dollar.
Let those studies be made, be made now.
And let you be in charge of something for many that are up April, March April.
March, March.
All right.
We've gotten into this much too late most of the time, where I'm treated like they're like people who don't think money's in the market and have a lot of deep fantasy.
Oh, he's smart as hell, and he's also their politician.
And he knows the politics, and he knows what's like, and he knows what strengths to pull.
Oh, yeah.
So get that board, and let's talk about it.
And I know what he obviously wants.
The board.
Yeah, that's it.
I suck at it.
All right.
We'll do it.
We'll do it again.
Thanks for coming in.
I've got to go to Florida.
Get ready for mine, uh, next week.
I've been to Florida for six weeks.
I've got to go live.
All right.
Yes, sir.
Could you tell me how you love everything?
Oh, he's smart as hell, yes.
Okay then, I will.
Thank you.
Thank you for coming in.
I appreciate your time.
Keep the money, boy.