Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 852 › Conversation 852-014

Nixon, Dunlop & Ehrlichman on Cost of Living Council and Phase III

Wednesday, February 7, 1973 · 3:10 PM–3:15 PM ET · Oval Office · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Dunlop, John T.; Dunlop, John T. (Mrs.); Ehrlichman, John D.; Stein, Herbert; Rumsfeld, Donald H.; White House operator; Renercomb, George; Shultz, George P.; Mahon, JackConversation852-014 on Tape 852StartWednesday, February 7, 1973 at 3:10 PMEndWednesday, February 7, 1973 at 3:15 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 852-014 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with John T. Dunlop and several senior administration officials to formalize Dunlop’s appointment as the new chair of the Cost of Living Council. The discussion centered on the challenges of implementing Phase III of the administration's economic policy, specifically emphasizing the necessity of fiscal restraint and cooperation from labor and management to combat inflation. Nixon expressed his confidence in Dunlop’s unique ability to bridge the gap between business and labor interests to stabilize food prices and the broader economy.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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That I will well and faithfully discharge.
That I will well and faithfully discharge.
It's a very important assignment.
It's a very important assignment.
And I know that she is now the official chair of phase three.
And we'll ask the customary council to send something to express how much is going to be back.
And whether or not the phase three is going to be good.
I want to say that we've got to cut a lot, but we're just getting there.
Thank you, Mr. President, for that kind of impact.
I knew it was a sound fiscal restraint, hard work on food prices, and the kind of cooperation from labor and management that we're getting, that we can have a really effective restraint on it.
Yes, yes.
And I think we're all going to cooperate, whether we like it or not.
Well, I think one of the most encouraging things about your appointment is that you have support from the citizens community and the labor community.
And the responsibility of the major businesses of concerns in this country were engaged, too, and of the major labor organizations, too.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Thank you.
George, good to see you.

NARA Description

On February 7, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, John T. Dunlop, Mrs. John T. Dunlop, John D. Ehrlichman, Herbert Stein, Donald H. Rumsfeld, White House operator, George Renercomb, George P. Shultz, and Jack Mahon met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:10 pm to 3:15 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 852-014 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 852-14

Date: February 7, 1973
Time: 3:10 pm-3:15 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Mr. and Mrs. John T. Dunlop, George Renercomb, George P. Shultz, John
D. Ehrlichman, Herbert Stein, Donald H. Rumsfeld, and Jack Mahon; the White House
photographer and members of the press were present at the beginning of the meeting.

       Dunlop's oath of office
             -President's appreciation

       Importance of assignment
              -Phase III and Cost of Living Council [COLC]
              -Fight against inflation, taxes
                      -Dunlop’s gratitude for President’s support
                              -Fiscal restraint
                              -Cooperation of labor and management

       Dunlop's qualifications
             -Confidence
                      -Business
                      -Labor
                      -Phase II

       Dunlop's appreciation
             -Tough job
             -Shultz

       [General conversation]
              -Crawfish [?]
              -Stein

       [Photograph session]

       [General conversation]
                                            -41-

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                            Conversation No. 852-14 (cont’d)

               -Congratulations
                     -Ehrlichman
               -Tough job
               -Opportunity

Dunlop, et al., left at 3:15 pm.

Also recorded on February 7, 1973

  • 043-038 1:00 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 1:00 pm to 1:01 pm.
  • 408-008 2:15 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:15 pm and 2:29 pm.
  • 408-009 2:29 PM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:29 pm to 2:30 pm.
  • 408-010 2:35 PM · 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Manolo Sanchez, and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:35 pm to 3:07 pm.
  • 852-015 3:15 PM · 1 hr 54 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Stephen B. Bull, Manolo Sanchez, unknown person(s), and Wilbur D. Mills met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:15 pm to 5:11 pm.
  • 852-016 5:11 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:11 pm to 5:12 pm.
  • 852-017 5:11 PM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:11 pm to 5:12 pm.
  • 852-018 5:12 PM · 17 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:12 pm and 11:59 pm.

All 28 conversations from February 7, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 852-014, February 7, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/852-014 (accessed October 12, 2026).