54–1

Conversation No. 54-1

Date: April 19, 1971
Time: 5:05 pm - 6:03 pm
Location: Cabinet Room

The President met with Charles D. Aquadro, Frank A. Bonadio, Harold J. Bouy, Edward F.
Carlough, Peter Fosco, Robert A.Georgine, Maurice A. Hutcheson, Albert E. Hutchinson, John
H. (“Jack”) Lyons, Thomas F. Murphy, William Peitler, Charles H. Pillard, Joseph T. Power, S.
Frank Raftery, Joseph P. Ricciarelli, Peter T. Shoeman, Louis Sherman, Hunter P. Wharton,
Richard W. Williams, James D. Hodgson, Willie J. Usery, Jr., Henry A. Kissinger, and Charles
W. Colson; the White House photographer and members of the press were present at the
beginning of the meeting

[General conversation/Unintelligible]

Greetings

Conferences
-Murphy
-Daughters of the American Revolution [DAR]
-Location

Photo session

[General conversation/Unintelligible]

Rose Garden

Economy
-Effect on building and trades
-Davis-Bacon Act
-Direction
-Economists
-Construction
-Gross National Product [GNP]
-Growth
-March
-March
-Retail sales
-Easter sales
-Housing starts
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-April
-Automobile sales
-Housing starts
-GNP
-March
-Consumer confidence
-Industrial production
-Inventories
-Retail sales
-Construction
-Plant and equipment projections
-Hodgson
-President’s speech at Governors’ Conference, Williamsburg
-Spending
-Projections
-Construction trade
-1971 compared with 1970
-Jobs and payrolls
-National defense
-Hodgson
-Building trades industry
-Prospects
-Need for leadership
-Building trades’ unions
-President’s support
-Unemployment
-Need for cooperation
-Budget and monetary policy
-Interest rates
-Housing
-Construction industry
-Need for stability
-Department of Commerce projections
-Housing starts
-Interest rates
-Unemployment
-Government programs
-Historical importance
-Building projections
-Needs
-Lyons, Aquadro, Raftery
-Buildings and construction trades council
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Role
-President’s support
-Davis-Bacon Act suspension
-Consequences for unions
-Bids for jobs
-Jobs
-Suspension
-Commitment
-Rebidding
-Legal problem
-President’s order
-List of jobs from agencies
-Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD]
-Hodgson
-John A. Volpe
-Suspension
-List of jobs
-Importance
-Cities
-New York
-California
-Chicago
-San Francisco
-Los Angeles
-States
-Jobs
-HUD, Army Corps of Engineers, General Services Administration [GSA],
Department of Transportation [DOT]
-Melvin R. Laird
-Volpe
-George W. Romney
-Construction industry
-Cost factor
-Cost of land
-Increase
-Bradley Hills development
-Property values
-Land
-Control of profits
-High rise buildings
-Florida and California
-Approach
 4


NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-Cost of land
-Land use bill
-Personal property taxes
-Increase
-Revenue sharing
-Revenue sharing
-State and local units
-Population
-John N. Mitchell
-Land
-Federal government’s holdings
-Marine Corps
-San Francisco, New York City
-Federal lands survey
-Rogers C. B. Morton
-Cost
-Interagency committee
-Romney
-Hodgson
-Steel contract negotiations
-George Meany
-Hodgson
-President’s Executive Order
-Construction costs
-Construction industry
-President’s conversation with Meany
-Hodgson
-Executive Order, March 29, 1971
-Construction trades union organization
-Need for cooperation
-Hardhats
-Recognition
-Labor problems in England
-Meany
-Wildcat strikes
-Construction industry
-Stephen D. Bechtel
-Need for trades union
-Urban reconstruction
-New York City
-James L. Buckley and Jacob K. Javits
-Riverside Drive
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)



-New York City
-Denver
-New York City
-Hudson River
-Palisades
-Land costs
-Executive Order, March 29, 1971
-Disparity
-Hodgson
-Wage Stabilization Committee
-Right of contract
-Wage increases
-Intent
-Differences with the administration

National defense
-Vietnam negotiations
-Prisoners of War [POWs]
-Soviet Union
-Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles [ICBMs]
-Nuclear submarines
-Navy
-Merchant Marine
-Soviet Union
-ICBMs
-Nuclear submarines
-Antiballistic Missiles [ABMs]
-Strategic Arms Limitations Talks [SALT]
-Vietnam
-President’s policies
-Support for President

Federal construction spending
-Roads and bridges
-Status

Rose Garden

[General conversation/Unintelligible]

The President, et al. left at 6:03 pm
 6


NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/08)