Secret White House Tapes

578–5

About this recording

578–5
  • President Richard M. Nixon
  • H. R. Haldeman
  • George P. Shultz
  • Oliver F. "Ollie" Atkins
September 24, 1971
Conversation No. 578-5

Date: September 24, 1971
Time: 10:33 am – 11:44 am
17

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-4 (cont.)


Location: Oval Office

The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

Dinner
-Arthur F. Burns
-Invitation
-Concern

The President’s trip to the Detroit Economic Club
-Press coverage
-Questions and answers
-\"Today Show\"
-Time and length of filming
-Ecology
-Employment
-Phase II
-Surcharge
-Interest rates
-Supreme Court
-Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]
-Time length

Astronauts' visit to White House
-Helen A. Thomas
-Coverage
-News summary
-President as tour guide
-Lucy A. Winchester
-Coverage (press story)
-President as tour guide for White House
-History
-Abraham Lincoln
-Emancipation Proclamation
-Lincoln bedroom
-Winston S. Churchill story
-Lincoln Sitting Room
-Secret staircase
-Locked doors
-Children
-Type of story
18

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Thomas
-Type of stories
-\"Back stairs at the White House\" story
-United Press International [UPI] service

President's People's Republic of China [PRC] initiative
-Donald H. Rumsfeld
-Japan
-Relationship with Japanese legislators
-Public relations aspect
-Latin America
-Robert H. Finch
-Rumsfeld and Finch
-Possible appearance in small Latin American countries
-Taiwan
-United Nations [UN]
-Taiwan seat
-World politics
-Domestic politics
-Conservatives
-Seating of PRC in Security Council
-UN


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[National Security]
[Duration: 11s ]


TAIWAN


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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


-UN votes
-Small actions
19

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Compared to US and Great Britain
-George H.W. Bush
-Personal representatives
-Haldeman
-Possible conversations
-Bush
-Henry A. Kissinger

President's schedule
-Planning Board of White House Conference on Aging
-Executive Office Building [EOB]
-Purpose
-The President’s Chicago speech
-President's interest
-Time
-Length of day
-Arthur S. Flemming

Press coverage of administration
-Questions and answers [Q&A]
-Future events
-Amount of preparation
-Phase II
-International monetary situation
-PRC
-Soviet Union
-Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
-National defense
-Budget
-Televised press conference
-Preparation
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Speech in California

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 10:33 am.

-Kissinger
-Location
-California

Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
20

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Vietnam

Bull left at an unknown time before 11:03 am.

Kissinger's schedule
-Speaking appearances
-Dinner
-Taft Schreiber
-Number of people
-Coverage
-David Frost
-CBS
-National Broadcasting Corporation [NBC]
-American Broadcasting Company [ABC]
-Philadelphia meeting
-President's approval
-Hugh Scott
-Princeton University
-Yale University
-Oklahoma
-Ohio State University
-University of Illinois
-University of Chicago
-Northwestern University
-Comparison to Illinois
-Harvard
-Yale
-Princeton University
-New Jersey
-Rutgers University
-Ohio State
-Number of people
-City
-US
-Television coverage
-University appearances

Jewish sector
-Impact for administration
-John N. Mitchell
-Speaking appearances
21

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Money
-Impact for administration
-Kissinger's speaking appearances
-Contributions
-Israel
-Amount of money
-Jewish sector
-Staff
-Murray M. Chotiner
-Unknown Israeli General
-Moshe Dayan
-Jewish support in US
-Jewish support
-Support for President
-Israel
-US aid

Press relations
-The President's trip to the Detroit Economic Club
-Questions asked
-Effect
-Precision
-Dullness
-Politeness
-Advance man
-[Unknown advance man]
-Dwight L. Chapin
-Conversation with [Forename unknown] Sisler [?] and Director
-Television coverage
-Types of questions
-Henry C. Cashen, II
-Restrictions
-Future situations
-Campaign
-Types of questions
-Public desire
-Good questions
-Citizens' panel in Detroit
-Questions
-Television coverage
-Past situation
22

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Type of questions
-Timing
-Screening questions
-Telephone call-ins
-Telethon
-Citizens' panel in Detroit
-National television
-Questions
-Phase II
-Peter G. Peterson
-IMF
-President's appearance
-Speech
-Decision
-President's conversation with Burns and John B. Connally
-President's appearance
-Peterson
-President's appearance
-Connally's analysis
-American audience
-Reception
-Speech
-Impact for economics
-George P. Shultz
-Paul W. McCracken
-Free market
-Shultz
-President's speech
-Connally's impact
-President's knowledge
-Detroit Economic Club speech
-President's speech
-Knowledge
-Balance
-National television
-US interests
-Applause
-American audience
-Information
-IMF
-Confusion
23

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Businessmen compared to general public
-Barriers to trade
-Questions asked
-Press conference
-Detroit Economic Club
-Type of question asked regarding PRC
-Connally
-Trip to Europe
-President's response
-John Foster Dulles's diplomacy
-Type of question
-Tone, format, content
-Type of response
-Point of question
-Response
-Patrick J. Buchanan
-Responses
-Number of words

President's schedule
-Federal Communications Commission [FCC]
-Senator John L. McClellan
-Mitchell's opinion
-Cable television
-Friend of administration
-President Moktar Ould Daddah of Mauritania
-President of organization of African unity
-Attendance
-Five foreign ministers
-William P. Rogers
-David D. Newsome
-Length of time
-Farewell call
-Bogdan Crnobrnja
-Belgrade, Yugoslavia
-Public relations
-Josip Broz Tito
-Future situations
-Agha Hilaly of Pakistan
-Conversation
-Presidential gift
24

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Wristwatch
-Kissinger
-Farewell call
-Meeting with the President
-Pictures
-Farewell calls
-Future
-Procedure
-Informal dinner with million dollar contributors


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

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 32 ]


END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8



-Location
-Camp David
-Timing
-Phase II announcement
-Stag dinner
-Length
-Elkins, West Virginia
-Helicopter trip
-Camp David
-Returns
-Editorial writers
-Pittsburgh
-Meeting with the President
-Date
-Forthcoming announcement about visit to Soviet Union

Press relations
-Questions and answers
-Subjects
25

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Ziegler
-California trip
-Questions posed
-John A. Scali
-President's action
-Stories
-National television
-Oval Office press conference
-Idea of performance
-President's knowledge

William M. Magruder
-Meeting
-Research and development [R&D]

Editorial

Milton Friedman and George P. Shultz entered and Haldeman left at 11:03 am; Oliver F.
(“Ollie”) Atkins was present at the beginning of this meeting.

Greetings

Introductions

Testimony

Photographs

General conversation
-Photographs
-Meeting
-Burns
-Connally

US foreign economic policies
-IMF
-Burns
-Conversation with the President
-Rogers
-Maurice H. Stans
-US position
26

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Gold prices
-Henry S. Reuss
-William Proxmire
-Europe and Japan
-Possible recession
-Inflation
-US
-Burns’s position
-Fixed currency rates
-Connally
-Burns
-Surcharge
-Capital controls
-European reactions
-Quotas
-Steel, oil
-Capital controls program
-Problems
-Rejection
-Burns

Unknown person [Manolo Sanchez?] entered at an unknown time after 11:03 am.

Refreshments
-Coffee
-Tea

Unknown person [Sanchez?] left at an unknown time before 11:44 am.

US foreign economic policies
-Connally
-Memorandum to administration and Burns from Friedman
-October1968
-Close gold window
-Capital controls
-The President's conversation with Burns, September 24
-Connally
-International economists
-Popular belief of failure
-Trip abroad
-Connally's position
27

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Timing
-World situation
-President's action
-Connally
-Press criticism
-Sensitivity
-European trip
-Lyndon B. Johnson
-Capabilities
-Dinner party given by Shultz
-Date
-Connally
-Friedman
-Ezra Solomon
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Controls on wages and prices
-Political problems
-Domestic scene
-International scene
-US position
-Success
-Gold prices
-Raise
-Lower
-Elimination
-Meaning
-Burns's explanation
-Ritual of economics
-Convertibility
-Camp David meeting
-Burns's position
-Mystique
-Political implications
-Hypothetical situation
-Central banker
-Congressmen
-Dollar standard
-Response
-Domestic front
-Changes in the price of gold
-Impact
28

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Dollar amounts
-Europeans' position
-Maintenance of sales
-Benefits for US
-Future implications
-Import surcharge
-Possible changes
-Date
-Time length
-Benefits for US
-Japanese yen
-Float
-German mark
-Pressure
-Equilibrium of prices
-Percent
-Japanese yen
-Depreciation
-Willingness for depreciation by foreign countries
-Japan
-Reductions in trade barriers
-Numerical shift of balance of payments
-Present system
-Flexibility in currencies
-Productivity
-Possible illusions
-Surcharge and exchange rate
-Imports compared to imports and exports
-Definition related to surcharge and exchange rates
-Equilibrium
-Removal of surcharge
-Aid to export companies
-Agriculture industry
-Reactions to raising surcharge
-Exporters
-American goods
-Lower prices
-Impact on farmers
-Agricultural commodities
-Pro agriculture position
-Protectionism in US
29

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Previous Cabinet meeting
-American foreign policy
-1916-1968
-[Thomas] Woodrow Wilson
-Benevolent paternalism
-Changing American policy
-Benevolent paternalism to cooperative partnerships
-Possible speech
-Questions
-Opportunities
-Competition
-Import surcharge
-Importance
-Deadline
-Date
-Suspension of surcharge
-Plan
-Stipulation
-Floating currencies
-General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade [GATT] rules
-Latin America
-GATT rules
-US position
-Violation
-Belief
-Floating currencies
-Japan, Great Britain, France, West Germany
-Canada
-Germany
-Qualifications
-US position
-Japan, Britain
-Importance
-Surcharge
-Floating currency
-Trade
-Japan
-Automobiles
-US sales
-Percentage
-Date
30

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Surcharge
-Removal
-Yen
-Appreciation
-Value
-Automobile industry
-Effect
-Political consideration

US domestic economic policies

US international economic policies
-Prohibition of private ownership and purchase of gold
-Elimination
-Current action
-Shultz
-Connally
-Bureaucracy
-Timing
-Note from Shultz
-US patriotism
-Ownership of gold
-Pros and cons
-US legislation
-Executive Order
-Treasury Department position
-Gold Reserve Act
-Section Three
-Regulation by Secretary of Treasury
-Holding of gold
-Executive Order
-Executive Order
-Political question
-Conservatives
-Gold Reserve Act
-History
-Date of establishment
-Purpose
-Prohibiting private profit
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
-Expropriation
31

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Comparison
-Fidel Castro
-Chile
-Anaconda Company
-Roosevelt
-Connally

US domestic economic policies
-Bureaucracy
-Changes
-Opposition
-Government reorganization
-Revenue sharing
-Welfare reform
-Congress
-Opposition to change
-Economic goals
-Price control
-Possible dangers
-Suppression of inflation
-Congressman
-Cost of Living Council [COLC]
-Spending more money
-Federal Reserve Board [FRB]
-Printing more money
-Political factors
-1972 election
-Upsurge of prices
-1970 recession
-Possibility of another recession
-1974
-Setback of economic goals
-Democratic victory
-Avoidance of recession
-Money supply
-Burns
-Congress
-Deficit
-FRB
-Increase
-Burns
32

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Rate of increase
-Percent
-Directions
-Repercussions
-Expansion
-Positive movement
-Figures
-Retail sales
-Auto sales
-Reasons
-Freeze
-Housing starts
-Inventories
-Consumer purchasing power
-Savings
-Real spendable earnings
-Momentum
-History
-Action of expansion
-1933-1937
-Growth
-Rate
-Great Depression
-Date
-Type of recession
-Growth
-1970 Recession
-Reasons
-Previous factors
-Unemployment figures
-Unemployment
-Men in workforce
-Number
-Vietnam
-Problems
-Geographical distribution
-California
-Chicago
-Gary, Indiana
-Connecticut
-Wichita
33

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Current economic atmosphere
-Washington, DC
-Unemployment
-Future situation
-Post-election period
-Figures
-Maintenance
-Technical problems of Phase II
-President's previous action
-Politics
-Approval
-Speculations
-Controlling prices
-Public support
-Already-existing economic factors
-Consumer Price Index [CPI]
-Sanction policy
-Industries
-Control of wages and prices
-Effect
-Wage and price increase
-Approval
-Disapproval
-Deadline
-Effect
-Number of days
-Pressure
-Cosmetic influence
-Shultz, Herbert Stein
-Restraints
-Supervision
-Major industries
-Effect on inflation
-Bureaucracy
-Decisions
-Deferred increases
-Impact
-Deferred rate increases
-Labor-management panel
-Speculation
-Effect
34

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Automobiles
-Union and management policies
-US society
-Contract between two parties
-Valid
-Arguments against administration's policies
-Contract
-James W. Roach
-Labor relations
-History
-Wildcat strikes of 1930's
-Union leaders
-Contracts
-Importance of contracts
-Validity
-Wage and price increases
-Government position
-Union leaders
-Possible effect on contract
-New contract
-Railroad union
-Contract
-Result
-Burns
-Equity
-Meeting between Burns and Shultz
-Guidelines
-West coast strike
-Length
-Percentage of proposed wage increase
-Cause for strike
-Contract
-Percent
-Burns's position
-Strike
-Longshoreman, coal miners
-Steel settlement
-Wages and prices
-Friedman's analysis
-Burns
-Wage and Price Review Board
35

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)


-Legal precedent
-History
-1932
-Eugene Meyer
-FRB
-Reconstruction Finance
Corporation [RFC]
-Deferred contracts
-Impact on wages and prices
-Economic system
-Complexities of system
-Guidelines
-Numbers
-Averages
-Effect on unions
-Principles of economics
-Congress
-Freeze
-Effect on price index
-Percentage deviation
-Walter E. Heller
-Prediction of numbers
-Alan Greenspan's prediction

General conversation

US economic policies
-Congress
-Labor leaders
-Businessmen
-Business Council
-Labor
-Speculators
-President’s announcement
-Japan

Shultz and Friedman left at 11:44 am.
36

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF

Tape Subject Log
(rev. 10/06)
Conv. No. 578-5 (cont.)
Secret White House Tapes |

578–5

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