Nixon Secretly Pressures Fed Chair Burns to Ease Rates Before 1972 Election

President Nixon used private meetings, telephone calls, and threats recorded on the White House taping system to pressure Fed Chairman Arthur Burns to expand the money supply before the 1972 presidential election. Nixon threatened to dilute Burns's power by appointing easy-money allies to the Fed board and denying Burns reappointment. Burns ultimately reduced the discount rate and accelerated money supply growth by late 1971, contributing to the decade-long inflation that followed.