Nixon phone call with Colson on CBS and Media relations

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Hello.

Yes, sir, Mr. President.

Well, anything new today?

Well, I was just sending a note in to Bob that might be of interest to you.

We have some real indications that we're getting some breaks from CBS.

We had nothing coming out of the White House news-wise yesterday, so we had Don Johnson put on a press conference at VA to talk about the declining unemployment rate, and we called CBS to tell him about it.

Tuesday night, and lo and behold, Pierpoint showed up, and then Cronkite carried a minute of it last night, talking about the administration's success in getting the unemployment rate down.

Among veterans.

A real tough piece.

That's very good.

But that's just an indication.

There is a real shakeup going on.

Maybe you noticed in the news summary, they've replaced their Washington vice president, sent Marcy and Jinx down here.

And it looks like Salant may be on his way out.

I think we've...

I think the word...

I'm convinced the word is out in the CBS organization that we're to be treated better.

Ah, good.

That's good.

I'm positive of it from...

Very important.

Two or three.

Well, this is about really the third or maybe the fourth indication I've had that...

Right.

But there are some results coming there.

I'm hard at work today, Mr. President, getting our youth operation restructured.

I think we'll have something for you by the end of the week that gets it off the ground.

Everybody feels, I was talking to both Finch and Rumsfeld today on other matters, and they both feel very strongly that this is a

Great takeoff point for youth, particularly, of course, college youth on the China thing, you see, of course.

Have they run into this themselves?

That's what they found, yeah, among young people.

Well, I think it's clear that it is, and we've got to figure the right ways to subtly exploit a little bit of it without being too obvious.

Particularly if we come along now as we will one way or another on Vietnam while they're

It gets the negative out of the way for them.

That will do it.

It's something that's very positive come along.

We're also getting some plans worked out today on the

really beginning to exploit over the course of the next few months the some of the things coming out of the Pentagon some of the things that have come out of the Pentagon paper good good good and I think that keep that going oh we've particularly among the Democrats we've got to I mean we've yeah they can't get off the hook now they're they'd love to now and let's look at them well I've got I've got one very good man who's who's going back reading all the old documents and he's

thus far produced some very, very inspirational ideas on things we can do, points we can make, ways we can tie in.

Well, when you stop and think about it, almost all of the advisors to the principal Democratic candidates can be one way or another dragged back into the things that happened during that period.

I think that's extremely important that we keep that going.

I thought that meeting with Connolly went very well.

Yeah, yeah.

He's a very realistic fellow.

You were kind of getting him, I take it, in line with the political thinking on labor.

Yes, that's right.

And he'll be all right.

He'll do what we want.

He had expressed a little bit different feelings earlier, but I think he's...

I know.

He sees the point.

Well, you did it.

Yeah, he sees the point, but he'll come along.

But we want him to come along, and it's damn hard because they just ripped the hell out of him.

They've always been violent on him.

But labor is more important to us than it is in, say, Texas.

It's not a big factor.

He's a hell of a pragmatic politician, though.

Yes, sir.

He understands it.

He grasps it more quickly than... That's right.

God, I wish we had just a few more who understood the politics of things the way he's been doing over there.

Yeah.

That was a very eloquent, I suggested to Bob this morning we should get a radio speech or something together very soon on the ethic of work and the dignity of work, because listening to you talk about that yesterday, I just think it is tremendously appealing, tremendously appealing.

It might be something we can get across sometime.

Well, I think people relate to that, Mr. President.

Of course, the main thing there, really, in the whole economic field is still bread and butter.

It's jobs.

And as long as we get banged, that's why your little deal with Johnson is good.

As long as we get banged with their networks night after night on jobs, it's just goddamn hard to bring it around.

But my opinion, Conley, is...

But I think you're...

I think you're...

The Harris analysis is extremely interesting, where he says it takes about six months after a recovery begins for the people to begin to reflect it, and he may be right.

I don't know whether I told you, he said that his latest indications in rough data are that the attitude is improving on the economy slightly.

Slightly, yeah.

And he believes that, of course, it's just about six months, and he believes that we may start seeing a little light brightening up.

We're also going to...

do some work with lou to get some regional attitudes on the economy because through the south the economy is in great shape and it's really isolated instances where it's a real problem and i think that's right it's michigan california and it might be well for us politically to identify that conley put his finger mr president on a very sensitive nervosity on this trade question you know the toughening up of the trade posture is one that

Unions relate to, the man on the street relates to.

It's a hell of a good issue related to the security of employment.

Everybody worries about that.

One thing, incidentally, on a sort of related note, we'll see what CBS does with that casualty figure today.

Well, we've talked to...

It came out today, so it's up for grabs tonight.

It should be on tonight.

We've talked to the three networks Scali has.

Hankin did a special briefing over at Defense Senate, and they should give us a good play on that, I'll be... Yeah.

Well, anyway...

It's just, you know, it's only one week, but nevertheless, they do so many negative things that, and we've, they've had a hell of a time finding negative, and I thought the best thing that has happened, the most amusing thing,

was that real spoof of Buckley's.

Goddamn.

Wasn't that marvelous?

You know, and then they're all squealing about it, but by golly, they deserve it.

And he stuck it to him.

Stuck it way up and twisted it.

He put it to him where it really hurts, Mr. President.

You didn't, I know you don't watch television, but Crockett just had the longest goddamn face when he had to report that last night.

Because he'd gone all out the other way, hadn't he?

Oh, sure.

Terrible thing.

I don't think it's really sunk in yet on people

fully what the real twist that there was to that.

Well, of course, what happened is the networks were all seizing upon it that we had a plan to nuclearize Vietnam, and they all used it as if it were gospel truth as a secret document and all that sort of thing.

And then he just says it was a spoof.

It was brilliantly done.

No one of the reputed authors disavowed it.

Because what Buckley did was to go back and get their printed statements around that time and piece them together so that when the New York Times said something this morning, when each one of the people were queried about it, they couldn't really be sure whether they had or hadn't said it.

Well, it's really a delight, and it puts it right to those network people there.

That's the way to do it.

Oh, it sure as hell does.

It takes a mind like Buckley's to... Well, that's what we need more, to spoof these people.

They take themselves so seriously, and so forth.

The networks have done well on the China thing, have they not, would you say?

Oh, extremely well.

One of the positive things, at least.

Well, every night they've had it.

It's been the dominant story, and that's now almost one week.

It'll be one week tonight.

CBS, one of the reasons I think they've gotten the word through their organization is that they've had it longer coverage and better coverage.

They've had it their lead.

all but one night, I think, of the last week.

And Vietnam has been going down, too, as a result.

Oh, God, yes.

The economy stills up.

That's going to be a problem.

Let's have to face that.

Well, one thing, though, Mr. President, I haven't really gone back and analyzed this, although I should do it.

The stories were negative for a while, but they...

They've largely been mixed.

I did watch very closely what they did with the Gross National Product last Friday, and thanks to Passer, who did a superb job over at Commerce, just superb.

That story came through pretty well.

It was good, the positive parts of it, the personal consumption figures and the...

Retail sales part in the durable goods.

They've played well.

So at least at least it's getting to be a mixed story more than it is Well, we'll just many of the facts we'll keep getting them out.

Well, I think the I firmly believe that the China Initiative and the leadership change the mood changes the mood and and it'll make other things like the economy

It'll help them.

It's bound to give them a lift.

Yep.

It'll have a rub off.

It has a rub off.

It has a rub off on everything.

Okay.

Fine, sir.

Nixon phone call with Colson on CBS and Media relations

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on July 22, 1971

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