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Conversation: 037-162

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Start Date: 19-Mar-1973 8:34 PM

End Date: 19-Mar-1973 8:58 PM

Participants:

Nixon, Richard M. (President)Colson, Charles W.

Recording Device: White House Telephone

037-162.mp3

NARA Description:

On March 19, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:34 pm to 8:58 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 037-162 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid:

Conversation No. 37-162

Date: March 19, 1973
Time: 8:34 pm-8:58 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

       Colson's law firm
              -Office move
              -Construction

       Watergate

              -Colson's conversation with Robert J. Dole
                     -Samuel J. Ervin, Jr.
                            -Supreme Court case
                                    -Congressional aides' testimony
                                    -Immunity issue
              -Ervin
                                      - 118 -

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

                                Tape Subject Log
                                  (rev. Sept-09)
                                                        Conversation No. 37-162 (cont’d)




               -Shrewdness
               -Political value of issue
                       -Forthcoming election
                       -Lifestyle
               -Face the Nation appearance
               -North Carolina politics
                       -1974 Senate race
                               -James E. Holshouser
                                       -Governor
                               -James C. Gardner
                               -Harry S. Dent
               -Administration responsiveness
                       -Ronald L. Ziegler
                       -Washington Post
                       -New York Times
                               -Coverage of President's stand
                                       -Executive privilege
                               -Editorials
                       -National opinion
               -Hearings
                       -Impact
                       -Administration responsiveness
                               -John W. Dean, III
                                       -Lawyer status
                                       -Involvement
                               -White House testimony
                               -Cover-up argument in press

                                     -Cooperation with Federal Bureau of Investigation
[FBI]
                                    -Cooperation with grand jury
                                    -Public record
                            -Political value to President's opposition
        -Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
              -Attacks on President
                               - 119 -

               NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

                         Tape Subject Log
                           (rev. Sept-09)
                                                 Conversation No. 37-162 (cont’d)




              -Dole
              -Double standards
              -Frank E. Fitzsimmons
                       -Middlesex Club Dinner
                               -Boston
                               -1968 election
                       -View of Kennedy family
-Colson's meeting with Howard H. Baker, Jr.
       -Hugh Branson
       -Baker's concerns
              -Reassurances
-Ervin
       -1974 Senate race
              -Opponent
-Helen D. Bentley
       -Charles McC. Mathias, Jr.
              -Maryland
                       -L. Patrick Gray, III hearings
-North Carolina politics
       -1974 Senate race
              -Gardner
              -Dent
       -Gardner
              -Election issues
                       -Ervin's age
                               -B. Everett Jordan

-Ervin
         -Dole
         -Supreme Court on Congressional immunity
               -Michael Gravel
                      -Gravel vs. US
                      -Gravel's administrative assistant
                             -Leonard Rodberg
-Dole
                                       - 120 -

                      NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

                               Tape Subject Log
                                 (rev. Sept-09)
                                                      Conversation No. 37-162 (cont’d)




              -Aid to the White House
              -Prospects for reelection from Kansas
                      -International Brotherhood of Teamsters
       -Image of Cooperation
       -Executive privilege
              -President's popularity
              -Peace
       -Senate hearings
              -Gray's confirmation
                      -Senate Judiciary Committee
                      -“New Majority”
                      -FBI raw files
                      -Relations with Colson
                      -Judgment
                      -Administration cooperation
                              -Media coverage
                              -Ziegler
       -Colson's activities
              -Congressional relations
              -Kennedy
                      -Charges against administration
                      -Motives
                      -Fitzsimmons
                      -Boston


President's letter to Colson
       -Gratitude

National issues
       -Watergate
       -POWs
       -Food prices
       -POWs
               -Boost to Republicans
                                               - 121 -

                           NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. Sept-09)
                                                         Conversation No. 37-162 (cont’d)




                      -Bombing
                            -Henry A. Kissinger
                            -Kennedy
                            -George S. McGovern
             -Crime
                      -Democrats' response


******************************************************************************
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]

      Democratic Party
           -President’s popularity
           -Potential Presidential candidates for 1976
                   -Kennedy
                   -Governors

      John B. Connally
             -Conversion to Republican Party
                   -Taft Schreiber
                           -Amount of support
                   -Fear of Watergate issue
                   -National effect


      Potential candidates for 1976 election
             -Connally
             -Kennedy
             -Nelson A. Rockefeller
                     -Age
                     -Liberalism
                     -Judgment
             -Ronald W. Reagan
                     -Ideology
             -Spiro T. Agnew
                                         - 122 -

                         NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

                                   Tape Subject Log
                                     (rev. Sept-09)
                                                          Conversation No. 37-162 (cont’d)




            -Charles H. Percy
                   -Prospects for Republican nomination
                   -Mood of Republican Party

[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
******************************************************************************


            -Media coverage

      Watergate
            -Media relations
                   -President’s impact on country
                   -George Washington University
                           -General Accounting Office [GAO]
                           -Theodore F. Brill [?]
                           -Ervin
            -Ervin Committee hearings
                   -Compared to International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT] hearings
                           -National response
                   -Bribery and corruption
                           -National attitude
                                  -Welfare

                                   -Busing
                                   -Crime
                          -Spying
                          -Executive privilege
                          -Public’s understanding
            -Congressional aides' immunity
                   -Dole
                   -Colson’s research
            -Baker
            -North Carolina Republicans
                   -Challenge to Ervin
                                               - 123 -

                            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. Sept-09)