Nixon phone call with Colson on Labor Department and Media Relations

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Yeah?

Yeah.

Mr. Coulson.

Good morning.

Good morning, Mr. President.

Hi.

How's the Democratic committee?

Well, I haven't gotten a report on what's happened over there this morning.

I'll get that.

Are they voting today?

Yes, sir.

And as a matter of fact, they were supposed to have something by noon as to the situation.

Well, I'll check that and call you back.

I'm sure I can get a reading right away.

Do you think if they get Strauss, that'll rehabilitate him?

Well, it'll help them, but I don't think they're going to get Strauss.

Oh, really?

You still don't think so?

I don't think so, sir, because there's just too much... Well, what you do is you drive the McGovernites right out if they get Strauss.

Are they claiming they'll get out?

Yes, sir.

I think Strauss would normally be the most effective guy they could get, but I think in view of the...

The purge of the McGovernites, that it would probably blow up at them if they... We're going to win either way, because they can't heal it.

If they end up with Mitchell, that's their best solution, because he's a guy that can...

I don't care how smart he is or anything, he's still not going to...

He's from Maine.

He's from Maine, he's smart, but he's not a stress kind of a guy, who really is a powerful, strong, brilliant individual.

Yeah.

He isn't going to be able to pull the Southerners back in, though, is he?

No, no, Mitchell.

Oh, Mitchell, hell no.

The South that I'm concerned about.

We've got to handle labor, and I suppose Meany will go for a Mitchell.

Yes, he will, but I don't believe Meany is going to get in an awful lot of reports.

I don't think he's going to break it off on us that hard, right?

No, he sure isn't.

God, he's doing anything but.

He's doing every... Pete has hired one of his assistants...

And Meany was thrilled with it.

Good.

And they've been talking this week.

Great relationship.

The more important thing is the relationship that PETA is getting, however, around the country from people.

It's great.

Schultz, of course, is keeping very close to Meany, which is good.

That's one of Schultz's great services, right?

I must say, to Schultz's great credit, he called me yesterday and he said...

Chuck, he said, I wasn't sure about Brennan.

He said, I was afraid he wouldn't be able to do it.

But he said, the more I've dealt with him, watched him operate, and gotten reactions, he said he's going to be a hell of a good secretary of labor.

He said, you've got a great man.

Great.

That's nice of George, because he was worried about Brennan.

Great.

And Brennan has gotten the damnedest press reaction, Mr. President, the damnedest fan mail.

Is that right?

Oh, it's incredible.

He brought in some of them to me that voted for people saying, well, we weren't really sure.

We voted for Nixon.

We weren't really sure.

But now we are.

He does believe in the working man.

You know, I think this has really had a... You mean the idea, they finally think that the appointment of a working man makes them think we're for the working man.

That's precisely it.

They talk about all the tokenism.

We appoint blacks and they don't think you're for blacks.

No, exactly.

And Mexicans, they don't think you're for Mexicans, but a working man, by golly, that is really something.

Well, this kind of locked it up.

You know, Pete said he ran into a guy down at...

Florida at the space shot.

He said the young fellow came in.

He went to the space shot?

Yes, sir.

Great.

We're doing a lot of this right now.

I hope he went on our plane.

Oh, yes.

We gave him the treatment.

Did he like it?

Yes, sir.

Good.

Oh, he's very happy.

And we've brought him in.

I mean, he's now part of it.

of the club and he feels at home with us he feels at home with you and he feels at home with me and he feels at home with of course don rogers here and that's right so we're not going to have the dirkin kind of problem with it he said he went to the space shot and the young fella came over to me he said i voted for nixon i wasn't really sure he said but he said now i'm and he said i'm a democrat but now i'm switching my registration he said when a man like you can be made secretary of labor that's the party i want to be in just a little evidence but right but it's

He really feels you.

So I don't think, I really don't care who the hell they put in as the party chairman.

The fundamental dichotomy or the fundamental cleavage within the Democratic Party is such that with what you're doing to build the new majority and what I hope to help you doing, I think we're going to keep them split and I'm awful bullish about what we can do in this country in terms of

basic philosophies or the basic origins of the people.

They may not ever become Republicans, but they're Nixons.

Some way to perpetuate that, I don't know.

Great stuff.

I just got a terribly tragic bit of news, that plane crash.

Howard Hunt's wife was on it.

His wife is dead?

Yes, sir.

She was killed in that plane crash in Chicago.

Oh, my God.

And it's a tragedy.

I don't know whether the man can survive it with all he's gone through.

She was an extraordinary woman, just extraordinary.

I think any judge who has any compassion will call that trial off.

Any judge would have... You mean call her out permanently?

Not permanently.

Well, maybe separate him out or delay the trial or something because she was a terror of strength to him.

I mean, she was a rare, gifted woman, multilingualist, brilliant, a lot of charm.

But it sure is that...

They have children?

Four children, beautiful children.

So it's a tragedy.

Devout Catholics, and that's probably...

He's a Catholic.

saves him from committing suicide.

Is he a Catholic?

Yes, sir.

But it's life, I guess.

I have a shocker.

The numbers that may, I don't know what impact that will have on the case.

I'm sure it will delay it.

I just can't conceive of them taking that to trial next week.

The numbers continue to hold up and

Yeah, what's your latest?

Well, it's the same.

The percentage is absolutely unchanged.

In other words, 61.05 for one?

No, 61.056.

It rounded out to 61.06, but that's ahead of Johnson.

And his is 61.05.

Right, 61.050.

So it's interesting as the additional numbers come in now, and all states are certified now except five.

Yeah.

And the numbers probably aren't going to now change very much, if at all.

You're over 47 million, 47 million.

You did go over 47 million.

Yes, sir.

47 million, 24,530.

I think I'm within, well, I think by...

Remember, you always said to go to 47.

Yes, sir.

That's good.

None of this is getting in the press yet, but I suppose that there will be a final wrap-up story someday.

How do we get that done?

Oh, hell, I think the new national chairman at the right time calls a press conference and says, gentlemen, it's a very historic thing.

This is the largest percentage majority for any president in history.

And just peel off all the statistics and give a complete state-by-state tabulation.

It'll make press.

But we're now really over 47.

You're pretty sure of that?

Yes, sir.

These are figures we get.

We've got to rely on the Secretary of State's office or the Registrar's office in different states.

It varies, but my people have stayed very close to it.

I think they're doing a good job of tracking it.

That's good.

I think if it's holding at that 41.056, it isn't going to change much from that, is it?

No, I don't think so.

Because even those are minimal percentages, that's damn hard to change that down to below, what, 41.05, don't you think?

Yes, it would be hard.

And the point is that every time we've checked...

But all the states that are out, is it the ones you mentioned the other day, are going to help us.

Arkansas will help us.

New Jersey will help us.

Well, actually, those are in now, but Missouri still isn't in.

What is it?

Missouri is still not completely in.

That'll help us.

That's going to help us.

Massachusetts is in, but not certified.

So that doesn't matter.

That won't change.

Yeah.

New York is in, but not certified.

Yeah.

Oh, no, not completely in.

Maybe some more there.

Well, that could hurt.

Rhode Island is in, but, oh, no, New York is holding at 60-40, but, you know, we need a little more in there.

Well, this could be upstate, though, huh?

It could well be.

It could be absentee.

Anyway, the more votes that have been coming in, the bigger the spread has been.

Therefore, I have to conclude there's not going to be anything that will change that.

I think we're going to, I'm sure we're going to be over it.

Because we've got to go to 41-0 point.

Yeah, it sure will.

Or six or something like that.

Well, I'm going to enjoy it when it happens because Haldeman tells me I'm playing this like a pole that you could influence.

And I just want to prove that with positive thinking you can do that.

But I think the numbers are there.

The unemployment... That story has got a surprisingly good play.

Did the networks play it, too?

Oh, yeah, they played it.

But, my God, I mean, I was amazed to see The Times and Post play that damn story.

Those characters would never have done it before the election.

The Times led with it.

Yeah.

Yeah, it was great.

But even The Post had a good story.

Yep.

Yeah, they did.

The Times led with it, but...

Boy, it proves one thing, though, that those bureaucrats really did a job on us over there.

Well, they waited till after the election, Chuck.

Of course.

You know damn well that this was not a month when the seasonal adjustment would have helped us.

I'll give you a fascinating statistic, Mr. President.

In 1970, between October and November, the unemployment rate rose four-tenths of one percent.

In 1971, between October and November, it rose two-tenths of one percent.

This year, it dropped 0.3%.

The reason in the prior years that it rose so significantly is that we get one of the worst seasonal adjustment bounces in this month.

And yet, in the face of that, it went down three-tenths.

Now, they, God damn it, had to jimmy those figures the month before they had to.

Sure.

No other way.

I've looked at the numbers, the raw numbers.

Now, they're trying to have to get well.

Oh, yes.

But I went through this with Brennan.

Brennan realizes, you know, because, you know, Meany tries to play sometimes a line where the unemployment, they're more unemployed than it really shows.

Now, we must start playing that line.

No, sir.

Oh, Brennan.

just Christ Brendan doesn't think there's any unemployed.

He said, I can't hire people when I need them.

And I showed him, I went through this chart with him that I just read to you from, and he said, oh my God,

dirty bastards they're like the carbys yeah so he'll clean them out i'm not yeah yeah we give pete a couple of good tough guys around him and he'll uh find a good guy for that job well clean out because he's got to really control what damn bureaucracy on his don't know more more i don't want any other job for more though no i just don't kick him upstairs out out yeah he'll go back to teaching that's where he belongs

But, no, we've got a man at Treasury who's damn good, Fiedler.

And he's the one I wanted to get in there before.

I've talked to Schultz about it.

Schultz will let him go.

And I think we just have to tell him he has to take the job, period.

And then get somebody in the second job.

Yep.

I wish we could get Simlinger because, God, he knows how they have cheated and stolen.

That's right.

But it sure proved it.

If there was ever any doubt about it,

Well, at least it's good news, though, to have.

Oh, it's great news.

We didn't need it before the election, and frankly, I kind of like it now because it's feeding the mood in this country right now, which is...

The pre-Christmas mood is being fed, Richard.

It really is.

You know, those retail sales are falling, and it really is.

And I just think it's...

The country's getting its confidence back.

Yes, it is.

That is what you have done with this country.

You've given it a resurgence of self-confidence that it just...

so badly needed.

God, it needed it.

Well, let's see, the whole McGovernites and the media were out of tune, but we haven't talked about the biggest news.

What do you think about life?

Isn't that marvelous?

Really?

I just... And you, Zidey, now, what the hell is he going to write for?

Well, he'll write for Time, but he'll... Yeah, he'll write a column, I mean, Time will have a column watching the president, right?

Well, they'll get a bigger audience, I guess, in time.

I don't know that they will do that, Mr. President, because that...

It doesn't fit their format.

Well, I hope not.

I hope they don't.

That really is my daughter, Julie, who's very intelligent, perceptive.

She says he's a vicious person.

She said people don't realize it.

He writes down and puts in something, but he always has very sharp, ugly things in his columns.

Oh.

She is totally right.

He's a vulture.

You know, if you watch him on television, I usually watch that.

Yeah, yeah.

The Magronsky.

Yeah, only because I want to know what the best is.

That's right.

I hate the show, but...

But you watch him, and he's always got this pompous, arrogant, self-righteous look down his nose attitude.

He's just a snide son of a bitch.

Well, that show goes out of business somewhere here.

Yeah, it's useful to us because it tells us what the establishment's up to, doesn't it?

Yeah, the old establishment.

You know, we've got them awful, awful shook.

Are they getting shaken, really?

Well, you know that story on the Teamsters yesterday, which of course is terrible.

The Teamsters about hiring you, I saw something about that.

Edward Bennett Williams put that out.

out and uh why did he put it out did he lose him he lost him yes they were great yeah well he but he put it out in a nasty way and uh well the fact that i was had something to do with fitzsimmons trying to pressure williams and handling the watergate case well of course that's absolutely totally funny is that in the story yes sir

I'll be damned.

Well, the Post story, the Times did it.

The Times, I must say, played it rather straight.

The Times is what I thought.

But the Post, well, for God's sakes, I mean, Fitzsimmons doesn't even know about the Watergate case.

Well, the point is that Fitzsimmons, Edward Bennett Williams was general counsel of the team.

What they're trying to say is that he put pressure on Williams to back off of the Watergate case.

Williams wouldn't do it.

Therefore, Williams is firing him, and Fitzsimmons is firing me.

Well, that's the cheapest kind of a shot, but that's...

That's right.

That's what we're up against.

It'll still worry Edward Bennett Williams.

Oh, it's got a panic.

And that Cutler, I think the word's starting to get around town, isn't it, that those guys, the doors are locked on them and Clark Clifford?

Yeah, and what we're going to see is they're going to start fighting back this way.

They're going to use the post because that's their instrument.

That's right.

And they'll throw some mud, but I'm a big

and that beep the best because i told you i want you to have a good talk with charlie walker yes sir i called him and uh we're going to get together and uh just be you know charlie he's a wheeler dealer and say charlie let's talk cold turkey and you're going to do this and that and you can help him because basically you see he is a hell of a pr type and he can do pr stuff

And you can do, you know what I mean?

Oh, we can do it.

You may not want to, I don't know what you're going to do about your PR firm, whether you're going to set one up or not.

Well, we have one that we've used that's been pretty damn good.

Fine.

Well, maybe you can.

I'm going to talk to him.

Maybe you can.

See, Charlie's looking for young men.

Maybe you can fold in the two together.

What I mean is, let's don't have our firms fighting each other.

Let's have them working together.

Exactly.

Well, that's, see, that's precisely what I talked to Charlie about.

He's very.

How do you, what did he say?

Very receptive, anxious to talk to me.

And also tell him.

I want Charlie to know that, and I didn't say this and didn't want to say it in front of Schultz, but tell him, now, look, Charlie, there are some lawyers around town that you can say that John Connolly and a few of the rest of us have found.

Cutler's one, this is another, and so forth.

They ain't going to get in.

And we just think that in your representation of your client,

You should not be under any illusions about the fact that this is the way it's going to work.

Don't let it make it appear that they all have to come to you.

You say that there are several other Republican law firms and so forth, and we're not going to do that.

But you see, I don't want Charlie Walker to get in bed with Edward Bennett Williams.

I don't want him to get in bed with Lloyd Cutler.

See my point?

He understands that.

Do you think he does?

Yes, sir.

He's the kind of guy that understands that.

I don't want him coming to me either because I want to be rather selective.

I want to lead myself.

my time free to do it i try other things than practicing law i just say that we want him but that the president might be going to say the president says that he wants to be sure that that we want to help charlie walker all we can i mean we want to be helpful and and sort of

so we all want to work together, and so let's be sure to have our little kitchen cabinet outside.

Charlie and I talked about this down at the Republican Convention, actually.

Did you really?

He thinks this way, and I don't think we have any problems there.

There are a few others in town that we'll start to, we'll have our own little meetings, and we'll figure out ways to drive these.

Well, you'll have a little meeting, you know, and then, you see, I can meet with a group of this from time to time, you know, like, let's, I really mean, we'll have a kitchen cabinet.

We'll have the damnedest thing going here,

I mean, I really am out to see to it that this old establishment, the Clark Cliffords and the Lloyd Cutlers and the Edward Bennett Williams, that they are on the outside looking in for a change.

Well, they have been so vicious with us when I think about it.

When I think of Williams, I'm delighted to stick it to him.

I'm sorry that he...

That's the way he plays the game.

But when I think of the things that the Patriots have been doing to us for four years and getting paid by our friends to sit there and do it, it just is outrageous.

But we'll change it.

We'll change it to spades.

CBS is the funny one, Mr. President.

Yeah, I understand.

Julie told me that there was some sort of a study that had come out, a nephron-type study, that clearly demonstrated that CBS was the worst, NBC much better than CBS and ABC the best.

Is that true?

Yes, sir.

What study was that, accuracy in media?

Yes, sir.

They put out one that was the product of Shares.

But it did show that.

But there's another one that was put out by MIT by a couple of people who are against Edwin Diamond.

And he found the same thing.

But CBS was the most negative.

There's one at Syracuse that did the same thing.

And now, of course, AI, whose name we will soon change, but AI is doing an exhaustive one.

And it's thus far showing it even worse than that.

As far as CBS is concerned, just incredible.

Is CBS, what are they doing?

They're sucking around everywhere.

They're trying to find out.

Don't let him back.

Hell no.

But their bureau chief down here, Bill Small, has been asking everybody in the White House that he can talk to, what is Colson up to?

What's he really going to be doing on the outside?

They're just scared to death that I'm going to go out there to bring lawsuits against him.

And I am.

I talked to your friend in Miami that...

the DB's friend that we had discussed at dinner that night.

I can't think of his name now.

Democrat, who was their finance chairman.

Sounded like a fine gentleman on the telephone.

He's going to come up and see me.

We'll also get Crutchfield.

Yes, oh hell, we'll get him very much involved.

But the funny thing, they took Buchanan to lunch, and Buchanan said he barely could make it through the lunch.

He was laughing so hard because

Because they were so nervous during the launch, and they kept wanting to know, really, is the administration really unhappy with them?

How'd Buchanan handle it?

Buchanan said, well, I just told them they broke it off.

And it was their business, not ours.

We didn't have any hard feelings, but they broke it off.

He told them that?

Oh, yeah.

He said, you fellows just broke it off.

and he's the one who's really been anti-media now he's leaving and of course pat said well he's going to be very much involved in things and that apparently that caused small to drop his yeah drop his lunch but that's right that's the way really we want to keep these guys julie was also saying i don't know whether i didn't see it because i haven't been reading a summary that she said she thought it was novak had written a piece to the effect of the

that the media bias, that they had a real problem on losing credibility because so many of them were reporting and the government was gaining in the last month or so forth.

Did he ever?

Oh, I know that kid, a piece on that.

He's been pretty good.

Why did he write that, I wonder?

Well, you know, he kind of believes that.

What was the theme?

He just picked up the fact that they were, of course, as you know, they were writing that stuff.

I mean, I would say, what the hell is this?

Remember those precincts they'd pick out and they'd write and the rest?

Yes, sir.

Braden Novak reported it.

Novak had a column on it.

I can't remember the precise name, but the point was that they had... Let me say, that job is not yet done.

I want that done exhaustively and followed up, and... Well, I've sent... We really destroy their credibility.

I've sent the latest draft of Buchanan's piece to Jim Keough as the guy to author it, and Jim is reviewing it this weekend.

I hope he is.

He said he would be.

That's one we want to... Kevin Phillips has written some brilliant stuff.

He wrote

column based on the speech I gave up in New England and said that the CBS Washington Post access has to be destroyed because it's destroying the credibility of the media.

And then he gives all the instances that I had decided.

He's really great.

He doesn't have a hell of a lot of circulation, but he... That's all right.

Oh, he's right.

Yeah, the more of it you get, the better.

You know, the thing that was really most fascinating to me, Mr. President, in the aftermath of the election was the study that's being done up in Syracuse by two

liberal political scientists, McClure and Patterson, on what really influenced voters during the campaign.

I mentioned this to you when we were having dinner that night, but the Watergate episode had very little impact and went on.

The Vietnam Peace Initiative shifted votes to McGovern because they suspected political contrivance.

But then it says the single most important impact on voters were the

and that when they did post-election interviewing and asked people what they remembered from the campaign, most of the voters who could recall anything from television recalled those commercials and went on to say that those commercials had solidified their decision to vote for you and against McGovern.

And it's interesting in hindsight because remember when we had a big talk about with McGregor to get the negative ads, more negative ads.

We had to work so hard.

I remember we poured them into California and Michigan.

Yes, sir.

That's right.

And look what the impact was.

Unfortunately, we didn't put them in Massachusetts.

I was just about to say if we put a few more of those in Massachusetts, I think we'd have worked.

We didn't put them in deadly, though.

We just didn't think it was worth it.

No, we put in.

in Massachusetts.

We thought it was a mistake.

Well, I think Harvey had a fight to get there.

This is the first scientific analysis.

Let me say, though, you've got to give a lot of credit to Haldeman and his crowd for getting those, for preparing those ads.

Damn right.

I think they were the best political ads ever prepared.

That's right.

I think they were, and that was Bob.

Bob really wrote those.

He rammed them through.

He did, because they ran against each other.

This is something that basically none of our people like to

McGregor's, the Dole's, and the rest, that there wasn't much stomach for that sort of stuff.

That's right.

Exactly.

Very interesting.

Yeah, it is.

And it's kind of nice in hindsight to know that we were on target on that one, because I think Harleman and myself and, of course, you were the only people that really, I mean, everybody was the other way on that.

So I'm circulating this study so that for the next campaign, people will remember that, God damn it, you have to attack.

When you attack, you

That's right.

Just damn simple.

I talked, as you asked me to, Mr. President, I talked to Webster and told him that you meant everything.

He said, well, God, he said, everything the president was saying is what I've been wanting to do for years.

And he said, maybe I didn't come out strong with him, but he said, I tell you, I will devote every waking moment to that job.

He said, I know what has to be done over there.

I know the bastards that have to be cleaned up.

And he said, my idea of fairness is, he said, for eight years they screwed us from there, so we ought to have some time to screw them.

He understands it.

He really knows, doesn't he?

Oh, yes, yes.

He's written you a little letter, which I just said, you know, he understands it totally, and we'll just ram it home.

He's an East Tennessee...

I know the type.

Hard rock Republican.

He went to some little state school in Maryville.

I know.

A little fine.

He's a guy who he clawed his way up the hard way.

He's going to use this That'll be a signal around this town, too.

Oh, that'll tell people a lot of things.

I think Bork's a good signal, too.

Bork is marvelous.

God, on that picture on television last night, I just loved it.

You mean the beard?

The beard.

But he looks a little mean, too.

Yeah.

And also, did they have the picture of the pretty Negro woman?

No.

You know, we made her the deputy.

Right.

No, I didn't see that.

She's very attractive.

But Bork, you know, is a real signal because all the networks said Bork who drafted the administration's anti-busing position.

You know, well, I got that.

That tells them something.

That's a signal.

Every signal you're putting out, Mr. President, with the appointments thus far are just superb.

I have been spending the morning in here with Malik trying to get more information.

Poles and Italians, though.

We're trying to.

I know, I know.

Well, we're going to get them at all other levels.

That's right.

That's what I mean.

That'll get around.

Now, incidentally, the Volpe thing helps that way, though.

Yes, it does.

The Scali thing.

I'm telling her, I'm having to ramrod that with Rogers today.

But I think the Scali thing will be superb in that, don't you?

Well,

It'll be like the Brennan appointment, Mr. President.

It is not expected, and therefore it will get twice the play.

That's right.

And with Skelly and the president.

And then we'll get out the word about the second-level things.

Yep.

Like I told them, because I've been—Malik is doing this in my direction.

I said, where are the hell are these Italians?

And they said today they found six more.

And I said, okay, let's get them.

Well, some of our people, you know, unfortunately— They have a bias.

They have a bias.

You take a guy like this fellow, Stella, who's a businessman, self-made, very successful.

A lot of people say, well, you know, he didn't go to Harvard.

God damn, he's built a business from scratch, and let's get him in.

I've given Malik some of these.

That's right.

He understands.

The Brenninger thing, I would have done over it, I know, but they had an error in his bio.

They had him as a Catholic.

Damn it, I raised hell about that today.

He's all right.

He's going to be a very good man.

He looks like a strong man.

He's a strong man and so forth.

And we can't go, and if we get Scali, then we've got three Catholics, which is not bad.

But on the other hand, Brenninger was a perfect spot to put Natalia in.

We have four Catholics.

And Brennan.

And Brennan, yeah.

Oh, three Catholics.

Three.

See, Ash is good.

That's because he's a very devout Catholic.

Yep.

No, I think that's fine.

We've got to market that a little more.

We'll market the second level ones, too.

Oh, definitely.

Oh, hell yes.

We can...

We've got a couple of those out.

The one thing we want to do about the Poles and Italians, I can't see all these, but when I have the Poles and Italians, by God, they're to come in for pictures.

That's right.

And we'll get those out to their local press.

You're right about the Skelly thing, in the sense that Brennan has gotten more publicity than all other cabinet members combined.

I've been watching the news summary.

It's incredible and great.

Interesting, the

conservatives you know used to be labor was but now that it's it's the hardhat syndrome but scally will do the same thing you see because he's not expected and he's not the typical uh guy typical elitist and he's colorful and the press love him uh they'll play him up big do like him don't they yes yeah they respect him you know and he's not he really hasn't sucked around with him much uh that's right but he's played it straight and uh

That's right.

He was popular, and he's one of them, and that's kind of elevating them in that sense.

So he will get one hell of a ride when that goes.

And really, it isn't so much the numbers.

What about his colleague over there that's always been an actress from CBS?

Brother?

Huh?

Brother?

I don't know the worst one.

Pierpoint?

I don't know the bad one, the economic man.

Christ, they're all bad.

Sure.

Yeah, Daniel, yeah.

What's he up to at the moment?

He's always in, attacking us, even now.

Yeah, he's been making up Watergate stories, and he's been...

He hasn't given...

I've never seen a good report from Daniel.

Sure, I haven't seen one in...

I've never seen one.

Well, anyway... Oh, incidentally, Julie told me that someone at Andrew High School found a way to blame the administration for a life going down a hotel.

What was that?

Postal Raids.

Huh?

Postal Raids.

Well, for Christ's sake, but we didn't do anything with postal rates.

Well, we did, but... What I meant is... We did the way we wrote that bill originally, but put it into the corporation.

Yeah, I see.

The authority of the corporation.

Well, that's just too bad, but that was good news.

Don't you agree?

Oh, I just... You know, it was...

I don't believe in the eye for an eye, but I must say that I...

Thinking back to the photo coverage of your...

Here is a president of the United States who has the greatest terrestrial history in history.

That's right.

Re-elected with the biggest

mandated history.

And damn near by himself.

Right.

Without a party.

Without the media.

Without an establishment.

And we give those bastards an exclusive photo, and they don't use it, they use an uncomplimentary one, and then the photos all through the article are uncomplimentary.

That's right.

You know, when you think back the way they treated Kennedy, it just is an outrage.

It really is.

I mean, they wouldn't

picture of Kennedy, they wouldn't use it.

Or if he'd sneak out with a gal, they'd reprint it.

But I must say that when I turned, I just gave up.

A big, rousing cheer.

And frankly, Mr. President, we have some things going with Tom Whitehead, who's turning out to be a really tower of strength.

He's got some ideas, which I'm going to study over this weekend, that are

really superb.

I mean, they're all within the realm of very, the things that would be justified in the public interest because the economic power of the networks is too great.

And I think if we slowly do some of these over the next couple of years, that we will really change the direction of thinking and living.

Well, the power is too great, and it should be changed.

Yes, it should, on the merits.

And Whitehead is a

former Rand Corporation analyst, believes this intellectually as well as being politically very strongly disposed to it.

And his credentials are impeccable.

So I think I'm going to work very closely with him and just a labor of love to get those bastards put on the defensive a little bit.

We'll maybe see one of them go the way of life, and that would really be a cheer.

They won't do that.

They're too strong.

But on the other hand, just let them suck around.

That's what my view is.

Never let them in.

Boy, I mean, they should be treated coldly, absolutely coldly.

Well, that's what's getting to them.

That's why CBS is asking all these questions.

They know that I won't even return Paley's phone call.

That's right.

He knows goddamn well what to do.

I'm the one guy around here who knows what can be done, and you can be sure of that.

You can be sure of that.

Well, that's a very interesting thing to do at the present time, incidentally, would be for you to have a nice talk with NBC.

If I could sit down.

You got my point?

Yeah.

And just let it get around.

Well, it was kind of interesting with television last night, Howard Smith, when he mentioned the Teamster thing, and he did it in a very complimentary way.

And John Chancellor said that

Charles Coulson, who was the canniest of President Nixon's advisers.

I mean, it was a complimentary thing.

And then CBS just zapped it.

They talked about how the Teamsters had tried to interfere with Bennett Williams' handling of the case, the same line that he gave the Post.

They just are the enemy.

And if our people start letting Dan Rather come waltzing through, it just should be absolutely hard as nails.

And

resist anything.

Yeah, for them to say that.

That's a way out.

Oh, my God.

You have to really stretch to do that.

Oh, God.

Awful.

But they know it now.

That's the thing to do, though.

So it doesn't appear it's just ABC.

I plan to see it.

Yeah, I think that's a very good point about NBC.

And maybe I'll...

talk to chancellor he chancellor just he's malleable you know he uh yeah just say say you're gonna leave and how are things going and whoever whoever they're yeah okay well i would like and some of the people up the line i can talk to that are that are pretty decent below goodman well i want the ones that the ones that that it'll get back to cbs oh that we can manage okay yes sir well all right have a good weekend thank you mr president same to you sir

Thank you.

Nixon phone call with Colson on Labor Department and Media Relations

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Also recorded on December 9, 1972

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Nixon phone call with Colson on Labor Department and Media Relations

AI Summary

Audio

NARA Description

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Transcript (AI-generated)

Also recorded on December 9, 1972

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Cite this conversation