Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 344 › Conversation 344-009

Nixon & Colson on Public relations and Media management

Tuesday, June 20, 1972 · 8:04 PM–8:22 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 7 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation344-009 on Tape 344 (tape position 00:49:50–00:57:02)StartTuesday, June 20, 1972 at 8:04 PMEndTuesday, June 20, 1972 at 8:22 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 344-009 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson discuss strategies for managing media coverage and public perception regarding ongoing administration pressures. The conversation touches on the difficulties of coordinating effective messaging, with Nixon expressing a sense of defensive frustration while encouraging Colson to aggressively counter opposing narratives. The exchange highlights the intense, often erratic atmosphere within the White House as they navigate public and political challenges.

Audio

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Position in tape: 00:49:50 – 00:57:02

part A, 49:48

344a.mp3
344b.mp3
344c.mp3

NARA Description

On June 20, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:04 pm to 8:22 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 344-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 344-9

Date: June 20, 1972
Time: 8:04-8:22 pm
Location: Old Executive Office Building

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

[See Conversation No. 25-93;one item has been withdrawn.]

                                                                           Conversation 344-34

Date: June 20, 1972
Time: Unknown between 8:22 and 8:42 pm
Location: Old Executive Office Building

The President spoke with an unknown person [Alexander M. Haig, Jr. ?].

          [See Conversation No. 25-93]

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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So, yeah, we survived the day.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, well.
Yeah, if you're a person like me, press on it.
I just remember every other day.
I remember it slightly, but I remember it.
I'm trying to add stuff.
They, you know, all the people working to do it, they, you know, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're,
Yeah.
Yeah.
The only way it would work is if the human had reflected on the gold guard and the red cardigan and the relic and said, this is what we want and that's what we're going to do.
And I'm probably not going to be able to do exactly that.
And that's part of playing every damn game here is you've probably got a hell of a lot of scary stuff going on and you probably have to turn it off.
So that's definitely not going to be any good.
I don't know.
It's so goddamn bizarre.
I just...
You know, I've got a lot of time to think about it.
You know, I've got a lot of time to think about it.
You know, I've got a lot of time to think about it.
You know, I've got a lot of time to think about it.
You know, I've got a lot of time to think about it.
They cook.
I've done my very best to do it because it's so hard.
But, you know, there's that thing in there and they say, you should have to do even one paper to get more folks around.
And also, to allow them to quote other papers, other articles around the country.
You know, you have to pay attention to that a whole lot more.
And at least in certain areas, all they can talk about is,
I do think, and I'd like to see it go to the standards that I heard from you.
And then at best, they look at one effort and that's all.
You know what I mean?
None of our people are taking them on as well.
I guess I'm on the defensive instead of this.
But he doesn't get much.
They're trying to make money.
They're trying to make money.
They're trying to make money.
They're trying to make money.
They're trying to make money.
.
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I didn't get a chance to go and read Henry's report.

Also recorded on June 20, 1972

  • 025-090 7:36 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:36 pm and 7:52 pm.
  • 025-091 7:52 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 7:52 pm to 7:59 pm.
  • 344-007 7:52 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 7:52 pm to 7:59 pm.
  • 025-092 7:59 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:59 pm and 8:04 pm.
  • 344-008 7:59 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:59 pm and 8:04 pm.
  • 025-093 8:04 PM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:04 pm to 8:21 pm.
  • 344-010 8:22 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:22 pm and 8:42 pm.
  • 344-034 8:22 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:22 pm and 8:42 pm.

All 56 conversations from June 20, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 344-009, June 20, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/344-009 (accessed November 9, 2026).