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Conversation: 829-012

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Start Date: 1-Jan-1973 9:40 AM

End Date: 1-Jan-1973 10:40 AM

Participants:

Nixon, Richard M. (President)Colson, Charles W.Bull, Stephen B.

Recording Device: Oval Office

829-012a.mp3

829-012b.mp3

NARA Description:

On January 1, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:40 am to 10:40 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 829-012 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid:

Conversation No. 829-12

Date: January 1, 1973
Time: 9:40 am - 10:40 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Charles W. Colson.

       George H. Allen
            -Visit to the White House
            -Post-game celebration
            -Personal style
                  -“All-American square”
            -Reaction of Washington press
            -Victory over Green Bay Packers
            -Billy Kilmer
                  -Lifestyle
                  -University of California–Los Angeles [UCLA]

       Henry A. Kissinger's telephone call
            -New Years greetings
            -Handling of Kissinger
            -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

       Haig
              -Trip to Saigon
                    -Relation with Kissinger
              -Departure from White House staff
              -Need for praise of Kissinger
                    -Colson’s relationship with Kissinger
              -Public opposition to administration's foreign policy

       Kissinger
             -Log of telephone calls
             -Unnamed staffer
                    -Calls to James B. (“Scotty”) Reston
             -Billing records
             -Max Frankel
                    -Kissinger's relation
                    -Sunday editor of New York Times
                                          -10-

            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                Tape Subject Log
                                 (rev. Sept.-08)

                                                         Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

      -Kissinger's talking with Frankel
            -Breakfast
            -Relations with journalists

Press relations
      -List of friends and enemies
      -Ronald L. Ziegler
      -Rewards and punishments
      -New York Times
      -George P. Shultz
      -Thomas Vail
      -Herbert Stein
      -Cutoff of access
             -National Security Council [NSC]
             -John D. Ehrlichman
      -Washington Post
      -William E. Timmons
             -Washington Post article
             -David S. Broder
                   -Compared to Carrol L. Kirkpatrick
                   -Ambitions
                   -Hostility to the President
                   -Man-of-the-Year article
                         -George C. Wallace
                         -Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
                   -Violation of the President's order
                   -Truman
                   -Compared to Joseph W. Alsop
                   -Gerald L. Warren
             -Washington Star
             -Chicago Sun Times
             -Detroit News
             -Los Angeles Times
                   -Compared to Washington Post

Delegations to ceremonies
     -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
     -List of attendees
            -Need for a broader list
            -Recommendations
                                      -11-

            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                               Tape Subject Log
                                (rev. Sept.-08)

                                                    Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

                  -Colson
                         -Lester Pearson
                         -Labor leaders
                  -Kissinger
                         -[Unintelligible name]
                  -State Department
           -James T. Roosevelt
           -Democrats
     -Criteria for selection
           -Financial contributors
           -Maurice H. Stans
           -Political reporters
           -Editors, publishers
                  -Paul Miller
     -Previous lists
           -George R. Bell
                  -Letters from the President
                  -White House social invitations
     -Updated list
     -Business Council invitees
           -Stans’s list
                  -Sam Johnson
                         -Wisconsin
                  -David Rockefeller
                  -Roger Milliken
           -Active members
     -Peter M. Flanigan
     -Colson’s assignment
           -Shultz
           -Stans’s list
     -Business Council members
           -Contributors
           -Wealth
           -Donald McIntosh Kendall
                  -Recommendations
           -Stans’s list

The President’s supporters
     -List
     -Law firms
                                         -12-

              NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                Tape Subject Log
                                 (rev. Sept.-08)

                                                   Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

        -Flanigan
              -Licensing
                    -Airlines
                    -Cut off
        -Haldeman
        -Enforcing orders
              -Firings
              -Lee White

Invitations to White House
      -The President as the Vice President
      -Democrats
             -The President's supporters
             -George S. McGovern

Stans
        -Relations with Congress
        -Relations with Colson
        -Counsel for Colson’s law firm

Lawyers in Colson's law firm
    -Jews
           -Inclusion of a few
    -Blacks
           -Exclusion
    -Jews
           -Antitrust law
           -Leonard Garment’s classmate
           -Brooklyn Law School
           -Columbia Law School
    -Political cases
           -Clark M. Clifford
    -Republican National Committee [RNC] as a client

“Kitchen Cabinet”
     -Clark MacGregor
     -Bryce N. Harlow
     -Richard M. Scammon
     -“New Establishment”
     -John B. Connally
                                             -13-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. Sept.-08)

                                                                Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

                   -Finances
            -Invitations to join

       Vietnam settlement
            -December 1972 bombings
                  -Impact on the president
            -Kissinger
                  -Publicity
            -US credibility in world
            -Nonpolitical approach
            -Antiwar opposition
            -McGovern supporters
            -South Vietnamese reactions
            -Impact on North Vietnamese
                  -December 1972 bombings
                  -National Broadcasting Corporation [NBC]
                        -Film from Hanoi
                        -Effect of bombing
                        -Propaganda
                        -Civilian coffins
                        -Congress

Stephen B. Bull [?] entered at an unknown time after 9:40 am.

       Instructions
             -Photograph

Bull [?] left at an unknown time before 10:40 am.

       Press opposition to December 1972 bombing
             -New York Times
             -Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]
             -NBC
             -North Vietnamese reaction
                   -Surprise at capitulation
                   -Doves
                         -Congress
             -Domestic pressure
             -Effectiveness of bombing
                                                -14-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. Sept.-08)

                                                         Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

       The President’s World War II service
            -Guam
            -Bombs

Bull entered at an unknown time after 9:40 am.

       Request for pens for visiting group

Bull left at an unknown time before 10:40 am.

       The President's political enemies
            -Haldeman
            -1972 election
            -Establishment
            -Strategy toward the President
                  -Administration's response

       Press relations
             -Broder
                    -Benjamin C. Bradlee
                    -Robert B. Semple, Jr.
                    -Ambitions
                    -Career
                         -Washington Star
                         -New York Herald Tribune
                         -New York Times
                         -Washington Post
             -Bradlee
             -Colson's plans
                    -Washington Post
                    -Richard Scaife
                         -Lifestyle
                         -Publishing

       Miami television [TV] station
           -Federal Communications Commission [FCC] licensing procedures
           -Paul McCray
           -Harassment
           -Washington Post management
                  -Hiring policy
                                             -15-

                 NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                      (rev. Sept.-08)

                                                         Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

           -Basis for challenge to license

     Washington Post
          -Stockholder’s litigation
                -Katharine L. Graham

     Edward Bennett Williams
         -George M. Webster
         -File at Internal Revenue Service [IRS]
                -IRS audit
                -Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]
                      -Democrats
                      -1964 presidential campaign
                            -Barry M. Goldwater
                      -1960 presidential campaign
                      -Thoroughness
                      -Family
                      -Arrest record
                            -Farm incident


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

      Colson’s role
           -Haldeman
           -George H. W. Bush
                  -Loyalty
           -William E. Brock, III
           -Clarence J. (“Bud”) Brown, Jr.

      1974 election
           -Compared to 1934 election
           -Economy

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


      Vietnam War
                                       -16-

            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                Tape Subject Log
                                 (rev. Sept.-08)

                                                          Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

      -Impact on public opinion
            -Compared to economy
            -Albert E. Sindlinger
      -Antiwar marcher
            -Dean Francis B. Sayre
            -Social background
      -Racial attitudes of American public
            -Asians

Convention of economists
     -Hendrick S. Houthakker
            -The President’s Vietnam policy
                   -Support
                         -The President’s appreciation
     -Economic outlook
     -Political attitudes
     -Social background

Academic community
     -Professors
           -Poll
           -Support for the President
           -Poll at Princeton University
                 -Colson's son
                 -McGovern
     -T. Hardin Jones
           -White House intern
           -Publication of poll
                 -Professors’ protest
                 -Pentagon Papers
     -Students of Ivy League schools
           -Influence of faculty on students’ attitudes
           -Colson's visit to Princeton University
           -Support for the President among students
     -Princeton University
           -Compared to Harvard University
     -Colson in college
           -Professor's influence
           -Joseph P. McCarthy
                                      -17-

            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                               Tape Subject Log
                                (rev. Sept.-08)

                                                   Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

Second term objectives
     -Left-wing opposition
     -Wallace
           -“Man-of-the-Year”
           -Press coverage after shooting
           -1968 election

Press relations
      -Mary McGrory article
             -1972 election
                   -Effect on the President
      -Broder
             -Wallace
      -Landslide election
      -Campaign tactics of the opposition
             -Patrick J. Buchanan
                   -Article
      -Ronald L. Ziegler
      -Opposition to the President
      -Avoidance of press after election
             -Press conference
             -The President’s schedule
             -Harry S. Truman’s memorial service
             -National opinion

Second term reorganization
     -Change
     -Personnel
     -Frederic V. Malek
     -Importance of lower level positions
           -Political views
           -Director of Census Bureau
                  -Importance
                  -Donald B. Moore [?]
                  -Scammon
                        -Lyndon B. Johnson
                             -Politician
                        -Scholars
                             -Kevin P. Phillips
                  -Robert Teeter
                                            -18-

                 NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                    Tape Subject Log
                                     (rev. Sept.-08)

                                                            Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

                           -John N. Mitchell
                           -Haldeman
                           -Politics
                           -Social background
                                  -Grosse Point, Michigan
                           -Busing
                           -Marijuana
                                  -Raymond K. Price, Jr.
                           -Capital punishment
                                  -California
                           -Environment
                           -Compared to Edwin L. Harper
                                  -Religion
                                        -Catholics
                                        -Christian Scientists
                                              -Ehrlichman
           -Background of appointees
                -Religion
                -Buchanan's advice


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

      1972 election
           -Colson’s meetings
           -Detroit News advertisement
                  -Busing
                  -Harper
                        -Opposition
                  -Martin S. Hayden
                  -Black vote
                  -Ethnics
                  -Impact
                  -Robert A. Griffin
           -Impact on Congressional races
           -North Carolina
                  -Jesse A. Helms
           -Virginia
                  -William L. Scott
                                       -19-

            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                               Tape Subject Log
                                (rev. Sept.-08)

                                                      Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

           -Harry F. Byrd, Jr.
     -Margaret C. Smith
     -John H. Chafee
           -Secretary of Defense
     -Jack R. Miller
     -Gordon L. Allott
     -J. Caleb Boggs
           -Delaware
                 -Problems of press coverage
                       -The President’s campaigning
                             -1952 election
                             -1956 election
     -Kentucky
           -Louie B. Nunn
                 -The President’s campaigning

1974 election
     -Candidates
     -Senate
     -House
            -Age
     -Senate
            -Age
     -Age of candidates
            -Leadership positions

Congressional leadership
     -Age
           -Robert C. (“Bob”) Wilson
           -William B. Widnall
                 -New Jersey
           -Norris Cotton
           -Leslie Arends
           -Lifestyle
    -Arends
           -Political future
    -George D. Aiken
           -Political future

Congressional candidates
                                                -20-

                  NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                     Tape Subject Log
                                      (rev. Sept.-08)

                                                        Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

            -Young liberals
            -Donald H. Rumsfeld
            -Robert H. Finch
                  -Liberal leanings
                  -Political appeal
            -Finch
                  -Organization
            -Rumsfeld
                  -Anti-Establishment

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


      Press relations
            -Broder
            -Man-of-the-Year
                   -Time
                   -Selection
                         -Reasons
                         -Kissinger
            -Letters supporting the President
                   -New York Times
            -Past coverage of the President
            -Columnists
                   -Election predictions
            -Edmund S. Muskie
            -Polls
                   -Louis P. Harris
            -Vietnam War
                   -Bombing

      Truman memorial
          -Bull
                -Qualities
          -Dean Sayre
          -Avoidance
                -Excuses
                -Trip to California
                -Trip to Independence
                                                -21-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                       Tape Subject Log
                                        (rev. Sept.-08)

                                                          Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

                   -Kissinger’s trip to Paris
                   -Camp David

       McGrory article
           -The President's behavior during Vietnam bombing
                 -Dancing with Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
           -The President's not talking to public
           -Feelings toward the President

Bull entered at an unknown time after 9:40 am.

       George H. Allen and family
            -Photographs in Rose Garden
                  -Warren
            -Henrietta (“Etty”) Allen
            -Sons
            -Jennifer Allen
            -Mr. and Mrs. Felix Lumbroso
                  -Tunisia
            -Tour of White House
                  -Christmas decorations
                  -Previous tour

       Roberto W. Clemente
            -Airplane crash
            -Puerto Rico
            -Managua, Nicaragua
            -Death

       Photographs
            -Signing
            -Arrangements

Bull and Colson left at 10:40 am.
                                             -22-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                      Tape Subject Log
                                       (rev. Sept.-08)