Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 1 › Conversation 001-066

Nixon phone call with Colson on Louis Harris and Public opinion polls

Sunday, April 11, 1971 · 9:19 PM–9:21 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation001-066 on Tape 1 (tape position 02:16:22–02:18:35)StartSunday, April 11, 1971 at 9:19 PMEndSunday, April 11, 1971 at 9:21 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 001-066 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson discuss the status of a forthcoming Louis Harris poll evaluating the public response to the President's April 7th speech. Colson confirms that he is in contact with Harris to monitor the polling data and ensure the President’s team remains informed. The two men agree that maintaining this collaborative relationship with Harris and sharing internal data helps manage the narrative and keep the polling process favorable to the administration.

Audio

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello?
Mr. Colson, sir.
Chuck?
Yes, sir.
Oh, I forgot to ask you.
What did you hear from your friend Harris?
He started his poll this week, or he was supposed to have.
I tried to reach him Friday in Detroit.
I thought he was going to pull right after the broadcast.
He told me he was going to start Thursday, and then he...
I assume he did, although I wasn't able to reach him on Friday yet.
He probably stretches it out over three, four days, I suppose.
Normally it takes about four days.
Normally he would be finished tonight.
Oh, I see.
Well, then he won't have anything this week, then probably until next.
No, he would, his raw data, Mr. President, he would have in on Thursday of this coming week.
Yeah.
And I, as I say, I tried to call on Friday to see if he started, but I wasn't able to reach him.
He was doing a TV show out in Detroit.
Uh-huh.
But I will get him in the morning.
Yeah.
I'm sure he started.
He's being extremely cooperative.
Well, you can be sure he knows what we pulled, you know.
Well, the ORC thing, I think some of it was put out today, wasn't it?
It ran on the wires today, yes, sir.
Yeah, that was the one we took just before the broadcast.
Right.
Right.
But I'll see that he has that, and I'm sure Lou started.
Lou has risen to the bait, and...
Well, I don't know the sum of peace of what happens to him.
No, but what he told me is he'd put his men in the field starting Thursday.
Yeah.
Which normally he'd be through the night of tomorrow.
Yeah, good.
We'll have some more data on Thursday.
Right, right, right.
But I'll let you know.
Just so he knows that we are doing the same thing.
Oh, yes.
Yeah.
Helps keep him honest a little bit.
Yeah, yeah.
And as I say, he's been helpful.
He's given me a lot of...
A lot of his raw data that he never gave out before.
Good.
Good.
Well, and we're ready to cooperate with him, too.
Sure.
He knows that.
Right.
Right.
Well, I'll check with him in the morning.
Wow.
Okay.
Let you know what the... Sure.
If he's pulling and we'll get his results.
Fine.
Fine.
Okay.
Fine.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.

NARA Description

On April 11, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 9:19 pm to 9:21 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 001-066 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 1-66

Date: April 11, 1971
Time: 9:19 pm - 9:21 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

     Louis Harris
          -Forthcoming poll regarding April 7, 1971, speech
          -Television show in Detroit

     Opinion Research Corporation [ORC] poll
          -Colson

     Harris poll
          -Forthcoming results
          -Harris’ relations with Colson
          -Results

Also recorded on April 12, 1971

  • 001-065 8:12 PM · 2 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:12 pm and 9:19 pm.
  • 477-001 9:10 AM · 1 hr 18 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:10 am to 10:33 am.
  • 477-002 11:28 AM · 1 hr 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Shu-kai Chow, Emil ("Bus") Mosbacher, Jr., Steven Baker, Anna C. Chennault, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:28 am to 12:41 pm.
  • 477-003 12:41 PM · 18 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:41 pm and 12:42 pm.
  • 477-004 12:42 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:42 pm to 12:46 pm.
  • 477-005 12:47 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Marilyn Cochran, Barbara Cochran, Bobby Cochran, and Henry C. Cashen, II met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:47 pm to 12:53 pm.
  • 477-006 12:53 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:53 pm.
  • 477-007 12:53 PM · 36 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:53 pm to 2:00 pm.

All 21 conversations from April 12, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 001-066, April 12, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/001-066 (accessed October 12, 2026).