Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 2 › Conversation 002-120

Nixon phone call with an unidentified caller on Charles W. Colson

Friday, May 7, 1971 · 1:03 PM–2:08 PM ET · White House Telephone

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation002-120 on Tape 2 (tape position 04:14:01–04:14:07)StartFriday, May 7, 1971 at 1:03 PMEndFriday, May 7, 1971 at 2:08 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 002-120 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with the White House operator to facilitate an outgoing call to Charles W. Colson. The brief interaction served strictly as a connection mechanism for the President to reach his special counsel. No substantive policy matters or tactical discussions occurred during this operator-assisted exchange.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.9 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 111.6 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 108.6 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 04:14:01 into the tape and ends around 04:14:07.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

4:14:01Mae'n rhaid i ni wneud pethau.

NARA Description

On May 7, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:03 pm and 2:08 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 002-120 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 2-120

Date: May 7, 1971
Time: Unknown between 1:03 pm and 2:08 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

[See Conversation No. 253-3]

     Call to Charles W. Colson

Also recorded on May 7, 1971

  • 495-015 12:17 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:17 pm and 12:19 pm.
  • 495-016 12:19 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, W. Richard Howard, Marcis Howard, and Mr. Northrup met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:19 pm to 12:20 pm.
  • 495-017 12:20 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:20 pm and 12:26 pm.
  • 495-018 12:26 PM · 31 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:26 pm to 1:02 pm.
  • 495-019 1:02 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:02 pm to 1:03 pm.
  • 253-001 1:03 PM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:03 pm and 2:08 pm.
  • 253-002 1:03 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:03 pm and 2:08 pm.
  • 253-003 1:03 PM · 3 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 1:03 pm and 2:08 pm.

All 48 conversations from May 7, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 002-120, May 7, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/002-120 (accessed October 3, 2026).