{"conversationCode":"005-115","tapeNumber":5,"conversationNumber":115,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-005-115","startDateTime":"1971-06-17T22:55:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-06-17T22:56:00.000Z","startDate":"17-Jun-1971","startTime":"6:55 PM","endDate":"17-Jun-1971","endTime":"6:56 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.;","description":"On June 17, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 6:55 pm to 6:56 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 005-115 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":1,"chronRelease":"First Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"5-Oct-1999","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 5-115\n\nDate: June 17, 1971\nTime: 6:55 pm - 6:56 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nThe President talked with Charles W. Colson.\n\n[See Conversation No. 261-18]\n\n     Pentagon Papers\n          -Ultimatum to Lyndon B. Johnson\n          -President's possible defense of Johnson in Rochester, June 18th\n          -Johnson's defense of himself\n          -Bryce N. Harlow","filename":["005-115.mp3"],"tapeStart":"03:33:51","tapeEnd":"03:34:35","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Colson, Charles W."],"prevCode":"005-114","nextCode":"005-116","transcript":[{"start":1.65,"end":3.13,"text":"Yes, sir, Mr. President."},{"start":3.39,"end":6.66,"text":"I want a straight ultimatum put to Johnson."},{"start":6.92,"end":7.54,"text":"All right, sir."},{"start":7.56,"end":14.58,"text":"And the ultimatum is this, that tomorrow in Rochester I'll have 200 of the Washington press corps covering me."},{"start":15.68,"end":25.65,"text":"I am prepared to defend him and the system and the rest, but I cannot do it unless he is prepared to go on Saturday in a press conference to defend himself."},{"start":26.95,"end":29.68,"text":"I cannot, otherwise I've just got to let the chips fall where they may."},{"start":29.8,"end":29.94,"text":"Mm-hmm."},{"start":30.32,"end":31.1,"text":"I need to know."},{"start":31.12,"end":32.27,"text":"I need to know tonight."},{"start":32.41,"end":33.57,"text":"I'm preparing the press conference."},{"start":33.59,"end":34.05,"text":"Is that clear?"},{"start":34.29,"end":34.59,"text":"Yes, sir."},{"start":35.75,"end":42.74,"text":"I have reached Bryce, and he's on a line holding for me, so I'll give it to him as direct and try to get him through right away."},{"start":42.76,"end":43.1,"text":"That's it."},{"start":43.28,"end":44.25,"text":"I'll get back to you, sir."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon instructed Charles Colson to deliver an ultimatum to former President Lyndon B. Johnson regarding the ongoing controversy surrounding the Pentagon Papers. Nixon informed Colson that he would only publicly defend Johnson during an upcoming press engagement in Rochester if Johnson concurrently committed to defending himself during his own scheduled press conference. Colson agreed to relay this demand immediately via Bryce Harlow to ensure Nixon received an answer by that evening.","topics":["Pentagon Papers","Lyndon B. Johnson","Press relations","Political strategy","Bryce Harlow"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-05T22:00:35.122Z"},"topicSlugs":["pentagon-papers","lyndon-b-johnson","press-relations","political-strategy","bryce-harlow"],"audioDurationSec":44,"audioFiles":[{"file":"005-115.mp3","bytes":507955,"durationSec":44.28,"bitrate":91775,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:21.078Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/005-115.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/005-115","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/5/conversation-005-115","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}