Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 6 › Conversation 006-023

Nixon, Colson & Haldeman on Daniel Ellsberg and Pentagon Papers

Tuesday, June 29, 1971 · 2:28 PM–2:32 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation006-023 on Tape 6 (tape position 00:19:58–00:24:05)StartTuesday, June 29, 1971 at 2:28 PMEndTuesday, June 29, 1971 at 2:32 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 006-023 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon, Charles Colson, and H.R. Haldeman discuss the administration’s strategy for countering political opposition regarding the Pentagon Papers and the Mansfield resolution. They prioritize the aggressive prosecution of Daniel Ellsberg to deter further leaks and discredit anti-war activists, referencing intelligence from Jay Lovestone regarding Ellsberg’s alleged ties to subversive groups. Additionally, the participants express satisfaction with recent favorable newspaper coverage and the positive outcome of a House vote on Southeast Asia policy despite pressure from lobbying groups.

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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. President, I have Mr. Coulson for you.
Yeah.
There you are.
Hello?
Yes, sir, Mr. President.
Anything new on your front today?
Well, I don't think beyond what I reported to you last night.
We've been starting some mailing operations that I mentioned to you of some very good articles that have been generated to get those circulated widely.
Wilson gave us a marvelous piece last night on the Mansfield resolution, which we're in the process of mailing around, pointing out that anyone who voted for it would have on their hands the responsibility for the possible failure of what negotiation has left.
just a splendid piece that we're going to distribute very widely.
And we've been getting some good stuff in on the New York Times case that we're putting together.
You think there is some coming in now?
I'm beginning to see more of it and encouraged by it, yes, sir.
I told Holloman today, and I also told the cabinet, and I told...
Mitchell that we're gonna fight all out in this thing.
Well, Bob gave me a report on the cabinet meeting and I was elated on two points, one the Ellsberg point and the other the laying down the law to these guys, which I feel right now is the most important thing we can do to get... Well, the point is that the Ellsberg case, however it comes out, is going to get all through this government among the intellectual types and the people that have no loyalties, the idea that
They will be the ones that will determine what's good for this country.
God damn it, they weren't elected.
They're not going to determine it that way.
Well, on the other side of that problem, Mr. President, is that if you allow something like that to go unpunished, then you just encourage an unending flow of it.
On the other hand, if you nail it hard, it helps to keep people in line and discourage others.
That to me is...
I consider this whole problem of making a martyr and all that sort of thing, and I just don't agree with it.
You're not hearing too much of that on that side, are you, or how much are you?
Well, you'll hear some from the left.
And the argument is, well, he's made a hero of himself, and the harder we hit him, the more we build him up.
But the way I size the fellow up, building him up doesn't help the other side, because he's not in the...
Because he's a natural enemy.
He's not an appealing personality.
He's a damn good guy to be against.
We've had all sorts of reports, as you know, of his tie-in with other people.
I think an awful lot of this will fall out.
Jay Lovestone called me today to say that we haven't even scratched the surface.
He said this fellow's really tied in with some bad actors.
Of course, you get him tied in with some...
or communist groups, that would be good.
Well, Jay thinks he is, but of course that's... That's my guess, that he's in with some subversives, you know.
You know, Jay Lovestone has an interesting intelligence network, as you know.
Sure.
And he says this document has been delivered to some very curious places by Ellsberg and his cohorts.
And Jay has never been wrong on this stuff.
Right.
He tends to...
be very hardline, he still, his intelligence is good.
His advice was, when you start digging, you're going to uncover a wealth of material that will be helpful to us.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, that was a damn good vote in the House yesterday.
It sure was.
That was encouraging when you think of the pressure of Common Cause and everybody else.
Well, and the timing of these documents, Mr. President.
The combination of circumstances and the fact that
a lot of people argued it didn't mean a damn thing which made it would have made it easy for people to jump ship honestly i think it was a very healthy sign and what the uh what clark says they have coming out of conference it doesn't look very bad right if they succeed oh yeah well we i expect something to come out of conference they gotta have some concession okay fine it's good thank you mr president yes sir

NARA Description

On June 29, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 2:28 pm to 2:32 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 006-023 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 6-23

Date: June 29, 1971
Time: 2:28 pm - 2:32 pm

Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Charles W. Colson; H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman can be heard in the
background.

[See Conversation No. 261-26]

     Mailing of favorable newspaper articles
          -Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield resolution
          -Richard Wilson's column June 28, New York Times
          -Pentagon Papers/New York Times case
          -President's conversation with Haldeman, John N. Mitchell
          -Cabinet meeting
          -Necessity for prosecution of Daniel Ellsberg
          -Ellsberg
                -Communist support
                -Jay Lovestone
          -Lovestone’s intelligence network
          -House of Representatives vote June 28 on administration's Southeast Asia policy
                -Common Cause
                -Conference committee
                      -Clark MacGregor

Also recorded on June 29, 1971

  • 530-013 12:42 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:42 pm to 12:44 pm.
  • 530-014 12:44 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Mrs. Frank Mason, Pam Bull, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:44 pm to 12:46 pm.
  • 530-015 12:46 PM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:46 pm to 1:11 pm.
  • 531-025 12:46 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:46 pm to 1:11 pm.
  • 531-032 1:11 PM · 11 sec — Stephen B. Bull and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:11 pm and 4:18 pm.
  • 261-026 2:28 PM · 22 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:28 pm to 2:32 pm.
  • 006-024 2:32 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:32 pm and 5:03 pm.
  • 063-005 2:50 PM · 1 hr 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon and members of the National Commission on Productivity, including George P. Shultz, Jerome M. Rosow, Harllee Branch, Jr., Edward W. Carter, James M. Roche, Walter B. Wriston, John O'Connell, J. Warren, Shaver, W. L. Lohrentz, Robert Atkinson, Oscar A. Lundin, I[lorwith] W. Abel, Joseph A. Beirne, George Meany, Floyd E. ("Red") Smith, Leonard Woodcock, Nat Weinberg, Nathaniel Goldfinger, Reginald Newell, William T. Coleman, Jr., John T. Dunlop, Howard W. Johnson, Arjay Miller, W. Allen Wallis, John B. Connally, James D. Hodgson, Paul W. McCracken, Maurice H. Stans, Dr. Edward E. David, Jr., Leon Greenberg, Dr. Hubert Heffner, William H. Kohlberg, Harold C. Passer, Harold Wool, Murray L. Weidenbaum, and Carl Savit, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 2:50 pm and 11:59 pm.

All 54 conversations from June 29, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 006-023, June 29, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/006-023 (accessed October 5, 2026).