Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 7 › Conversation 007-081

Nixon phone call with Colson on News media bias

Monday, August 9, 1971 · 8:06 PM–8:17 PM ET · White House Telephone · 10 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation007-081 on Tape 7 (tape position 02:49:45–03:00:14)StartMonday, August 9, 1971 at 8:06 PMEndMonday, August 9, 1971 at 8:17 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 007-081 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson discuss strategies for challenging the credibility of television news networks, specifically citing favorable reports of support for the President in New Hampshire. They highlight the positive reactions from Senator Norris Cotton regarding ABC's coverage and express a desire to continue pressuring media outlets to counter perceived liberal bias. The conversation concludes with a focus on leveraging public opinion and media analysis, such as the work of Edith Efron, to undermine the networks' influence.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 4 minutes of this recording (about 39% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
Good evening, Mr. President.
Hi.
Well, anything new today?
Well, we had Norris Cotton quite exercised today.
I don't know whether you heard about it.
No, I didn't.
Well, I called him this morning to just tell him about the ABC report.
And he's a crusty old Yankee.
Yeah.
He's not given to overstatement.
Well, he said...
He said, I can't tell you this.
He said, I don't know what the feeling is around the state, but he's been in the two most Democratic cities in the state of New Hampshire.
He said, I would say it was a mixed country.
He said that was the damnedest turnout I ever saw.
And the people were warm and cordial.
And he followed off the television, ABC, which made very extensive coverage.
Correct.
What do you think?
Yeah.
I will tell you, because those people really were turned down.
I've seen a lot of political rallies.
I've seen a lot of people come to New Hampshire.
The President has always been a favorite up there.
That's what I'm going to say as we get a lot more.
I'm proud to say he asked for New Hampshire people who were not remonstrative types.
Yeah, that's great.
Good job.
Good job.
He was great.
Raised a little hill, a little building up there.
What'd he say?
Did he see you?
Saw Ziegler?
Well, he must have been goddamned embarrassed about that.
Bullshit.
Somebody told him to do it.
Well, it's good to shake him up a little.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think he's caught an uphill, and I'll tell you, he made my second line.
I would sniff it in a mutation.
And that's unfortunate, because he's the fellow that...
The only man that ever gets any balance to ABC.
ABC basically has a far left orientation with Bill Lawrence.
Well, I was reading that the material that... Did you see it?
What did you think of it?
Worse than you thought, wasn't it?
Don't you think that's going to be a bombshell when it hits?
Oh, of course.
That's going to be hard.
She's been with time, life, with look, and all the rest, right?
Right.
I suppose it's rather than 10 to 1, it's 5 to 1.
Or 3 to 1.
Right.
Sure.
Well, that's because of Bill Lawrence.
Yeah.
That's right.
Did you see times that?
No, I didn't see it.
Well, I didn't think the cover was bad, but I didn't think the article would be bad.
Not as bad as they expected, no.
Yeah.
I thought it would be good.
I thought it would be good.
The Haldeman thought that they did better in the article than they anticipated.
What they do doesn't matter, really.
Time, news, week, the comms don't matter.
All that matters is TV.
That's right.
You just keep up with TV.
And this book, Chuck, you've got to ride those sons of bitches.
They've never been written on this one.
This is going to really kill you.
the more the credibility of the networks will be raised and the more people will raise questions about it.
See, what we want, you're not going to change the men.
They're going to still lie.
But on the other hand, the people, look, you realize that the people must not have believed in too much or we wouldn't have won the election.
That's right.
And the same in 60 when it was worse even because then the networks really weren't for Humphrey but they were striking people
because they have more sets, more color, and all the rest.
But we're coming a little way.
I'm more encouraged to have a situation like that.
I called him, that's right.
Yeah, I told him about the end of the flight.
What do you think about conchite?
Didn't used to be, did he?
He was with Eisenhower, pretty much, wasn't he?
What's happened to him?
His wife?
Right.
And they just go 180 degrees, so it's very far in the rain.
You can shake them up.
Oh, and you're shaking them up right now.
Right.
All right.
Sure.
Well, we'll pull the rug up at the right time.
That's coming.
That's coming.
Oh, Norris really took him on, didn't he?
Did he get some play?
Good.
Great.
Then Gil will be reacting to it.
Crying.
Good.
Well, keep him crying.
Good.
Right.
Well, he had to be impressed.
And Margaret must have been impressed by Maine.
It was really something they'd never seen up there.
3,000.
Well, I know Bangalore, and I know Bangalore people very well.
Well, they were demonstrative, though.
They were terrific.
OK. All right.
And what did it show?
About the same level.
Yeah.
But that's above last year, though.
So is it a positive story, then?
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
He's doing a fine job.
Good.
Right.
It's good to have the Congress out of town, isn't it?
Right.
Good.
Well, tell Cotton I appreciate it, Lee.

NARA Description

On August 9, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:06 pm to 8:17 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 007-081 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 7-81

Date: August 9, 1971
Time: 8:06 pm - 8:17 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

     News media

-Norris Cotton
      -Colson's call to Cotton
            -American Broadcasting Corporation [ABC] report
      -New Hampshire
            -Support for Nixon
      -Telegram to ABC
            -Television coverage
      -Ronald L. Ziegler
      -John A. Scali
-Television networks compared
-Howard K. Smith
     -ABC
            -William Lawrence
-Edith Efron
     -Time, Life, Look, TV Guide
     -Media book on 1968 campaign
-ABC
     -Smith and Lawrence
-An article
     -George P. Shultz
-Time, Newsweek
 -Columnists
-Television
-Efron book
     -Debate in Congress
            -Credibility of networks
            -Public opinion
                  -1960 and 1968 campaigns
                        -Hubert H. Humphrey
                        -John F. Kennedy
-Television networks
     -Colson's talk with John W. Chancellor
            -Economy
            -Scali
            -Chancellor
     -Walter Cronkite
            -Dwight D. Eisenhower administration
            -Change
            -Vietnam war
-Cotton’s statements
     -Networks
            -Spiro T. Agnew

               -Gil [Surname unknown]
          -Margaret Chase Smith
               -Maine
                     -Bangor

     Economy
         -Retail sales figures

     Congress

     Cotton

Also recorded on August 10, 1971

  • 007-082 8:52 AM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:52 am and 9:28 am.
  • 559-001 8:52 AM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:52 am and 9:11 am.
  • 559-002 8:52 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:52 am and 9:11 am.
  • 559-003 9:11 AM · 54 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), White House operator, Charles W. Colson, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:11 am to 10:05 am.
  • 068-006 9:14 AM · 6 min — Alexander M. Haig, Jr. and unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 10:05 am.
  • 068-007 9:14 AM · 2 hr 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and staffers, including Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, Melvin R. Laird, David Packard, Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, Gen. John D. Ryan, Gen. William C. Westmoreland, Gen. Leonard F. Chapman, Jr., Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., Brig. Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and the White House photographer, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 11:54 am.
  • 007-083 9:28 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 9:28 am to 9:30 am.
  • 007-084 9:30 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:30 am and 2:33 pm.

All 40 conversations from August 10, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 007-081, August 10, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/007-081 (accessed October 11, 2026).