Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 7 › Conversation 007-083

Nixon phone call with Colson on Economic policy and Retail sales

Tuesday, August 10, 1971 · 9:28 AM–9:30 AM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation007-083 on Tape 7 (tape position 03:00:19–03:02:11)StartTuesday, August 10, 1971 at 9:28 AMEndTuesday, August 10, 1971 at 9:30 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 007-083 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles W. Colson discuss the media's failure to provide significant coverage of positive retail sales statistics, noting that only NBC reported on the data to provide balance to their broader economic criticism. Colson explains that the administration relied on Harold Passer to disseminate the figures and clarifies that the data reflected a revision of existing weekly reports rather than a major new development. Nixon expresses frustration over the lack of press attention, highlighting the importance of the 15% sales increase as an encouraging economic indicator.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
Good morning, Mr. President.
Hi.
Hi, Chuck.
I was just taking a look at the news summary.
It seemed to me quite interesting how they almost totally ignored the retail sales thing, isn't it?
One network used it.
One network used it, NBC, because they had some pretty negative stuff on the...
on the economy, so I guess they thought they had to give us a little balance.
Yeah.
That was a pretty good story, though.
Did we make an effort?
Did Schultz and the bunch do something about it, or what?
No, Mr. President, we relied on Peser.
Well, he's good.
He's usually pretty upbeat.
The reason that, frankly, we made more out of it than a legitimate news story probably would warrant, because what it was basically was an updating of
A revision upward of some existing figures, most of which had come out on the weekly totals.
You know, it's like the casualties.
They come out each week, and then they do a monthly compilation.
Well, there probably wasn't much more that could be done about it.
Well, it would be nice if we had gotten a little more out of it.
It's a very good statistic, as a matter of fact.
It's a very impressive statistic, Mr. President.
15% increase in retail sales is a hell of a lot.
Well, it's the first of the year.
Yes, it is.
And the July figures that have been out each week but now will be consolidated into monthly figures show something, the same kind of a trend continuing.
Percentage-wise, it won't be quite as dramatic because once you get up at a certain level, it stays there.
But it is an encouraging story.
Right, right.
The July things will come out when?
Well, let's see.
The July weekly totals have been out, so we'll get the monthly one about a month from now.
Right, right.
Okay, fine.
Fine, sir.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On August 10, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 9:28 am to 9:30 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 007-083 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 7-83

Date: August 10, 1971
Time: 9:28 am - 9:30 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Charles W. Colson

[See Conversation No. 559-3B]

     News summary
         -Retail sales figures
              -Television network coverage
              -National Broadcasting Corporation [NBC] coverage
              -George P. Shultz

                -Harold C. Passer
                -July
                      -Monthly compared with weekly figures
                      -Size

                                                                    Conv.
                                                                     Conversation
                                                                          No. 7-161
                                                                                  No.
                                                                                    (cont.)
                                                                                      7-84

Date: August 10, 1971
Time: Unknown between 9:30 am and 2:33 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

[See Conversation No. 559-15]

     Requested a call to John B. Connally

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.
  • 007-084 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.
  • 559-004 10:05 AM · 2 min — unknown person(s), Manolo Sanchez, and United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:05 am and 11:59 am.

All 40 conversations from August 10, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 007-083, 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/007-083 (accessed October 9, 2026).