Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 008-006
Date: Monday, August 16, 1971 at 1:20 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Connally, John B.; Colson, Charles W.; Ziegler, Ronald L.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/008-006

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Hello?
[0:02] I have Secretary Conley for the... Oh, okay.
[0:06] Oh, yes, sir.
[0:07] John, I got some very good reaction to your thing, but let me have Chuck Colson tell you what.
[0:12] He just had a call from Frank Stanton.
[0:13] Would you like to hear it?
[0:14] Yes, sir.
[0:15] Come here, Chuck.
[0:16] Yeah.
[0:20] Hello.
[0:21] Hi, Chuck.
[0:22] I just got a call from Frank Stanton that was...
[0:26] He was about as turned on as any guy I've ever heard.
[0:28] He said he watched the entire hour.
[0:29] that it was one of the most exciting hours on television that he had ever seen, that he was just thrilled that they had the opportunity to carry it.
[0:37] They're going to go on 10 to 11 tonight on a special at which he said, I've instructed my people to use very large amounts of Connelly's press conference.
[0:48] And he said, the only thing I, he said, I would hate to be the editor because I wouldn't know where to cut any portion of that.
[0:54] He said that was just the most sensational thing he'd ever seen.
[0:56] Well, that's great.
[0:58] It's wonderful, Chuck.
[0:59] And the...
[1:00] He really was very, I thought it was one of the best things I've ever seen.
[1:05] I tell you, the gift you have for cutting those fellows down when they're out of line and giving them a good smile and turning the questions against them, I just think it was absolutely brilliantly done.
[1:18] Well, you might have caught.
[1:19] That's the first time I think I've ever seen a one-hour press conference that I was sorry to see end.
[1:24] By God, I wasn't.
[1:25] Well, I bet you're tired.
[1:27] Jesus, I was exhausted.
[1:29] Oh, well, that's a hell of an ordeal.
[1:31] Yeah, it really is for me.
[1:32] But it was just superb.
[1:33] Absolutely beautiful.
[1:35] When you can take an old, hard-bitten pro like Frank Stanton and turn him on to the point where he's just calling, he said, I don't know why I called you, Chuck, but I just had to tell somebody.
[1:43] I was so excited over it.
[1:44] Well, that's wonderful.
[1:45] Hang on just a minute.
[1:46] Thank you, Chuck.
[1:46] Just a second, sir.
[1:47] Thank you.
[1:48] Mr. Secretary?
[1:49] Yes, sir.
[1:49] Hi, this is Ron Ziegler.
[1:51] Hi, Ron.
[1:51] Say, I thought that was a good confrontation.
[1:54] Good.
[1:54] And I think you handled it very well.
[1:57] I particularly enjoyed the way you responded to that $5 question.
[2:01] With a student?
[2:02] Yeah.
[2:02] That might be worth $6?
[2:03] Yeah.
[2:04] Well, you know...
[2:06] And I also liked your moldable choice thing with Dan Shore.
[2:11] It was the first time you had a moldable choice since you were in college.
[2:16] No, I thought it was, you know, hell, I just figured you've got to be yourself with these things, and that's all I can do.
[2:23] No, I think the other effect it had, too, it clarified a lot of things and, you know,
[2:29] The people out there watching understand exactly the scope of what happened and the meaning of what happened.
[2:34] Well, I hope it helped them to understand it because I think I was able to say a few things that
[2:41] maybe to augment and implement what the president said last night.
[2:46] The other thing, too, I think, where you made it clear that the president would not move to take individual steps, that he wanted to make the comprehensive approach and the comprehensive package, I think, shot him down on particularly their reference to your June statements and the fact that reality changes from day to day.
[3:03] Well, I thought it was very effective.
[3:06] Congratulations, sir.
[3:07] You're kind to say so.
[3:08] Here's the president.
[3:09] Thank you.
[3:10] Okay, take off five minutes.
[3:12] Yeah, all right.
[3:14] Okay.
[3:14] Okay.
[3:14] All right.