Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 10 › Conversation 010-027

Nixon phone call with Colson on POW wives and Edward Kennedy

Tuesday, September 28, 1971 · 8:27 PM–8:37 PM ET · White House Telephone · 10 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation010-027 on Tape 10 (tape position 00:37:36–00:47:22)StartTuesday, September 28, 1971 at 8:27 PMEndTuesday, September 28, 1971 at 8:37 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 010-027 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson discuss the political fallout from Nixon's surprise appearance at a POW wives convention and coordinate a strategy to neutralize Democratic criticism. Nixon instructs Colson to mobilize Republican allies, specifically mentioning Barry Goldwater, to publicly attack Senator Edward Kennedy for his recent statements on the war. Additionally, they discuss intensifying pressure on Democrats regarding the administration's economic policies, with Nixon explicitly directing Colson to label those delaying federal economic legislation as being "out of step with the country."

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 3 minutes of this recording (about 32% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Oh.
I have Mr. Colton for you there.
Yeah.
There we are.
Hello.
Well, you really pulled one off of the POW wire, Mr. President.
Were you there?
No, I got a report from John Skelly, though, who I set up.
I have to admit, I was scared to death of that one.
Well, I was a little scared, but you've got to do the things that are tough.
Well, you just, by God, John said that when you came in, there was just a gas and a sigh of surprise.
Well, the surprise is what made it.
Yeah.
When I got through with them, they were cheering and crying and everything.
Well, now one thing I want you to do, it's a personal thing, and I just talked to Henry about this.
Chuck, I want you to get somebody, and I think Goldwater's the man, to take Teddy on in that disgraceful state.
It was an outrageous statement.
I don't know whether you've seen it.
Oh, I just heard it, and that's enough.
Well, it's just outrageous.
Really outrageous.
A lot of rotting in camps.
What he said is that Kennedy accused the administration of lack of imagination...
What we are going to do, he said, is just stand behind the flag and let them rise.
Rise to federal.
But now somebody's got to take him on in hard tomorrow, or I'll have to.
Now, God damn it, I don't.
I must not.
But I want somebody to do it.
If it's a Ruska, anybody.
Now, let me get ahold of Thor tonight.
Yeah.
Ask Barry if he will do that.
I might just get him that much.
What about Agnew?
Well, Teddy has to be slapped, slapped hard on this.
Yeah, what was his?
Same thing?
Trying to keep the war going?
Yeah.
And nobody's answered.
What the Christ is the matter with our people?
Why don't you get a hold of Rogers, have him have a little guts and take that on.
Yeah, you call Rogers, not tonight, but tomorrow, and he has to ask him to take on this damn heartbeat.
that kind of a statement, like, give them a bad name.
But you really, God, you really served them.
It was really the job.
They were cheering, and they were stomping their feet, and they were excited beyond.
Oh, I didn't ask them to come.
But they had press there to cover metal, so they'll cover something, but you'll probably find one white that didn't agree and quote that.
Yeah.
I had to call you because they were in the room.
They said, did Christ fix your meeting?
I said, I know we did.
Get all the Republicans.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know.
Right, I know.
Yeah, I understand.
Yeah.
Right.
Get the NAM to call, too.
Have them call people.
Call them.
Yeah, yeah.
They really filled it up.
Dan Rather came on and said it was the number one issue.
Which way is Rather?
He's for Muskie?
No.
Well, I'm sure he is.
But he just had one interview after another with people criticizing him.
And the conclusion was that whether he intended it that way or not, his campaign was better off the way Robin said it was brainwashed.
Hmm.
The net effect of it was very negative.
You know, how do you know if it's a trust?
You're talking about the fourth party, and you're talking about the black man, John, who's going to be in the president.
Yeah, good.
But it's what it is.
Now, let's keep the heat on, though, with regard to support for the president and the economic thing.
We've really got to hit that damn thing, because we can't let these people get off the hook on that.
On the economics?
right you know i've been trying for three weeks to get somebody up
Why don't we say that the Democratic Senators, the Democrats in the House and the Senate that are delaying and obstructing are out of step with the country?
Out of step.
Keep slugging up.
All right.
Fine.

NARA Description

On September 28, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:27 pm to 8:37 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 010-027 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 10-27

Date: September 28, 1971
Time: 8:27 pm - 8:37 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

     Prisoner of War [POW] wives [National League of Families convention]
          -John A. Scali
          -President's attendance at dinner
          -Henry A. Kissinger
                -Edward M. Kennedy
                      -Barry M. Goldwater
                      -Robert J. Dole
                      -Robert A. Taft, Jr.
                      -Statement
                      -Roman L. Hruska
                      -Spiro T. Agnew
                      -Melvin R. Laird
                            -Vance Hartke
                                 -William P. Rogers
          -Scali
          -Media coverage
     Federal pay freeze
          -President’s call to Colson
                -Reason for call
                -Michigan
                -Calls to Congress
                -National Association of Manufacturers [NAM]

     Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS] News, September 28
         -Edmund S. Muskie
              -Dan Rather
                   -Perspective
              -George W. Romney

     Economy
         -Maurice H. Stans
              -Compared with John B. Connally
              -CBS News, September 28
         -Democrats
              -Phrase, "Out of step with the country"
         -Support

     Colson's schedule
          -Goldwater

Also recorded on September 29, 1971

  • 010-024 8:15 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 8:15 pm to 8:16 pm.
  • 010-025 8:15 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:15 pm and 8:20 pm.
  • 010-026 8:20 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 8:20 pm to 8:26 pm.
  • 580-001 9:55 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:55 am and 10:03 am.
  • 580-002 10:03 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:03 am to 10:05 am.
  • 580-003 10:13 AM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:13 am to 10:21 am.
  • 580-004 10:21 AM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:21 am to 10:33 am.
  • 580-005 10:33 AM · 43 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Pierre-Paul Schweitzer, John B. Connally, Arthur F. Burns, White House photographer, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:33 am to 11:15 am.

All 36 conversations from September 29, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 010-027, September 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/010-027 (accessed October 12, 2026).