Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 10 › Conversation 010-064

Nixon phone call with Ford on Richard H. Poff and Charles Colson

Wednesday, October 6, 1971 · 8:21 AM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Ford, Gerald R.Conversation010-064 on Tape 10 (tape position 02:17:11–02:19:01)StartWednesday, October 6, 1971 at 8:21 AMEndWednesday, October 6, 1971 at 8:21 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 010-064 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Congressman Gerald Ford discuss a recent legislative victory and the political fallout surrounding the withdrawal of Richard H. Poff from consideration. Ford praises the effectiveness of the White House staff, specifically Charles Colson, in pressuring the Chamber of Commerce regarding federal pay raise legislation. The conversation concludes with Nixon agreeing to call Senator Hugh Scott to ensure firm support for the administration's position in the Senate.

Audio

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NARA Description

On October 6, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Gerald R. Ford talked on the telephone at 8:21 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 010-064 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 10-64

Date: October 6, 1971
Time: 8:21 am
Location: White House Telephone

The White House operator talked with the President.

[See Conversation No. 283-12]

     Call from Gerald R. Ford

The President talked with Ford between 8:22 am and 8:24 am.

[See Conversation No. 283-12]

     House
         -Vote
              -President's response

     Ford's remarks
          -Richard H. Poff

***********************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Privacy]
[Duration: 4s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

**********************************************************************

     Chamber of Commerce
         -Charles W. Colson
         -Letters [on federal pay raise]
               -Hugh Scott

     Scott
             -Upcoming call from the President

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

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Congressman Ford, Mr. President.
Hello.
Good morning, Mr. President.
Hi, Jerry.
How are you, sir?
Fine.
I just wanted you to know before you got down on your work a couple of things.
One, how delighted we were, I was, with that vote, you know.
I just hope the damn Senate listened to you.
And the other thing is that how pleased I was with what you said about Poff.
Golly, I tell you, I call him Mr. and I.
It just breaks my heart, but they really crucified that boy.
Or they were going to crucify him.
They were, and they were well on the road.
And Dick just, you know, he's not used to the rough and tumble.
I know.
He's a gentleman.
He's a gentleman.
I don't think he could take it.
Well, I think he could, but he wouldn't subject his family to it.
That was it.
He's just one of those nice Virginia boys, isn't he?
We had a damn good victory, though, on Monday.
Oh, that's what I meant.
That was terrific.
Your fellows down there at the White House did the best job I've ever seen.
And you really shook up the Chamber of Commerce and the rest of them.
Colson, you give him the credit.
He kicks their butts right up through the wall.
We got some results on that.
Did they get some letters finally?
Oh, yeah.
Hell, yes.
Yes.
Real good.
Yeah.
And that helps, doesn't it?
You're damn right it does.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I just hope this will stand firm.
And I was talking to Hugh yesterday, and he said if necessary, they'll talk it to death.
Well, they've got to do that.
They must do that.
Listen, you, well, I'll call him up.
That'll be a help, won't it?
Yes, it will.
All right, I'll call him up.
Okay.
All right.
All right, fine.
Good luck.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Thanks.

Also recorded on October 6, 1971

  • 283-011 8:22 AM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 8:22 am.
  • 283-012 8:22 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:22 am to 8:24 am.
  • 010-065 8:25 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Barry M. Goldwater talked on the telephone from 8:25 am to 8:27 am.
  • 283-013 8:25 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Barry M. Goldwater met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:25 am to 8:27 am.
  • 010-066 8:27 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:27 am and 8:28 am.
  • 283-014 8:27 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 8:27 am.
  • 010-067 8:28 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and David N. Henderson talked on the telephone from 8:28 am to 8:32 am.
  • 283-015 8:28 AM · 32 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, David N. Henderson, White House operator, and Hugh Scott met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:28 am to 9:05 am.

All 122 conversations from October 6, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 010-064, October 6, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/010-064 (accessed October 28, 2026).