Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 15 › Conversation 015-012

Nixon phone call with Colson on George Meany and AFL-CIO

Wednesday, November 17, 1971 · 8:21 PM–8:24 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Colson, Charles W.; Nixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Colson, Charles W.Conversation015-012 on Tape 15 (tape position 00:14:32–00:17:03)StartWednesday, November 17, 1971 at 8:21 PMEndWednesday, November 17, 1971 at 8:24 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 015-012 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson discuss efforts to locate AFL-CIO leader George Meany to secure an invitation for the President to attend the labor organization's upcoming convention. The pair coordinates with George Shultz and Willie Usery to facilitate the request. Additionally, they review the timing of a Louis Harris public opinion poll to determine if it reflected the public's response to a recent Vietnam troop withdrawal announcement.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 72% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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They still haven't been able to find George down there.
We don't find him before another half hour.
We'll have to put it off till the morning because of course we've got to have his invitation before we put down there and see.
Well, we'll wait another half hour before we decide.
All right, and just to say, I've got everybody chasing you, probably.
Sam has gone off to arrest him, but he's still, you know, he's possibly where he is.
He's already gone to the race test, which he likes to do.
Hmm, yeah.
So we're checking that, and he's dead still.
You're there looking for him.
Right, right.
Good to see you.
Right, sure, sure, sure.
I see him.
And Schultz is going to have to go look at it.
He's going to get up to you down there looking for him.
Let me ask you another thing.
With regard to Harris's second run, when did he, what were the dates of that?
Was that after the Vietnam announcement or before?
Harris's second was between the 6th and the 11th.
That was before the...
So it didn't cover that.
It wouldn't have caught that if he did.
Of course, that was the upbeat announcement.
He thought that was the helicopter announcement.
Right.
Okay.
Well, that's good.

NARA Description

On November 17, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:21 pm to 8:24 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 015-012 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 15-12

Date: November 17, 1971
Time: 8:21 pm - 8:24 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

     Charles W. Colson

The President talked with Colson.

     George Meany
          -Attempts to reach
          -Invitation to the President to attend American Federation of Labor-Congress of
                Industrial Organizations [AFL-CIO] convention
          -Schedule
          -George P. Shultz
                -Willie J. Usery

     Louis P. Harris poll
          -Vietnam troop announcement
               -Dates of poll
               -Commercial poll

Also recorded on November 18, 1971

  • 015-008 7:17 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 7:17 pm to 7:25 pm.
  • 015-009 8:05 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 8:05 pm to 8:07 pm.
  • 015-010 8:10 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 8:10 pm.
  • 015-011 8:10 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:10 pm and 8:21 pm.
  • 015-013 8:41 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 8:41 pm to 8:46 pm.
  • 015-014 8:46 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:46 pm and 9:00 pm.
  • 015-015 9:00 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo talked on the telephone from 9:00 pm to 9:02 pm.
  • 015-016 9:04 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 9:04 pm to 9:05 pm.

All 77 conversations from November 18, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 015-012, November 18, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/015-012 (accessed October 12, 2026).