Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 16 › Conversation 016-097
Nixon phone call with Colson on William H. Rehnquist and Defense budget
Friday, December 10, 1971 · 8:16 PM–8:26 PM ET · White House Telephone · 10 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and Charles Colson review a series of recent political and economic successes, including the Senate confirmation of William H. Rehnquist, positive stock market performance, and strong retail sales data. The conversation highlights the administration's strategic legislative victories, specifically regarding tax bills and the veto of the Day Care Bill. Nixon directs Colson to coordinate with Vice President Agnew to secure support from conservatives for the administration's robust defense budget, emphasizing that these allies should focus their political pressure on the liberal Senate rather than the White House.
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Transcript (AI-generated)
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Hello?
Good evening, Mr. President.
Well, they seem to have had a very good day today, I think.
I don't remember a day when we've had so many good... Well, it's been a good week.
It's been a good several weeks.
You know, with Rehnquist coming through so well, and then, of course, the spending of the veto by the Senate, and the tax bill, of course, which is damn good, a good day in the markets,
Yeah, it held up reasonably well.
Oh, very strong, maybe.
The wire service is late tonight, but it's about the most bullish little wire service report that I've yet seen.
They normally, you know, on a good day, they normally say it's a technical recovery, and on a bad day, it's bad, but...
Markets in the league, market reporting, stock market benefiting from the dramatic improvement in investor psychology.
In fact, students were retired and very active traders for a variety of years.
And this is a long story about how the investor's attitude has improved.
But it sure was a hell of a day.
I was just ecstatic at that night.
I was hoping maybe it would be 25 to 30 again, but I feared it would go higher than that.
and only losing your three Republican presidents.
Which three did we lose?
Brooke Javits.
Yeah, well.
A case that has never been buried in Javits.
That figures, yeah.
Through Javits, you know you know those cases.
Right.
But the others, you know, I think you might lose a situation like that.
I think it's more a sign of your strength.
Matthias holding up, for example, and people like that.
Yes, and as I say, I really think it's more a reflection on youth than it is on Rehnquist.
In fact, that came through in some of the stories that some of the senators were not enthusiastic about Rehnquist, but they didn't want to break the youth.
I think that's the lead of the first story out of the Rehnquist vote.
So it was damning.
Also, have the...
retail sales figures in the day until October, which is, on balance, a pretty good 88.
After the seasonal adjustment, it was 1% off in September until this week.
That was around 10% above October of the year ago.
Annual growth rate now is 12%.
Three months into this October, the retail trade was up 4% above the perceived rate of 12 in the year.
uh ten percent of those the same three months period of last year both durable and non-durable and with the inflation factor less than it has been that makes it even more difficult uh pastor said that they took some of that that all of the christmas indicators
That was a good one.
Oh, boy, that was a great one.
Because next year, it's going to be hard for them to turn around and repeal it just for the president.
Well, then it's obvious.
If they try that technique, then it's just plain politics.
I think once they have decided, I'm not even sure they'll try it.
Yeah.
They sure have taken a hell of a lot of looking.
You know, they figured they were going to get the 20 million bucks out of the check-off, and then they figured they'd get free TV time.
You know, even if you didn't, even if you didn't give them the base, of course, they sure never would.
But they would get free time for that to do, because, you know, he would do all the free time, and they wouldn't.
So they don't even have that.
I just imagine they're sitting there tonight wondering what the hell, you know, they're going to do.
They've lost every one of these efforts.
So please return money, please.
I've been present doing it, spending an atrocious amount of time to do it, but I think it's necessary.
You're the conservative.
There's one thing I need to ask you, but I talked to the Vice President today.
He's willing to do anything and everything that we want him to do.
He's also had a lot of strokes with some of his guys.
He's willing to have a private breakfast meeting with Buckley and Rush.
He should go to a lecture as well.
He wants to be able to play to them that year.
well there's going to be a very strong defense budget
Yes, it is.
Well, I went through some of the items with Weinberg in the past, and you have no objection with the Vice President.
Yes, by all means.
He's talked to me, and that's what he's going to do, and that's what we're going to have.
It's a strong budget.
But the important thing is for them to remember we all have a strong budget.
They've got to fight the left wing to see if they don't kill us.
That's what's been frustrating for these folks.
They fight us instead of the liberals.
The liberals are the ones.
We'd have even a higher budget than we do.
We'll have a hell of a time getting this through.
I think, frankly, from what I know of the budget, I think this is going to turn off the problem on the right.
Patrick Cannon and I have been into Sunday morning with all of the intellectuals here.
Yeah.
The president of Washington.
And then the vice president said that he would keep up with Russia when he goes from the U.S. to the U.S.
Now, if you can get Kissinger tomorrow morning, he knows his budget factors and so he can give you a little feel as to why it's stronger in the sense of real strength.
Okay?
I'll do that because that's the one area that we... Well, they have no reason to be concerned because basically they have to realize the MOOC is really a theological exercise.
The question is not what we're for.
The question is
we have a Senate that will not approve things.
And they ought to start fighting that Senate and quit fighting us.
Exactly.
I, uh, of course, they all, I must say, I get frustrated to tell you, I must say that there is some merit to the problems they have with media details.
Every one of them went to the gallery, filmed, and made comments on your detail yesterday.
Yeah.
Every one of them issued statements.
I know because we... And none of them made it.
And none of them made it.
We carried them around.
We dropped them at the networks.
Well, no, but the networks are basically against our position.
Oh, exactly.
Exactly.
Well, tell them to do it again.
Well, we're going to keep them out.
Of course, the columnists are fine.
You know, Joe Patrick and all those guys.
You'll get a lot of help from them.
Sure.
The politicians.
Yeah.
On the right...
A little credit.
Well, they do, and I think, frankly, I think we score more than just there.
I think there's a hell of a lot of middle America that just don't like the kind of children being taken from their families or anything.
And it's going to be fine.
I think it's a good one.
We've been doing some planning today over the next month, and we're trying to think of a big news event for January 4th.
If we have anything big, that's a good day to...
Oh.
Yeah.
I think the way it's worked out is that
just ideas, having all of these regional conferences, meeting all of these top people in the first place, just listening to you, you'll be giving us a hell of a boost to each one of us, because we've been well to the Midwest during the coming weeks, and we've killed the right out on the bottom line for you.
You tell the Vice President he has my total backing.
Okay.
Well, I'll do that.
We'll keep right working on it.
Good.
Okay.
Bye-bye.
NARA Description
On December 10, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:16 pm to 8:26 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 016-097 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 16-97
Date: December 10, 1971
Time: 8:16 pm - 8:26 pm
Location: White House Telephone
The President talked with Charles W. Colson.
Weekly Summary
-William H. Rehnquist Confirmation
-Senate veto [Economic Opportunity Amendments of 1971]
-Tax Bill
-Stock Market
-Wire service reports
-Investment psychology
Rehnquist confirmation
-Vote
-Edward W. Brooke
-Jacob K. Javits
-Clifford P. Case
-Charles McC. Mathias, Jr.
-President’s strength
-News stories
Retail sales
-October
-Annual growth rate
-Inflation
-Christmas indicators
-Harold C. Passer
Weekly Summary
-Stock Market
-Rehnquist
-Taxes
-Day care
-Congressional recess
Tax bill
-Congressional Democrats
-Repeal
-Section 315
-Check-off
-Forthcoming campaign
-Television time
Spiro T. Agnew
-Conservatives
-Breakfast meeting
-William F. Buckley, Jr. and William A. Rusher
-Defense budget
-Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger
Defense Budget
-Left wing opposition
-Meeting
-Patrick J. Buchanan
-Henry A. Kissinger
-Knowledge
-Opposition in Senate
-President’s veto of Day Care Bill, December 9, 1971
-Media opposition
-Network
-Columnists
-James J. Kilpatrick, Jr.
-Public opinion
Campaign
-Edmund S. Muskie
-Planned news events for January 4, 1972
-Frank F. Fitzsimmons
-John N. Mitchell
-Fitzsimmons’ mood
-James R. (“Jimmy”) Hoffa
Agnew
-President's supportAlso recorded on December 11, 1971
- 016-089 7:59 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:59 pm and 8:01 pm.
- 016-090 8:01 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 8:01 pm.
- 016-091 8:01 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:01 pm and 8:06 pm.
- 016-092 8:06 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 8:06 pm to 8:09 pm.
- 016-093 8:09 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:09 pm and 8:12 pm.
- 016-094 8:09 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:09 pm and 8:12 pm.
- 016-095 8:12 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George E. Allen talked on the telephone from 8:12 pm to 8:15 pm.
- 016-096 8:15 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 8:15 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 016-097, December 11, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/016-097 (accessed October 5, 2026).