President Nixon and Charles Colson discuss the ongoing political fallout surrounding the ITT antitrust investigation and the Dita Beard memo. They analyze various media reports, the potential testimony of Attorney General John Mitchell before Congress, and the strategic implications for the administration's public image. The conversation emphasizes managing congressional inquiries and media narratives, specifically comparing these investigative tactics to the historical Alger Hiss case.
On March 14, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 4:18 pm to 4:34 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 021-068 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding AidConversation No. 21-68
Date: March 14, 1972
Time: 4:18 pm - 4:34 pm
Location: White House Telephone
The President talked with Charles W. Colson.
[See Conversation 322-56]
International Telephone and Telegraph [ITT]
-John N. Mitchell’s testimony
-Congressional hearings
-Colson’s talk with Robert J. Dole
-Congress
-Thomas F. Eagleton
-The President’s view
-Peter Flanigan
-Norris Cotton
-Washington Star
-Colson investigation
-Denver
-Dita D. Beard memo
-Typewriter
-Committee
-Justice Department
-Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]
-Analysis
-Typewriters
-Alger Hiss case
-White House removal
-Private investigators
-Evening Star
-Anonymous letter
-Protection of writer
-Beard
-New York
-Memo
-Jack N. Anderson
-Authenticity
-Letters
-Edward M. Kennedy
-Protection
-Washington Star
-Robert Walter’s story
-Walter’s theory
-Ken W. Clawson
-Smith Hempstone, Jr.
-Clawson’s call to John Cassidy
-Panda story
-Crosby S. Noyes
-Hempstone
-Beard
-Girl in Canada
-Drew Pearson’s secretary, Opal Ginnis
-Committee call for testimony
-Marlow W. Cook
-Beard relationship with Ginnis
-Cook’s questions
-Tactics
-Compared to Hiss case
-Cook’s daughter’s wedding
-Letter
-Richard W. McLaren
-“Face the Nation” appearance
-ITT growth
-John F. Kennedy administration
-Lyndon B. Johnson administration
-Harold S. Geneen’s statement
-Antitrust policy
-Walter’s article in Washington Star
-Content
-Testimony
-Mitchell
-Congressional hearings
-James O. Eastland
-Testimony
-Testimony
-Robert C. Wilson
-Edwin Reinecke
-Robert H. Finch
-Edgar Gillenwaters
-Democrats
-Richard G. Kleindienst
-Confirmation
-Congressional hearings
-Mitchell
-Eastland
-McLaren
-Settlement
-Press comment
-Antitrust
-Kennedy and Johnson administrations
-Robert F. Kennedy
-Ramsey Clark
-Mitchell
-Hiss case
-Karl E. Mundt
-Clawson
-Colson investigation
-Florida primary concern
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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 1m 9s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
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ITT case
-Typewriter
-Need for analysis
-BeardNo transcript is available for this conversation. The audio may not contain audible speech, or the recording may not yet have been processed.