Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 21 › Conversation 021-127

Nixon phone call with an unidentified caller on Charles W. Colson

Tuesday, March 21, 1972 · 1:09 PM–11:19 PM ET · White House Telephone

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation021-127 on Tape 21 (tape position 04:28:46–04:28:52)StartTuesday, March 21, 1972 at 1:09 PMEndTuesday, March 21, 1972 at 11:19 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 021-127 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon contacted the White House operator to facilitate a telephone connection with his special counsel, Charles W. Colson. The brief exchange served as a routine administrative request to initiate communication between the President and a key advisor. No substantive policy matters or further action items were discussed during this initial connection.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.8 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 71.1 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 04:28:46 into the tape and ends around 04:28:52.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

2:32:11Thank you, President.
2:32:14Hello.
2:32:15Yes, sir, Mr. President.
2:32:16Well, are you surviving?
2:32:18Oh, yes.
2:32:19Yes, indeed.
2:32:19Surviving well, as a matter of fact.

NARA Description

On March 21, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:09 pm and 11:19 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 021-127 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 21-127

Date: March 21, 1972
Time: Unknown between 1:09 pm and 11:19 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

     Request for a call to Charles W. Colson

Also recorded on March 21, 1972

  • 690-014 12:36 PM · 10 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:36 pm and 12:38 pm.
  • 690-009 12:38 PM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:38 pm and 12:43 pm.
  • 690-010 12:38 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:38 pm and 12:43 pm.
  • 690-015 12:43 PM · 17 sec — United States Secret Service agents and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:43 pm and 1:00 pm.
  • 021-124 1:00 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:00 pm and 1:03 pm.
  • 021-125 1:00 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:00 pm and 1:03 pm.
  • 690-011 1:00 PM · 1 hr 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, White House operator, George P. Shultz, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:00 pm to 2:15 pm.
  • 021-126 1:03 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz talked on the telephone from 1:03 pm to 1:09 pm.

All 31 conversations from March 21, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 021-127, March 21, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/021-127 (accessed October 3, 2026).