Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 24 › Conversation 024-118

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

Monday, May 15, 1972 · 8:18 PM–9:16 PM ET · White House Telephone

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation024-118 on Tape 24 (tape position 02:22:32–02:22:37)StartMonday, May 15, 1972 at 8:18 PMEndMonday, May 15, 1972 at 9:16 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 024-118 ↗

President Nixon contacted the White House operator to facilitate a telephone connection with special counsel Charles W. Colson. This administrative interaction served as a logistical step to initiate a direct communication with a key member of the President's inner circle. No further details regarding the substance of the intended conversation are available.

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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 02:22:32 into the tape and ends around 02:22:37.

No transcript is available yet for this conversation. The recording may contain no audible speech, or it may not have been processed.

On May 15, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:18 pm and 9:16 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 024-118 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 24-118

Date: May 15, 1972
Time: Unknown between 8:18 pm and 9:16 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with the White House operator.

[See also Conversation No. 339-7]

     Request for a call to Charles W. Colson
  • 024-116 8:15 PM · 3 min — W. Mark Felt and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone from 8:15 pm to 8:18 pm.
  • 024-117 8:18 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:18 pm and 9:16 pm.
  • 024-119 8:18 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:18 pm and 9:16 pm.
  • 024-120 8:18 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:18 pm and 9:16 pm.
  • 339-006 8:18 PM · 50 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:18 pm and 9:16 pm.
  • 339-007 8:18 PM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:18 pm and 9:16 pm.
  • 339-008 8:18 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:18 pm and 9:16 pm.
  • 339-009 8:18 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:18 pm and 9:16 pm.

Conversation 024-118, May 16, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/024-118 (accessed October 9, 2026).