Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 24 › Conversation 024-165

Nixon phone call with Colson on Vietnam War and Public Relations

Saturday, May 20, 1972 · 8:27 AM–8:33 AM ET · White House Telephone · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation024-165 on Tape 24 (tape position 04:14:21–04:20:30)StartSaturday, May 20, 1972 at 8:27 AMEndSaturday, May 20, 1972 at 8:33 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 024-165 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon directed Charles Colson to maintain daily coordination with Alexander Haig to manage the public relations strategy surrounding the Vietnam War. The President emphasized the need to leak confidential reports regarding North Vietnamese morale to the press without revealing their origin to bolster support for South Vietnamese efforts. Additionally, the pair discussed upcoming publicity for the President's Soviet trip and plans for his visit with George Wallace.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 18% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Well, I had a couple of things that you might have in mind over Don.
Keep in close touch with Haig every day as to things you can do on the military front.
You know what I mean, on the news and the morale of the South and so forth and so on.
There are confidential reports that come in from time to time about morale problems in the North.
Get those out without having them attributed to the understands.
Bye.
Thank you.
Right.
Right.
Good.
Very good.
Good.
Very good.
Very good.
you're going to get harder on the weekend about what they said i think this situation
Well, we'll be off in a few minutes, so keep the old fire burning.
We'll see you in about 10 days.
Maybe 11 days.
We'll see.
Right, right.

NARA Description

On May 20, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:27 am to 8:33 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 024-165 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 24-165

Date: May 20, 1972
Time: 8:27 am - 8:33 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

     Vietnam
          -Colson's activities
               -Meetings with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
                     -Public release of reports
                            -Morale of South Vietnamese
                            -Morale of North Vietnamese

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 4m 19s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2

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     Haig
             -Colson's forthcoming contacts

     Soviet trip
          -Publicity

     Press
             -Colson's activities

     Wallace
          -The President's visit
               -Harry S. Dent
               -Publicity

     The President's schedule

Also recorded on May 20, 1972

  • 024-164 12:00 AM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:00 am and 8:27 am.
  • 024-166 8:33 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:33 am and 8:35 am.
  • 024-167 8:35 AM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Marjorie P. Acker talked on the telephone from 8:35 am to 8:36 am.

Cite this conversation

Conversation 024-165, May 20, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/024-165 (accessed October 9, 2026).