Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 35 › Conversation 035-007

Nixon phone call with Colson on Henry Kissinger and Charles H. Percy

Tuesday, December 26, 1972 · 6:13 PM–6:17 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation035-007 on Tape 35StartTuesday, December 26, 1972 at 6:13 PMEndTuesday, December 26, 1972 at 6:17 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 035-007 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon instructed Charles Colson to contact H.R. Haldeman to express the President's intense displeasure regarding National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger’s recent meeting with Senator Charles Percy. Nixon demanded that Haldeman strictly warn Kissinger to cease all unauthorized media contacts and meetings while in Palm Springs to protect the administration's image and sensitive Vietnam policy negotiations. The President voiced concerns that Kissinger’s personal vanity and social interactions threatened to undermine his authority and leak classified information.

Audio

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NARA Description

On December 26, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 6:13 pm to 6:17 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 035-007 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 35-7

Date: December 26, 1972
Time: 6:13 pm - 6:17 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

       The President’s attempted call to H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman

       The President’s schedule
            -1973 Inaugural speech

       Instructions for Colson to call H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
             -The President’s attempted telephone call to Haldeman
                                        -11-

            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                           Conversation No. 35-7 (cont’d)

            -California
            -The President’s schedule
                  -1973 Inaugural speech
      -Instructions for Haldeman

Henry A. Kissinger
     -Recent meeting with Charles H. Percy
          -Palm Springs
                -Press contacts
          -Colson
          -John A. Scali
          -Duration
          -William E. Timmon’s contracts’ reaction
          -Reaction of supporters
                -Democrats, Republicans
                      -Kissinger’s schedule

Kissinger
      -Possible future statements
            -Columnists
            -Scali's recent meeting with Colson
                   -Scali’s view
                          -Kissinger’s interest in historical image
                                -Compared to Kissinger’s interest in the President
      -Public relations [PR]
            -Outlook
      -Effect on administration's policy in Vietnam
            -Percy
            -California
            -Jill St. John
                   -North Vietnam
      -Instructions for Colson to call Haldeman
            -Instructions for Haldeman
                   -Telephone calls to Timmons’s office
                   -Percy's trip to Asia
                   -Percy’s statement on Vietnam
                   -Percy’s voting record
                   -Conversations
                                               -12-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

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.

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So, yes, sir, Mr. President.
Chuck, I just wanted you to follow up on something because I tried to call Haldeman.
He's on his way to California, and I didn't want to bother with it because I'm going to be working on the inaugural for the balance of the next four days.
But I want you to call him when he gets in California and tell him of my really great distress about Henry seeing Percy.
and that uh we really that bob personally has got to take charge of this and really scare the hell out of henry while he's in palm springs that he must not must not must not talk to anybody while he's there what do you think oh i think that's a i think it's extremely important you can't get it across scally can't nobody else but bob can bob's got to scare him with an inch of his life that i was shocked and and once you say that your record show
but our records show he saw percy for an hour or what henry believed that no that's that's right it would show down it would show for actually he was in there for 45 minutes but it would show that he was here for now for almost an hour to say almost an hour and i'm just shocked and that we've and just raise hell say timon's people are raising hell about it that we've had uh all of our supporters
whether it's true or not is irrelevant.
The point is that all of our supporters, Democrats and Republicans, saying, what the Christ, Henry kissed, we have requests him to see him, he doesn't see him.
And Henry has got to shut up now, okay?
I'll do it, Mr. President.
What do you do?
Don't you think it's a good idea to... You see, what I'm trying to do is shut him up on other things, too, with the goddamn colonists, huh?
Well, I think it's more than a good idea.
I think it's vital, really, because I think Henry...
Listen, I talked to Scali again just a few minutes ago, and
He's very sensitive to this point.
He said, you know, Henry is just so goddamn obsessed with his own image and his own place in history that he said, I don't think he's worried about the president at all.
I think he's worried about himself.
I think it's important that he know that we are aware of things like this.
Yeah, you tell Skelly to play the other line.
Oh, Skelly, he's...
He's probably pleased to pinch.
Well, he's all the way with us, and he's just...
It's going to work out, you know.
Let me tell you, I'm not going to tell you what's happening, but I know what's happening, and it's going to work out.
I'm convinced it's going to.
The point is, Henry can screw it up by all this goddamn...
You know, pandering to the Percys, and when he gets out to California, to the Jill St. Johns and all those bitches, because they'll leak to North Vietnam.
Let's face it.
Oh, absolutely.
And that's what he never seems to understand.
But this is a good, this will be a...
I want you to call Bob.
You tell him he should get Henry and say, this is a shocking thing.
Tell him there have been 30 calls into Tim's office raising hell about it, why they see Percy.
And Henry will say, well, he just took a trip abroad.
Shit, everybody takes trips abroad.
Yeah, that's the standard.
With God.
But the point is, Percy made a nice statement about Vietnam.
Everybody's made.
When was he there when we wanted him?
That's right.
When we ever needed him.
I heard he wasn't there.
Don't you agree?
Oh, absolutely.
Poor Torham now.
Poor Torham, very hard.
He used to shut his goddamn mouth for a week.
Well, we'll do it.
And this probably will be a healthy thing because we'll use this to keep him quiet, which we damn well ought to do.
Well, I'll get hold of him when he gets in tonight, sir.
You'll have a little fun with it, too.
Okay.
Okay, boy.
We'll do it.
Thank you, Mr. President.

Also recorded on December 26, 1972

  • 035-001 4:27 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:27 pm and 4:36 pm.
  • 035-002 4:36 PM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 4:36 pm to 4:52 pm.
  • 035-003 4:58 PM · 14 min — Charles W. Colson and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone from 4:58 pm to 5:12 pm.
  • 035-004 5:12 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:12 pm and 5:13 pm.
  • 035-005 5:13 PM · 11 sec — the White House operator and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at 5:13 pm.
  • 035-006 6:08 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:08 pm and 6:13 pm.
  • 035-008 6:17 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:17 pm and 6:47 pm.
  • 035-009 6:47 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George E. Allen talked on the telephone from 6:47 pm to 6:56 pm.

Cite this conversation

Conversation 035-007, December 26, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/035-007 (accessed November 2, 2026).