{"conversationCode":"137-003","tapeNumber":137,"conversationNumber":3,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-137-003","startDateTime":"1972-08-11T22:14:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-08-11T22:35:00.000Z","startDate":"11-Aug-1972","startTime":"6:14 PM","endDate":"11-Aug-1972","endTime":"6:35 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.;","description":"On August 11, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone at Camp David from 6:14 pm to 6:35 pm. The Camp David Study Table taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 137-003 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"CDST","recordingDevice":"Camp David Study Table","latitudeEstimated":39.648333,"longitudeEstimated":-77.465,"chronCode":4,"chronRelease":"Fourth Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"10-Dec-2003","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 137-3\n\nDate: August 11, 1972\nTime: 6:14 pm - 6:35 pm\nLocation: Camp David Study Table\n\nThe President talked with the Charles W. Colson.\n\n[See Conversation No. 201-1]\n\n     [Unintelligible]\n\n     William P. Rogers\n          -W. Ramsey Clark\n                -Remarks concerning the President’s Vietnam policies\n                     -US casualties\n          -George S. McGovern\n                -John N. Mitchell\n\n*****************************************************************\n\nBEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2\n[Personal Returnable]\n[Duration: 17m 29s ]\n\nEND WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2\n\n*****************************************************************","filename":["137-003.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Colson, Charles W."],"prevCode":"137-002","nextCode":"137-004","transcript":[{"start":10.21,"end":11.77,"text":"What he said about Clark was just beautiful."},{"start":11.83,"end":25.13,"text":"He said, to hear the voice of a former U.S. Attorney General, a man involved in the decisions which sent a half a million men to North Vietnam, now criticizing Nixon's policies while American airmen are still being killed in action, to me is contemptible."},{"start":25.21,"end":26.39,"text":"To me it is beyond belief."},{"start":26.45,"end":28.33,"text":"I would think the American people would be shocked."},{"start":28.39,"end":30.83,"text":"He was really very good."},{"start":31.86,"end":34.62,"text":"He didn't attack McGovern, but of course that's understandable."},{"start":35.58,"end":37.36,"text":"We'll get Mitchell to do that tomorrow."},{"start":38.08,"end":42.42,"text":"demand that mcgovern repudiate the uh right the statements"}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Charles Colson strategized on how to politically weaponize former Attorney General Ramsey Clark’s recent criticisms of the administration’s Vietnam policies. They viewed Clark’s public opposition as hypocritical given his own role in escalating the conflict, and planned to use these remarks to shock the public. As a follow-up action, they agreed to task John Mitchell with pressuring George McGovern to either address or repudiate Clark’s controversial statements.","topics":["Vietnam War","Ramsey Clark","George McGovern","John Mitchell","Public relations strategy","Election politics"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T08:34:44.030Z"},"topicSlugs":["vietnam-war","ramsey-clark","george-mcgovern","john-mitchell","public-relations-strategy","election-politics"],"audioDurationSec":56,"audioFiles":[{"file":"137-003.mp3","bytes":1335378,"durationSec":55.57,"bitrate":192232,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:32.998Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/137-003.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/137-003","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/137/conversation-137-003","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}