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Conversation 158-047

TapeTape 158StartSaturday, December 30, 1972 at 12:06 PMEndSaturday, December 30, 1972 at 12:15 PMParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Colson, Charles W.Recording deviceCamp David Study Table
AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles W. Colson discussed the administration's strategic management of congressional and media relations during the Vietnam War, specifically regarding the cessation of bombing north of the 20th Parallel. They addressed political friction caused by public statements from figures such as Senator William B. Saxbe and coordinated efforts to engage influential opinion makers and legislators to secure support. The conversation emphasized the necessity of maintaining a firm, unified political stance against criticism while navigating the complex editorial landscape.

Vietnam WarCongressional relationsPress relationsWilliam B. SaxbeHenry KissingerBombing policy
AudioNARA Description

On December 30, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone at Camp David from 12:06 pm to 12:15 pm. The Camp David Study Table taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 158-047 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 158-47

Date: December 30, 1972
Time: 12:06 pm - 12:15 pm
Location: Camp David Study Table

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

[See Conversation No. 238-9]

       Vietnam War
            -Cessation of US bombing north of 20th Parallel
                 -Announcement
                        -Henry A. Kissinger’s view
                              -John A. Scali
                 -Kissinger’s telephone calls
                        -John C. Stennis
                        -Hugh Scott
                              -Negotiations
                        -Gerald R. Ford
                 -Congressional relations
                        -Telephone calls
                              -William E. Timmons and Thomas C. Korologos
                              -Colson
                              -Scali
                              -Charles H. Percy
                              -Robert A. Taft, Jr.
                                     -The President’s 1952 “secret fund” controversy
                                           -Robert A. Taft, Sr.
                                     -William B. Saxbe
                        -Saxbe’s statements
                              -Response
                                     -Clark MacGregor
                                           -Ohio
                                     -Request for apology
                                     -Columbus Dispatch
                                           -Preston Wolfe
                                           -Editor, Carl DeBlum
                          -61-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                     (rev. May-08)

                                          Conversation No. 158-47 (cont’d)

                               -Editorials
                               -Possible call from Herbert G. Klein
                               -Possible call from Kenneth W. Clawson
                  -Expression of regret
                  -Newsman
                  -Samuel L. Devine
                         -Compared to Donald E. Lukens
                  -Clarence J. (“Bud”) Brown, Jr.
                  -Robert Taft, Sr.
                  -Timing
      -Telephone calls
             -Korologos
             -Democrats
-The President’s call to Kissinger
      -Timing
-Announcement
      -Kissinger’s view
-Telephone calls
      -Opinion makers
             -Howard K. Smith
                  -Scali
      -The President’s conversation with Scali
-Press relations
      -Criticism of US bombing of North Vietnam
             -Washington Star editorial page
                  -Crosby S. Noyes
                  -Blacks
                  -Washington Post
                  -The President’s interview with Garnett D. (“Jack”)
                   Horner, November 5, 1972
                  -Smith Hempstone
                  -Noyes’s conversation with Scali
                  -Timing
-Saxbe’s statements
-Harvard University
      -Kissinger
-Colson’s call to Daniel P. (“Pat”) Moynihan
-The President’s call to Colson
      -Timing
                                                -62-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                        (rev. May-08)
Transcript (AI-Generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

I'm Fred, I'm at the Colts.
Okay.
Hello.
Our temperature was, uh, typically, uh, how you, uh, you know, on a 3-4, you know, we can do.
Just make sure we're in this period.
I think we're all doing very well.
Time's great today.
Hope you're good.
We've got a lot of time tonight.
You know, Henry is now doing very happy.
He's been just talking to you like you're such a good man.
I never know you.
Okay.
Yeah.
And he said he was good.
I was really happy.
And when he said that, he said that I was good.
It's the latest.
It's been happy.
You're a great friend of his.
He's a great man.
He's a great man.
He's such a great man.
It's the latest.
I'm happy now that I've just been able to hold those people in my arms.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know if you were just pretending to call over to the crowd and, you know, you and Stella can join in and, you know, help, and, you know, you can even just be one around them.
Oh, I see.
And then you'd be well to be called, you know, just in the line.
I don't know if you could take it very well.
It's pretty cold here.
It is.
It is cold.
Is that a whole different thing?
Is that a different thing?
No, no, it is.
It's a different weather situation.
Yeah, I know, but we're in Oklahoma.
You can say Bob.
You can say first.
I could do a little bit of what the president said to me.
He told me that he had a few come out, and also the violence in W.C. where the president died on the medical floor.
But I recall the fact that I may not have been able to find controversy in 1952.
But those names speak up.
My defense is as strong as his.
And I just remember that when I was a nine-year-old, everyone up in there around me asked me to get back to work on some life savings before I got to be running.
And let me tell you now what happened.
Maybe he could just try to take things a little easier.
You cannot let the right wing of the military, you cannot let the left wing get away with it.
You have to stop, stop, or you have to be careful.
Now the other thing is, get away with a very good argument, but it's always the Ohio security guard.
And I don't think you're going to have any political people around anymore, do you?
I can't wish about that.
That's my point of view.
I don't know.
Alright, now we're moving out of the way on the left side of the bus.
I think he's got to come around and say, like, hey, what's your statement on this?
Yeah.
I will not support them.
I will not support them.
Yeah, I don't think that's wrong.
That's wrong.
Yeah.
I'll do it.
I'll do it.
I'll do it.
I'll do it.
No, no, no, no.
You know, I mean, I need to make the right choice.
By the way, so what happened there?
It's very difficult to control.
You know, he's a little lost.
He said the editorial page of The Bay is very difficult.
So that's only a fact.
I don't see that part of the time that's going to be there.
It's critical that they read editorial pages about it.
Yes, sir.
The only thing is, it's going to be a collection that has surely been stolen.
Thanks for talking about it.
Thank you.
I'll be back.
We just got a time figure out.
Yes, sir.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
They're all down where the end of the line is.
They're not going to accommodate a small wave here.
I'll get there.
We'll be fine now.
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