Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 211 › Conversation 211-022

Nixon phone call with Colson on Campaign strategy and Wage and price controls

Sunday, September 17, 1972 · 1:53 PM–2:22 PM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 15 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation211-022 on Tape 211StartSunday, September 17, 1972 at 1:53 PMEndSunday, September 17, 1972 at 2:22 PMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 211-022 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 648453196 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson discussed campaign strategy, focusing on attacking the opponent's record on wage and price controls and highlighting his association with radical figures. They also discussed the importance of reprinting and widely circulating John Connally's recent speech, and the need for candidates to update their financial disclosures to avoid negative press.

Audio

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This clip of the conversation was cut from the tape by the National Archives (catalog record ↗).

NARA Description

On September 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 1:53 pm to 2:22 pm. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 211-022 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 211-22

Date: September 17, 1972
Time: 1:53 pm - 2:22 pm
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

[See Conversation no. 143-9; one item has been withdrawn from this conversation]

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was made by an AI model listening to the recording (gemini-3.8-flash) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Speaker names are the model's inference from the voices and the participant list. Words and names can still be wrong — verify against the audio and the finding aid before citing.

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NixonHello?
NixonYou having a quiet Sunday?
NixonFooling in your backyard, huh? That's good. That's good. Where do you live?
NixonI lost I lost my take on there. McLean? They must float freeway out there, doesn't it?
NixonYeah. That must be a be a good choice. So much better than living in that miserable Georgetown. Full of rats and Oh God, you know, I think Secret Service is afraid to go through there.
NixonYeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, how's the How's the stuff play today?
NixonThe predictable thing, I guess. Yeah. But a whitewash and so forth. But I think somebody honest must've said, "Now, look, either put up or shut up." Gibbs, and I saw that.
NixonLet it go a week, I think. Maybe you're right, I rather than two, one or two days because like I did. It's people may just you never know, people may tire of it.
UnknownOkay, bye.
UnknownOkay.
UnknownBye.
UnknownOkay, bye-bye.
UnknownOkay.
UnknownBye-bye.
UnknownBye.
UnknownBye.
UnknownBye.
UnknownBye-bye.
UnknownBye.
NixonThat's right.
Unknown[unintelligible]
NixonYeah. And stay off of this.
NixonRight. And And also next week, too, I understand, well, and the following week to start hitting him again on defense. He's laying he's laying off the big issues.
Unknown[unintelligible]
ColsonYeah.
UnknownHave a good time at the Hi, Tanya.
ColsonOh, look. Keep it down, hon.
UnknownThey love you.
UnknownOkay, I'll see you tomorrow. See you tomorrow. Bye.
ColsonAll right.
NixonWell, I think that and I think if everybody hits him for a week, well, first, the press is bound to start having to cover some of it, too. If we put it [unintelligible] and if they attack him in a coordinated way, and he didn't find finally they've been talking about that subject.
NixonThey might even needle him and say, "Why is he being so quiet about that subject?" That might be a way to get out of it, because really, truly, he's he's not talking much about that. The wage price thing, though, I'd clobber the hell out of him on that. That is [laughter]
Unknown[unintelligible]
NixonJust Just get everybody get some guys up in the Congress. But just yeah, I just just passage all surrogates hit him on the wage-price thing this week, and just crack the hell out of him. Uh-huh.
ColsonGood idea.
NixonThat's good.
NixonBecause if they don't, we know they aren't going to hurt us, they're going to worse position. Yeah.
NixonRight.
NixonWell, I don't I just say, but we'll just keep Right.
UnknownWhen you're ready, let's go.
NixonYeah. What do you think Shriver's going to do about his uh
Nixonhis financial statement? Do you think he's going to cover his wife, as well as himself?
NixonI hope everybody's getting set getting set to do that. And, also, as Ehrlichman said, they ought to call on him, whatever the update is. Do that, then. Don't do anything that could pull any one of ours up.
NixonI think he should update it, though. Yeah. That's right.
NixonDoes that include, though, some of the wife? Did he Or did he He hit it flatly, see, if he don't hit it flatly, they aren't going to get the point.
ColsonAha.
NixonRight.
NixonThey are going to learn that this business of uh running up and trying to have their little conversations with everybody, and the press is standing there is just is just as dangerous as hell. Right.
NixonWe aren't going to be amateurs. We're just We just continue to to uh run our ship as if uh we're just tight as hell. That's what we want to do and uh not give an inch. Apparently this uh program of going around, and, you know, the canvassing that got quite a bit of play, didn't it? Yes, that's a good thing to show activity on our part.
NixonDo you think they're putting that uh trying to build that surrogate thing into an issue? The media?
NixonCouldn't bother me a bit.
NixonSure.
NixonHe hasn't had Not yet, do you think? He uh You can't do it with just snarl and, you know, you've got to be sort of a good guy to be an underdog. Yeah. And he can't be whining all the time. He's sort of complaining and petulant. An underdog that isn't the way an underdog, was it? An underdog is sort of sort of got to be sort of a, you know, good.
NixonBe like like Hubert.
NixonSnarling he fought. And uh Yeah. And uh And And And uh Hubert Humphrey just smiled and said, "Look, you know," he smiled and laughed and said, "Well, gee whiz." Laugh at himself. This fellow isn't laughing at himself at all.
ColsonNot at all.
ColsonThey voted for him in the primary.
NixonThat's- that's a real cut, a real switch.
ColsonApple's reporting it.
NixonApple's really a hawk for whoever you know,
ColsonYeah.
Nixonis positive.
ColsonYeah. Yeah.
ColsonYeah.
NixonThe Daily News, Daily News editorials, the Washington Post editorials know they're not banging on us, in fact, uh, and I'm not going to let them dig their graves because, uh, they're they're going to come the election, they're going to come around and say,"Well, now that's all over and, sir, we have a new
Nixonrelationship." And we're- we're going to say, "Fine, fine, just go seek it elsewhere before choosing your press.
NixonThey've gotten- They They I really think, you know, the Times has been permitted for so long, and so many candidates, where they kick them and then happen, and they think they're so powerful, it don't matter, they don't realize that this is a different game now.
NixonBecause even we treated them reasonably well after the 1968 elections. We shouldn't, but we did. They're not going to be treated that way anymore.
ColsonAll right, well that's fine.
NixonWell, try to get in on that news conference, but they're- they're finished now, and, uh, they've had the needle four years to try, and they've finished themselves.
ColsonThat's it.
NixonAnd, uh, as a matter of fact, [coughs] I think what you will find is that the reason Chafee backed off that, huh, story was that and uh uh, Rosenthal Frankel, Frankel, of course, is basically on all of the other night.
NixonAnd, uh, so Rosenthal Frankel and Chafee, they're fighting to get back on, you know. That's what I get.
ColsonWhite passed along the Rosenthal, so I irritate irritated about Frankel. Frankel's very slim guy. Smart. Believes in things for us.
NixonHe- He had- He got to Chafee and told Chafee that this is murder and got Chafee to back off the story.
NixonWell, it might be well.
ColsonYeah, but, no, I think this whole thing they all stick together.
NixonBut, anyway,
ColsonThat's good.
NixonYeah. Yeah.
ColsonYeah.
NixonDidn't pick up that now. How about Connally's speech? Did they pick up it at all?
ColsonNot really, no.
NixonWell, that's what's what all they respect.
NixonWe better make it because that was a hell of a good speech.
NixonWell, it is it is picked to go, if you want, to get out. Well, no. I think that the thing to do is to just go for the best you can, but don't don't have a small story. Kill a big one, that's the main thing. The Connally story is so good.
NixonI want that Connally speech reprinted, and broadly circulated throughout the country in all media.
ColsonOh, he will do it. He will do it.
NixonYeah, because it's it's a marvelous story, it's a marvelous one for Democrats, it's marvelous for editorial writers, you know, a lot of Tories.
ColsonYeah.
ColsonMade for mailing.
NixonRight.
ColsonGreat. That's the thing that he may he may just start taking that off, so.
NixonAnd I want to see- be sure you get Connally's stuff off on the center, you know.
ColsonOh, it will. I mean, if he's on he'll be on national television twice next week, won't he? Five minutes.
NixonOh, good.
ColsonYeah. Yeah.
NixonWell, I know they're good.
ColsonYeah.
NixonYeah. Yeah.
NixonHow about a how Because I hope that somebody's really getting, getting that together for us.
NixonI would think that's what, uh, Chuck was working on that, and what, but what may be done.
Nixon[unintelligible]
NixonNow it's their venue, not ours, which is good. Right. And he's taking them on.
NixonIt's just daylight out.
NixonWell, we've uh I think, this week, just keep uh
Nixonuh, I've stay on out of wage price. You probably heard that too, last week.
NixonYeah. Good. The farm tractors this week. I don't see how he can make too much of it. It's only It's only where he is.
ColsonYour- Your polls would indicate that, too. Yeah.
ColsonIndicates it's just about where it was, too.
ColsonBeat the whip, right?
NixonWell, please remind me, I just like seeing that, particularly the kind of people that come out for him.
ColsonThat's right, and that'll turn off some other people.
NixonRight.
ColsonRight.
NixonYeah, we we've got to keep that permissive stuff alive, just keep reminding people of that you know, the marijuana and the and everything on it.
NixonAmnesty, the soft, because that's really what censors him.
NixonAnd the people around him, the people around him, that's another thing.
NixonI mean the fact I I think one real nutcracker should be,
Nixonline, you know, that Rizzo gives is that through all these guys are his supporters, Jerry Rubin, and Abbie Hoffman, and, uh, Clark, and the, you know, terrible people and and and, uh,
Nixonuh, the, uh, Jane Fonda, they are his supporters. Dellinger.
ColsonThat's right.
NixonWell, damn, we're not people who will find that in this country.
ColsonWell anyway, we shall see. I'm going over to see the Italians now.
NixonYeah.
ColsonOkay.

Also recorded on September 17, 1972

  • 143-005 11:28 AM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 11:28 am and 11:30 am.
  • 143-007 11:30 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Lt. Col. William L. Golden talked on the telephone at Camp David from 11:30 am to 11:31 am.
  • 211-018 11:30 AM · 58 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Lt. Col. William L. Golden met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 11:30 am to 11:31 am.
  • 211-019 1:00 PM · 4 min — Julie Nixon Eisenhower and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 1:00 pm and 1:25 pm.
  • 143-008 1:25 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 1:25 pm and 1:53 pm.
  • 211-020 1:25 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 1:25 pm and 1:53 pm.
  • 211-021 1:25 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 1:25 pm and 1:53 pm.
  • 143-009 1:53 PM · 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone at Camp David from 1:53 pm to 2:22 pm.

All 18 conversations from September 17, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 211-022, September 17, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 648453196). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/211-022 (accessed November 2, 2026).