Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 225 › Conversation 225-004

Nixon phone call with Colson on Personnel appointments and Cabinet selection

Tuesday, November 14, 1972 · 7:34 PM–7:42 PM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation225-004 on Tape 225StartTuesday, November 14, 1972 at 7:34 PMEndTuesday, November 14, 1972 at 7:42 PMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 225-004 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson discuss potential appointments for the second administration, specifically focusing on the strategic selection of a Catholic businessman for a congressional-liaison type role. Nixon emphasizes the importance of balancing his cabinet and appointments to reflect 'Middle America' while maneuvering around the influence of labor leaders. The conversation concludes with a brief reflection on recent campaign momentum and the objective of positioning loyal figures in key administrative posts.

Audio

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello.
Chuck, where'd I hit you, Paul?
Oh, yeah.
Well, how's it going?
Good.
We have a mixture of people, you know, so they really have a balance to do with the whole thing.
And they're fair-minded people.
I want to hand this on to Steve, and we've got a real reading.
do a read about the clear egg campaign he's uh apparently celebrating but uh they uh Michael Lasker said that all the dvd cameras are on there at 3 20 3 25 that he that he started to shout four more years and they yelled four more years Al Garten said that uh questions next victory in the market next market and I got over the
It doesn't matter much in terms of, I only went up about six points, but breaking that sound barrier is something that's like four miles.
Let me ask you something.
Is query a possibility, or would you consider it a conference job?
You'd like to be asked, I'm sure, at any event.
Probably figures that he's got, you know, ready to hike his career and all that sort of thing.
Yeah, but we could, uh, I'd like to get a good, uh, frankly, get a Catholic businessman in that job.
That would be a very good place to have him.
This is, you know, Congressmen.
It's not bad.
OK.
It's all right.
He's more middle America, really.
See what I have in mind.
I think we ought to have both that and labor.
Cutting the whole meaning says he didn't want a labor hitter.
And that's obvious, because he doesn't want anybody but him to be the labor man.
I think it really was a shocking bad thing where he said the country lost.
And I rather think that, I don't want to come too honest, but I think someone like Goldwater is a modest job line when that's what he does.
That's good.
Good.
I think it's just special that I never know himself up a little.
I'll take it over.
Okay.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On November 14, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 7:34 pm to 7:42 pm. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 225-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 225-4

Date: November 14, 1972
Time: 7:34 pm - 7:42 pm
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

[See Conversation No. 153-26]

Also recorded on November 15, 1972

  • 153-026 7:34 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone at Camp David from 7:34 pm to 7:42 pm.
  • 225-005 7:42 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 7:42 pm and 8:54 pm.
  • 153-027 9:00 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:00 am and 9:08 am.
  • 225-007 9:00 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:00 am and 9:08 am.
  • 225-008 9:00 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:00 am and 9:08 am.
  • 153-028 9:08 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at Camp David from 9:08 am to 9:14 am.
  • 225-009 9:08 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 9:08 am to 9:14 am.
  • 225-010 9:14 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 9:50 am.

All 22 conversations from November 15, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 225-004, November 15, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/225-004 (accessed October 9, 2026).