Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 255 › Conversation 255-004
Nixon & Colson on Public Relations and Law Enforcement
Friday, June 4, 1971 · 2:34 PM–2:54 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 7 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and Charles Colson discuss strategies for managing public relations and media narratives surrounding the administration's policy initiatives, particularly regarding law enforcement and Vietnam veterans. They review the political impact of recent meetings between the President and national police chiefs and sheriffs, viewing these engagements as successful tools for garnering support. The conversation reflects on the importance of sustaining media interest in key issues to maintain political momentum through the upcoming election cycle.
Audio
NARA Description
On June 4, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:34 pm to 2:54 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 255-004 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 255-4 Date: June 4, 1971 Time: 2:34 pm - 2:54 pm Location: Executive Office Building The President talked with Charles W. Colson ****************************************************************************** [Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 03/13/2019. Segment cleared for release.] [Personal Returnable] [255-004-w002] [Duration: 21s] [See Conversation No. 4-32] ****************************************************************************** ****************************************************************************** [Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 03/13/2019. Segment cleared for release.] [Personal Returnable] [255-004-w001] [Duration: 1m 20s] [See Conversation No. 4-32] ****************************************************************************** ****************************************************************************** [Previous PRMPA Privacy (D) reviewed under PRMPA regulations 03/13/2019. Segment cleared for release.] [Privacy] [255-004-w003] [Duration: 7s] [See Conversation No. 4-32] ****************************************************************************** [End of telephone conversation]
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.
Well, I already got to get along.
That's all.
Oh, yeah, yeah, I'll get close.
I think that's when I tell them, I say, oh, we'll take it equal time.
I think, you know, we'll do it around, you know, January, February, and then, you know, September.
They haven't given up.
Sometimes I want to thank them.
They think we've done the right thing.
That's something.
I don't want to pick up on this potential candidate.
It's too late.
It's too important.
I'm sure that we'd get some Vietnam veterans under these candidates.
But all of us were just World War II veterans.
I was fresh out of World War II.
Jack Henry was a whole bunch of them.
Vietnam veterans, big time.
And I think that black hole with Murphy made the story bigger.
And actually, Murphy, I would have had a son of a bitch there, because of David Wilson.
I didn't make the decision, but I was delighted to mention him.
Thank you for saying that.
He took Jerry Wilson on board.
There, a police chief was fine in the meeting, too.
A Boston police chief.
He was real good.
Those chiefs, they were refreshing.
They never met in the White House before, you know?
Well, you know, no president ever sat down with the police chiefs and sheriffs of the nation to do that.
They said, we have never had it.
I mean, it would be just so overwhelming.
You invited us to carry it for us.
We're willing to sit for a moment and stand.
Well, for Christ's sake, that's a hell of a move.
And boy, I have to tell you, we were, we had to, we had to turn it in.
This time, they were the chiefs.
They were the sheriffs.
One day, they were just, and the other day, they were gun owners.
One of them said, I've heard this, and the other said, you know, I'm not going to press for any of this.
If you do it now, we're going to have an accident.
You know, that's what happened.
We could just, uh, we gotta keep repeating the story.
Keep it around, you know, if you make a little blip and it drops off in the water, we'll find a way to get it from 762 to 175.
We probably had some fun, mainly because the press kept asking questions.
If they, if the pressure dropped, I mean, there's one answer.
But the batteries were about bigger than that.
So they kept hitting it.
And while I was alive, while they asked it, I was told they'd ask it again.
I tried to stick to it.
I, I, I don't, I never believed it.
We had to realize a little controversy was on our hands.
The only way to get to the point.
And the crack of that, we finally got across the point.
It was for a great reason.
We were strong on that issue.
That's the breast.
Okay.
Now he bit you, huh?
Show me a little how they're going with this.
Yeah, they're going to be musky-ness and deep-ness.
That's the reason.
That's the reason for the government to stop.
Yeah, that's the thing is that
I'm trying to affect the closure of all of them.
All of the Jews in the state of Colorado are who was catching on later.
The Democrats gained some airships, so us gave them up then.
So, you know, they're carrying a lot of companies.
Yes, that's right.
That's right.
I didn't, I didn't, y'all know what I'm doing.
I think there's a campaign going on.
I don't know.
We're going to take a break.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
I think that's intellectuals, right?
The war has overrided the other nations.
And you had to search for that piece of stuff.
I mean, yeah, the factory pulled some of the wood, I expect, and they pulled that thing, and they bounced it off to the fire, and, uh... Oh, well, yes, they did get it.
But the guy who put it there...
I heard we didn't hold it up, and they asked us if we had all the time, and they, they got all of us on the move.
And, uh, I don't know if this is what you're talking about.
Checker, checker, checker, checker, checker, checker, checker, checker, checker, checker, checker, checker, checker, checker, checker, checker, checker, checker, checker,
Okay.
Also recorded on June 4, 1971
- 004-030 2:24 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 2:24 pm to 2:33 pm.
- 255-002 2:24 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:24 pm and 2:33 pm.
- 255-003 2:24 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:24 pm and 2:33 pm.
- 004-031 2:33 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 2:33 pm to 2:34 pm.
- 255-043 2:33 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:33 pm to 2:34 pm.
- 004-032 2:34 PM · 22 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 2:34 pm to 2:54 pm.
- 255-005 2:54 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:54 pm and 3:10 pm.
- 255-006 2:54 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:54 pm and 3:10 pm.
Related conversations
- Nixon, Ehrlichman & Krogh on Heroin addiction and Vietnam veterans June 10, 1971 · 1 hr 15 min
- Nixon phone call with Haldeman on media strategy and FBI investigation August 11, 1972 · 2 min
- Nixon & MacGregor on Media strategy and Television access November 29, 1971 · 1 min
- Nixon phone call with Mulcahy on Anti-war protests and Public opinion April 23, 1971 · 3 min
- Nixon, Shultz & Butterfield on John B. Connally and Spiro T. Agnew October 25, 1971 · 4 min
- Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Radio addresses and Press relations March 11, 1973 · 9 min
Cite this conversation
Conversation 255-004, June 4, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417183781). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/255-004 (accessed November 11, 2026).