Conversation 263-013

TapeTape 263StartTuesday, July 20, 1971 at 6:19 PMEndTuesday, July 20, 1971 at 6:41 PMTape start time03:35:43Tape end time03:50:33ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Colson, Charles W.Recording deviceOld Executive Office Building

On July 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:19 pm to 6:41 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 263-013 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 263-13

Date: July 20, 1971
Time: 6:19 pm - 6:41 pm
Location: Old Executive Office Building

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

[See Conversation No. 6-163; two items have been withdrawn from the conversation]

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 Do not cite this transcript as authoritative.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.

Yeah.
No.
Well, I see, uh, Kennedy got smoked out.
You know what I think may have happened?
I pulled, you know, I laid a money in and pulled, uh, my telephone or something, and he might have found that, uh, there was strong support.
Or he may have talked to his people around him, you know, and they started to sense the time that you're getting.
Hello?
I don't know that address at all.
Yeah, there's almost never praise anybody again.
What do you have up there?
Yeah, no, no, I didn't even get to say what to say.
No, no, no, he's gone out so far here.
Maybe he's trying to build it up so that he doesn't show up.
Okay.
All right.
That's right, he was told
And he's been telling us that when you called him back, I think that he didn't, I wanted to reveal that it was Mike's mission that when he was traveling with us in the campaign, he had a wrongful complaint in his face.
He said it was more important for him to be able to report as well as he was in China.
And I thought that would be good if he said that.
You're right, and I think we can say that for everything.
It's true.
Absolutely.
Anything else?
No.
I got your memorandum of meeting.
You're absolutely right.
In fact, they have a few on the right that are yelling.
Also, I don't know if it's from the board of policies, but we need it from the Chinese.
I don't think there's some there at the right.
Let me see.
What do you think she's gonna be on today?
I think it's cool.
I think it's cool that a devastating effect makes everybody talk about it anyway.
I don't know how to do that.
It's a lot of fun being with yourself when you're hiding on a lodge with a show of signs.
I'll plug that in if you want.
I don't know whether it's necessary, but when I said I don't need to leave, I just knew from the source that he was coming here.
So, what do you think?
It's good.
I like it.
Yeah, well, we have a problem, you know, all of our legislators, they're so negative, these guys, you know, not one of those leaders said a word and said, you know, you have to do a good job.
It's not more than a leader.
It's not just, yes, sir, at least the Republicans, you know, that bunch of Democrats, you know,
I live in a greater home.
But they always do well for us.
I don't know.
I don't know.
They don't seem to be able to appreciate us.
They're doing well for us.
I don't know much about that.
I don't know much about that.
Oh, I know, I know.
He's from Rhode Island.
A nice fellow.
Yeah, I remember when I said the word.
What'd he say?
my reaction.
In college kids, the young people, this may help us a great deal with that.
And you might ask, Harris, in particular, for the young people that go by that A3 would be 10 of them.
Well, it's probably had more than we realized, Jim.
I hope so.
Yeah.
And eventually, all the effects of the stock market, I don't know, but that's effectively all that matters.
It will eventually reflect the growth, eventually.
because people just feel better for a while.
But I'd like to say to you, Peter, they've got the strength of this thing.
And if I don't, they've got the Democrats.
I mean, it's not hard, but it's very interesting.
I mean, it's very, you know, it's a shocking performance.
I mean, I mean, every one of them.
And George Shulkin, I mean, Sugarhead, my God, there's a negative vision of the Congress.
And if one didn't say one word about this,
Why don't we get those people?
They ought to just be
Get all of that to talk positively.
The goal should be third party vision in that respect.
Talk positively.
We're not that bad off.
And Gallup are really good.
But I need Gallup somewhere.
I have a truck.
They work at 60 miles an hour.
They got to work at 60.
Oh, Eddie, I got it.
What'd you say?
Well, sure.
That makes you three more points, right?
Well, probably.
Uh, Henry was telling you that connection.
I'm excited to present to you, in time a lot of competitors will jump to sightings on the Jets.
They, uh, they hate this one.
Why did this one out of the Jets do this?
That's true, the CBS crowd went to the same crowd against the crowd.
Although I can do, uh, on the way home from Franksman, and he's anticipated we might win.
He might switch that whole goddamn group.
I think we may affect these guys a little bit in their dander.
I'm saying, by God, we're going to run our networks.
Also, the other thing.
These guys can't help but fear, fear something.
So I just want to find a way to realize they can't help but fear that kind of thing.
I don't know what you mean.
I'm worried that they ain't where we at.
And we're in.
They're stupid.
They know we'll turn on them if they, if we know they can try to screw us.
Thank you.
The Chinese will probably have, they're probably going to have, they've got to have some of the, some of the man speed and maybe jet engines, must be, perhaps they'll all,
and everybody will think we opened the door for them.
I'm not so worried about that.
I mean, all of us, for sure.
Nobody goes by the president.
Let's keep them busy, shall we?
Pretty, uh, pretty, uh, and more effective than you thought, haven't you?
They haven't held them down.
How can they?
How can they say that I am a war hunter?
We had a lot more than that, I'm sure.
Our best.
And now we don't have to sell out so cheap.
I, I, I, should I make it tomorrow, I, I've mentioned to all of them, you know, the process of operating people, and it is a great responsibility to say, how do you say you can't, you know, I remember that many years, eight years, that I was, you know, I can't, I can't,
I believe for almost three years.
I think the greater I know is that the whole bunch of bitch, whine, cry.
I'll never say it.
And they should have said, now they know that we, I know this, we're pretty much taking all the seats.
And what the hell do they do?
Just bitch.
I think you don't want to pull them tomorrow.
Will you do that?
Hit them hard on them and say, now for Christ's sake, what's the matter with them?
Get a column right now.
It's ridiculous.
That's right.
That's right.
Stay up.
Get off of your desk.
I am.
Well, no, the point is that we always have to ask for their support.
Okay.