Nixon White House TapesTape 312 › Conversation 312-007

Nixon & Colson on Supersonic Transport and Aerospace Industry

Sunday, January 9, 1972 · 12:55 PM–1:18 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Colson, Charles W.Conversation312-007 onTape 312 (tape position 00:11:23–00:19:20)StartSunday, January 9, 1972 at 12:55 PMEndSunday, January 9, 1972 at 1:18 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 312-007 ↗

President Nixon and Charles Colson discuss the political fallout and economic implications of supporting the Supersonic Transport (SST) program, particularly regarding its impact on the aerospace industry and regional voter sentiment. The two men weigh the strategic value of the project against public perception and the likelihood of its failure. Additionally, the conversation touches upon managing external political actors and the potential for leveraging industry-related issues to secure political advantages.

Download MP3 (part 1) · 118.5 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 107.9 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 00:11:23 into the tape and ends around 00:19:20.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) ·JSON data · Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.

12:18Of course, it's Florida, California.
12:24This is a big deal.
12:26It'll save the aerospace industry, you know.
12:33I don't think the country really is for it.
12:36You know what I mean?
12:37And I don't think the country is for the SST.
12:40They didn't understand.
12:42But in terms of... And the country isn't going to vote against a candidate for being for him.
12:47And yet individual areas damn well will.
12:50And...
12:50I don't know who he is.
12:58Montel is...
13:02As a matter of fact, we may not get it, you know, which, of course, is just one of those things that doesn't amount to much spending this year anyway, but the point is that we've made our effort on it.
13:11That's it.
13:17Yeah, yeah, yeah.
15:35You know, one thing I was thinking about the car business.
15:39I'm wondering if that's totally secure.
15:47Who would be doing it?
15:48The hungry people?
15:51Some know that he would immediately do it.
15:56Only late, I would think.
16:01We have nothing to do with it, but I just said that he does things sometimes where he plays our game dry, don't we?
18:49The set was quite a battle.
18:50It was really worth getting rid of that tack carrier.
18:54You know, new stuff, I think, whatever we've got for these clowns.
19:03Oh.
19:07We'll see you then.
19:11I sure will.

On January 9, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:55 pm to 1:18 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 312-007 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 312-7

Date: January 9, 1972
Time: 12:55 pm - 1:18 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Charles W. Colson

[See Conversation No. 18-19; three items have been withdrawn from the conversation]
  • 018-016 12:39 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 12:41 pm.
  • 312-001 12:39 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:39 pm and 12:41 pm.
  • 018-017 12:41 PM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 12:41 pm to 12:52 pm.
  • 312-004 12:41 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:41 pm to 12:52 pm.
  • 018-018 12:52 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:52 pm and 12:55 pm.
  • 312-005 12:52 PM · 17 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 12:52 pm and 12:55 pm.
  • 312-006 12:52 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:52 pm and 12:55 pm.
  • 018-019 12:55 PM · 22 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 12:55 pm to 1:18 pm.

Conversation 312-007, January 9, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/312-007 (accessed September 18, 2026).