Nixon White House TapesTape 324 › Conversation 324-034

Nixon, Colson & Sanchez on Political Strategy and Food Crisis

Wednesday, March 22, 1972 · 3:24 PM–3:29 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building ·3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Colson, Charles W.;  Sanchez, ManoloConversation324-034 onTape 324 (tape position 03:46:45–03:50:20)StartWednesday, March 22, 1972 at 3:24 PMEndWednesday, March 22, 1972 at 3:29 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 324-034 ↗

President Nixon and Charles W. Colson discussed a strategic media offensive intended to aggressively discredit political opponents regarding a perceived food crisis. The President instructed Colson to frame the administration's narrative using inflammatory language like "sabotage" to sway public opinion and deflect blame. The meeting focused on consolidating a unified, critical message to exploit the public's anxieties about market instability for political gain.

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Hello?
Well, the old man walked off.
The thing shows that the person is too blind.
We've got to hit him hard every day we can.
Use words like sabotage for men.
Food representing only a small percentage of the 80 million American workers.
We've got to get it.
Yeah.
We've got to get it now, quickly.
Yeah.
Right.
Got him.
Covered both.
Yeah.
Look.
Yeah.
Got him.
Got him.
We have to make it appear wrong.
But that's just an aberration of what we're going to do now.
We've got to have something to say about the food crisis.
We've got to breathe.
The person on this flight don't need it.
It's very much the public side of things.
People want food crisis control.
They don't need to go out and have fun with markets.
They don't need to be tied up.
They can't run.
They've got to do better than that side of things.
Before that, the show was a little insane.
All these people who want food crisis, they don't know how to do it.
Good, good.
Okay.

On March 22, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:24 pm to 3:29 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 324-034 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 324-34

Date: March 22, 1972
Time: 3:24 pm - 3:29 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

[See Conversation No. 21-133]

An unknown person [Manolo Sanchez?] entered and left at an unknown time after 3:24 pm.
  • 324-030 2:55 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:55 pm to 3:15 pm.
  • 324-031 3:15 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:15 pm and 3:24 pm.
  • 324-032 3:15 PM · 6 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 3:15 pm and 3:24 pm.
  • 324-033 3:15 PM · 2 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 3:15 pm and 3:24 pm.
  • 021-133 3:24 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 3:24 pm to 3:29 pm.
  • 324-035 3:29 PM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:29 pm and 4:01 pm.
  • 324-036 3:29 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:29 pm and 4:01 pm.
  • 022-001 4:01 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 4:01 pm to 4:03 pm.

Conversation 324-034, March 22, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/324-034 (accessed September 18, 2026).