Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 328 › Conversation 328-035

Nixon, Colson & Sanchez on 1972 Presidential Primary and Political Strategy

Monday, April 3, 1972 · 3:19 PM–3:33 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 8 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.; Sanchez, ManoloConversation328-035 on Tape 328 (tape position 03:50:55–03:59:41)StartMonday, April 3, 1972 at 3:19 PMEndMonday, April 3, 1972 at 3:33 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 328-035 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles W. Colson discuss political strategy regarding the 1972 primary elections and the management of media narratives surrounding political opponents. The conversation centers on undermining the credibility of critics by sowing doubt about their claims and analyzing the effectiveness of rival candidates' public exposure and media reach. Nixon expresses satisfaction with Colson’s efforts to neutralize negative charges and discusses the potential political impact of their coordinated messaging.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 5 minutes of this recording (about 64% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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I don't think it's going to hurt in the primary.
The point that I made is that
These guys are now, you know, they're swinging wild as hell.
And on this one, I don't know, he, of course, his staffers, interlocked with Kennedy, pretty much to his criteria to make such a hell of a move.
That's great.
But to say that a corporation, even a small corporation, that would pay taxes on the karate scene,
It's just unbelievable, you know.
They know you couldn't have done it like that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They're taking him on, aren't they?
Oh, yeah, the Boeing thing.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, of course, the thing is, the media are just making all the, you know, the senators and so forth and things.
Of course, I got a little amused, but he appears to have heard you look something like that.
He is his private air force.
Good.
Airline, airline.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And the way things go, they never all run the same way.
And also, the point is, of course, that they've gotten into some concrete evidence now.
But they're still damn short on it.
Damn short on it.
The efforts to turn around were essential, because for two weeks it was there, and then we had to get some other time.
The efforts to fight the vaccine, they were in charge.
What you did was to create some doubt.
Without your efforts, there would have been no doubt.
And it would have just been the charge.
And I think all of that has had some effect on you as well.
I can just rule out a person, whether you're on the way or not,
That's good, that's good.
We're good, yeah.
I think there's always a great mission to be able to be a doctor and a police now.
That's what I'm seeing.
I think that's a great role to be able to get the needs right now.
I think that's what I'm hearing.
It's up in the air, and I think most people will find it's not going to be a long, long time.
They've all got it in them.
I hope you had a good weekend, all right?
All of the people that got into the school, but any other, any other, any other, any other, any other, any other, any other,
Really?
Well, that's good.
If Montgomery's first, I'm pretty certain he's going to be third.
What we want them to do is to all stay so reasonably well
In fact, it would be good to have a must-see for that third or fourth.
He's canceled his filming going on statewide.
That's my kind of audience, though.
He's only on one station.
The most statement I've had is, you see, unless, you know, it's a statewide effort to realize, that only gets about an eight.
You know, because...
If you have the NBC or the CBS network, they can do some other program.
I get on as president, as vice president, and also as a candidate, you know.
They just can't draw.
Two networks.
Two networks.
Oh, it ain't marked.
Oh, yeah.
Build it.
All right.
Well, that would be interesting.
I don't know if he's doing so well with exposure.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, well, that's when he's really going to have trouble.
Get, for example, with people like that.
Get, for example, Gilligan, which would be, oh boy, you know,
Stay there.
I love you, son.
I love you, son.
I love you, son.
I love you, son.
I love you, son.
I love you, son.
I love you, son.
I mean, I know you're just saying how to get out.
Of course, Romney did it.
I must say, he did it in a beautiful way.
He's a real man.
That's just very close to where I came from.
There's our car.
We've got an ambivalence here.
We'll do it again later, too.
Okay, well, anyway, you don't have to worry about it.
I'm trying.
I think the intervention will have a real effect, don't you think?
Well, okay.
Don't.
There's no question about it.
I'm just saying that we need to figure out what's okay.
All right.

NARA Description

On April 3, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:19 pm to 3:33 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 328-035 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 328-35

Date: April 3, 1972
Time: 3:19 pm - 3:33 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Charles W. Colson

**********************************************************************

[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 10/09/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[328-035-w004]
[Duration: 3m]
[See Conversation No. 022-067]

**********************************************************************

[End of telephone conversation]

Also recorded on April 3, 1972

  • 328-030 2:43 PM · 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, Ronald L. Ziegler, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:43 pm to 3:05 pm.
  • 328-031 3:05 PM · 54 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:05 pm and 3:19 pm.
  • 328-032 3:05 PM · 6 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 3:05 pm and 3:19 pm.
  • 328-033 3:05 PM · 15 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 3:05 pm and 3:19 pm.
  • 328-034 3:05 PM · 12 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 3:05 pm and 3:19 pm.
  • 022-067 3:19 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 3:19 pm to 3:33 pm.
  • 328-036 3:55 PM · 28 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:55 pm to 4:26 pm.
  • 700-009 4:27 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:27 pm to 4:31 pm.

All 31 conversations from April 3, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 328-035, April 3, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/328-035 (accessed October 1, 2026).