Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 332 › Conversation 332-008

Nixon & Colson on ITT and Vietnam War

Tuesday, April 18, 1972 · 8:25 PM–8:45 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 7 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation332-008 on Tape 332 (tape position 00:08:08–00:16:58)StartTuesday, April 18, 1972 at 8:25 PMEndTuesday, April 18, 1972 at 8:45 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 332-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson discuss political strategy regarding Senate hearings on ITT and the broader Vietnam War discourse. Nixon expresses a desire to frame the opposition's stance on the war as supporting the enemy, aiming to pressure political rivals. They also review economic messaging, including the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the effectiveness of the President's economic council.

Audio

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Position in tape: 00:08:08 – 00:16:58

part A, 9:06

332a.mp3
332b.mp3
332c.mp3

NARA Description

On April 18, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:25 pm to 8:45 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 332-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 332-8

Date: April 18, 1972
Time: 8:25 pm - 8:45 pm
Location: Old Executive Office Building

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

     [See Conversation No. 23-30]

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Then the others should break up the hearings at that time.
Good.
Let's let it ride for a while.
That's a good line.
Well, the hell with the papers.
The TP won't keep it.
Right.
Right.
The weather did well today.
Nevertheless, that's all right.
Getting riders out is more important than that.
Plus, the Hofstra Mother is tomorrow morning.
Well, it's good for them to vote it down.
I'll try it.
Let's go with the editor.
It's all right.
That's all right.
It's a mixed blessing anyway.
You know, just let him sit there a while.
Well, I don't think he will.
I don't think he wants to put them all in that much of a spot.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, but more important than that, which is a political statement, is people are going to come out and say, we've got a job.
I don't want my party to be, you know, for treason or, you know.
How about our friend Fitz?
Yeah.
Say something.
He's a big man.
He should say something.
You know, representative of labor.
That will, of course, mean a bit, too.
I believe the same way.
That's great.
All right.
We're out there.
All those are good.
I'll see you in a moment.
Three o'clock.
Roger did it well, and I will get through it.
That will flatten it back, too.
Yeah.
That changes their attitude very quickly, doesn't it?
Good, good.
Yeah, I saw that about the again evening.
What is the situation on the CPI?
It can't be as bad as last month.
At least it will be a little better, and that's an improvement.
That won't come the next month, though, will it?
The CPI falls a wholesale price about a month, I think.
I'm afraid.
But anyway, it may, but it isn't going to be six percent.
Six-tenths of a percent, I mean.
On that council, like Whitman and Solomon and Stein, all three are government.
We can compare the situation before we have McCracken, Stein, and who knows the other one.
I think it was impossible.
He was a nice fellow, but he never helped.
Now we've got, we had one good one and two bad ones.
Now we've got three good ones.
Come on, that's the way it is.
People have got to feel better about it.
Right.
Right.
We'll have that tomorrow for the showdown on ITT, isn't it, sir?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Hey.
Hey.
Hey.
Good.
Well, we'll just see how the handling's all tomorrow.
Maybe our people can have a sense of the filibuster good about Brian and me and the other fellow.
Start nailing them with the idea of supporting the enemy.
I hope people are saying that, that you're supporting the enemy, huh?
Yeah.
Right.
That's the issue.
Handle it well.
The town is weak, too.
That's why.
Good.
Hammer them a bit.
That's good.
Try to get that over with.
Just get it in their mind.
Right.
It'll sort of be the cleanup hitter.
Good.
Good visit.
Good.
Good.

Also recorded on April 18, 1972

  • 023-026 8:05 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:05 pm and 8:18 pm.
  • 023-027 8:05 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:05 pm and 8:18 pm.
  • 023-028 8:18 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 8:18 pm to 8:24 pm.
  • 332-005 8:18 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:18 pm to 8:24 pm.
  • 023-029 8:24 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:24 pm and 8:25 pm.
  • 332-006 8:24 PM · 14 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 8:24 pm and 8:25 pm.
  • 332-007 8:24 PM · 58 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 8:24 pm and 8:25 pm.
  • 023-030 8:25 PM · 20 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:25 pm to 8:45 pm.

All 57 conversations from April 18, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 332-008, April 18, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/332-008 (accessed November 15, 2026).