Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 341 › Conversation 341-001
Nixon & Buchanan on 1972 Presidential Election and Media Bias
Saturday, June 10, 1972 · 9:04 AM–9:32 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building
AI Summary
President Nixon dictated a memorandum to Patrick J. Buchanan outlining a strategy to discredit the perceived liberal bias of the national media during the 1972 election cycle. The discussion focused on characterizing George McGovern's policy positions on issues like amnesty, defense spending, and abortion as extreme to influence public perception. Nixon directed that this assessment be distributed to his operating staff to counter coverage from major news outlets and strengthen the administration’s reelection campaign.
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 111.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 111.8 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 111.8 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 00:00:13 into the tape and ends around 00:10:28.
Transcript (AI-generated)
No transcript is available yet for this conversation. The recording may contain no audible speech, or it may not have been processed.
NARA Description
On June 10, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Patrick J. Buchanan met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:04 am and 9:32 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 341-001 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 341-1
Date: June 10, 1972
Time: Unknown between 9:04 and 9:32 am.
Location: Old Executive Office Building
The President dictated a memorandum to Patrick J. Buchanan.
*****************************************************************
[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 10/10/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[341-001-w001]
[Duration: 8m 53s]
1972 election
-Charles W. Colson
-George S. McGovern
-California
-Press coverage of campaign
-Godfrey Sperling Jr’s article in the Christian Science Monitor
-Affair
-Magazine journalists
-Similar beliefs as George S. McGovern
-Possible news columns
-Desire to retain power
-Use to discredit media
-Charles W. Colson’s contact on McGovern campaign
-Hubert H. Humphrey, Edmund S. Muskie
-Eastern news media
-New York Times, Washington Post, Time, Newsweek
-Television networks
-Media bias
-Amnesty, marijuana, abortion, surrender in Vietnam, defense reductions
-George S. McGovern policy views
-Possible actions
-Lies
-Operating staff
-Memorandum distribution
*****************************************************************Also recorded on June 10, 1972
- 025-018 9:04 AM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:04 am and 9:32 am.
- 341-002 9:04 AM · 37 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:04 am and 9:32 am.
- 341-003 9:04 AM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:04 am and 9:32 am.
- 341-004 9:04 AM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:04 am and 9:32 am.
- 341-005 9:04 AM · 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 9:04 am and 9:32 am.
- 025-019 9:32 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 9:32 am to 9:33 am.
- 341-006 9:32 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:32 am to 9:33 am.
- 025-020 9:33 AM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:33 am and 10:52 am.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 341-001, June 10, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/341-001 (accessed October 9, 2026).