Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 341 › Conversation 341-017

Nixon & Colson on political strategy and media criticism

Sunday, June 11, 1972 · 9:51 AM–10:20 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation341-017 on Tape 341StartSunday, June 11, 1972 at 9:51 AMEndSunday, June 11, 1972 at 10:20 AMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 341-017 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson discussed the political implications of various social issues and media coverage. Colson expressed concerns about the media's potential to believe and report on certain narratives, particularly regarding welfare payments and busing. The conversation touched upon the challenges faced by a particular individual, though the specifics remain unclear due to unintelligible portions of the transcript.

Audio

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part A, 1:47:09

341a.mp3
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341c.mp3

NARA Description

On June 11, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:51 am to 10:20 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 341-017 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 341-17

Date: June 11, 1972
Time: 9:51-10:20 am.
Location: Old Executive Office Building

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

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

[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 10/16/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[341-017-w001]
[Duration: 16m 9s]

[See also Conversation No. 025-036]

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

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was made by an AI model listening to the recording (gemini-3.8-flash) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Speaker names are the model's inference from the voices and the participant list. Words and names can still be wrong — verify against the audio and the finding aid before citing.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Nixon[unintelligible] it's totally irresponsible and I didn't get him to happen, Colson.
ColsonNo.
Nixon[unintelligible]
NixonRockefeller, how do you feel about [unintelligible]?
ColsonWell, I think it'll depend upon [unintelligible] I have no doubt that
Colsonwell, this year [unintelligible] intellectuals [unintelligible]
Colsonwell, the [unintelligible] and frankly all the other all the other uh uh uh like welfare payments, it's impossible. Uh, pro-busing and all that sort of [unintelligible]. With that turn-them-on
Colsonuh will be clever. Honestly what I mean by and honest and all the media, because by the media I think [unintelligible] like Washington Post. They believe these things too,
Colsonalthough a realist enough to know [unintelligible] they'll believe it. Well that's why the [unintelligible]
ColsonUh, the problem he will have though is a very, very serious one. [unintelligible] and all

Also recorded on June 11, 1972

  • 025-035 9:22 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:22 am and 9:51 am.
  • 341-015 9:22 AM · 5 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 9:22 am and 9:51 am.
  • 341-016 9:22 AM · 4 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 9:22 am and 9:51 am.
  • 025-036 9:51 AM · 31 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 9:51 am to 10:20 am.
  • 025-037 10:20 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:20 am and 10:41 am.
  • 341-018 10:20 AM · 28 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 10:20 am and 10:41 am.
  • 341-019 10:20 AM · 43 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 10:20 am and 10:41 am.
  • 025-038 10:41 AM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 10:41 am to 10:54 am.

All 38 conversations from June 11, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 341-017, June 11, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/341-017 (accessed November 14, 2026).