Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 341 › Conversation 341-017
Nixon & Colson on Foreign policy and Speechwriting
Sunday, June 11, 1972 · 9:51 AM–10:20 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building
AI Summary
President Nixon and Charles Colson reviewed a draft of a major policy document or speech, focusing on refining its language regarding foreign policy and political messaging. They discussed specific edits to sections on international relations, the arms race, and the Vietnam War to ensure the narrative emphasized traditional values and defensive motives. Nixon tasked Colson with preparing a summary sheet for administration speakers to help them effectively communicate these policy priorities to the public.
Audio
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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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51:03It's a breed.
51:05It's true.
51:06It's true.
51:07The Hollywood of high income, too, is a super liberal.
51:12The pornographic salesman is a super liberal.
51:17The Xerox is a super liberal.
51:20Jesus Christ.
51:21That's the part of the branch, but you're ranked above.
51:26The Orthodox Jew is a traditionalist person.
51:32That's what you're really talking about in this country.
51:43You're a traditionalist person from Israel.
51:57The old school really falls more into the category of the hardline Catholic.
52:03That's the way the country is breaking down.
52:09There's a common denominator here.
52:12People who just believe in preserving the traditions of establishment.
52:22One person.
52:23Scam of large.
52:23No scam of scum.
52:25Scum of large.
52:27It looks Irish, acts Irish, but it's not.
52:32It's not like that.
52:36It's the old way.
1:00:53Writing out of his mind, I did not have anything to say.
1:00:58Oh, you didn't?
1:00:59Well, I don't agree with that.
1:01:00No, I didn't have anything to say.
1:01:01Well, if we'd gotten another clip, we'd have to write it right down.
1:01:08Well, if you always have something to say, if you talk about moving the world one step closer to peace, one step further away from the danger of simply war, the media will carry that.
1:01:53And not worry about my men, and not worry about the fuckways, the bulls, and the bad cops, and let it go.
1:02:02They say I'm not going in, and that's just all right, too.
1:02:04You've got to realize I've been around an awful long time.
1:02:08I mean, I've had enormous exposure.
1:02:11That's why I say, as far as exposure is concerned, this would be the 67th year.
1:02:19I mean, sure, it doesn't last a month, but it leaves, it always leaves a few
1:02:21Stay with you.
1:02:22It does, doesn't it?
1:02:24Try to love some.
1:02:26Just love some.
1:02:28May it love some.
1:02:29May it love you a lot.
1:02:32May it love you a great deal.
1:02:35I still will love it most.
1:02:37First of all that because it is very substantive and very hopeful.
1:02:45The sense of good.
1:16:59Great Christ, please.
1:17:01Great Christ.
1:17:13Thank you.
1:17:15Hello.
1:17:16Hello.
1:17:17Are you here or at home?
1:17:20Oh, fine.
1:17:21Well, no hurry, but I was just reading over the U.S. news thing, and I thought if you could come over, I would have much to say.
1:17:33All right, take your time.
1:18:07Hello.
1:18:22Hold on, I can hear you.
1:19:17Yeah, I got a real...
1:19:18In fact, today I was going to stay up late.
1:19:30How old are you?
1:19:31I think I'm close.
1:19:34Come on, let's go.
1:27:39I think that the line with regard to what I call the isolation is very, very interesting.
1:27:43We've come down to a stem and we've been talking for a number of years.
1:28:09It's a great tradition of the old isolations.
1:28:11Lafolle, Nye, Wheeler, etc.
1:28:12He really faced me hard as a withdrawal and as an isolationist.
1:28:15And I was thinking that the line that you want to put in practice is that you can't be in the same paragraph before my brother went.
1:29:15At the bottom of page 10, the word ballet, to me, has a rather nice connotation.
1:29:25If you may remember how to do it, and the depths of the ballet or something, I wonder if we could return quickly to the
1:29:37If you want to, we've got to have a summit, we've got to have a summit, but we're going to have to meet in the valley or something.
1:30:29A small change in page 11, that you may not feel is what I'm going to do, but I kind of like to get away from the I.
1:30:38There is much that I can and much of it is to live with.
1:30:40They also mentioned that the project was done with personal intervention from me, so it would be more correct for me.
1:30:59I think Ray, the line
1:31:28and I know that this is sort of happening on page 14, that in this competition, the runaways with their arms, our choice really is either to live in arms or to have a race.
1:31:48And this is a race in which there will be no winners, no one to lose, no one to win.
1:31:59all the civilization groups.
1:32:01I'd like to get that in.
1:32:02Probably the last of that, I realize we have to put the second one on the rest, but I think that that's really what's brought about, the Soviet reaction.
1:32:11They want to be first, we want to be first.
1:32:13The part is, we both realize that if we just go along and move your arm trace, that
1:32:22They'll get ahead when we're ahead, for example, on MIRV.
1:32:25So they go ahead.
1:32:26And when you've got two powers who are relatively equal, I mean, we're far ahead, honestly.
1:32:38But they have a great advantage in being able to do that.
1:33:16We're now in a situation where we're in a race that neither side will run over.
1:33:24Neither can, neither will I.
1:33:27A little on that, we can just work it out now, however you want.
1:33:46I think with page 19, perhaps, for instance, the third paragraph will continue to be required for some time to come.
1:33:56I think we should just say we're pursuing a future that I'm really more precise in.
1:34:05As you know and I know, it's going to have to be forever.
1:34:09I know we don't want to say that.
1:34:11It is.
1:34:15The word, at the bottom of the page, we have a lot of issues.
1:34:21Barber, filet, precious French.
1:34:23I think I like the filets, but there's packages there.
1:34:26Barber, filet, not old French.
1:34:29Thank you very much.
1:34:31Thank you very much.
1:34:33Thank you.
1:34:35Thank you.
1:34:37Thank you.
1:34:37Thank you.
1:34:38Thank you.
1:34:39Thank you.
1:34:42Thank you.
1:34:43The Vietnam section is extremely good.
1:34:52It needs one thing, however, very much so.
1:35:15When we hear the reasons for these actions, you would have put, of course, the fundamental reasons.
1:35:25But we had to put in there that it was necessary to protect our community forces in the name of the United States.
1:35:34It may be that that might be the first thing that has to remain important to you.
1:35:58By the sake of the people.
1:36:00To the average American, also bear in mind the fact that McEverett and the likes of candidate for Amherst and all the rest, we have to constantly say, by and large, we're not going to leave our main forces.
1:36:19That's all that is.
1:36:21It's a very long piece.
1:36:26Oh, on 31, on the development of nations, I wrote down at the bottom of my page here, that I don't want to, I have no work, I have to turn this up and improve it.
1:36:42Correct.
1:36:43And you got it at this point by a very strong recommendation.
1:36:51Thank you.
1:37:27Oh, I think in terms of our, on page 40, when we speak of pride, I think, Ray, that we hear these people constantly jab the United States for its role in the world of war and hostility.
1:37:46I think that the paragraph on page 40, the fact that we do not claim perfection in the world of war, in the world of war,
1:37:59Well, we did not see them.
1:38:01I mean, as Andrew Monroe said, the United States is the first great world power.
1:38:05They did not see power.
1:38:09You know, and Americans would.
1:38:11But, and we do not, we have not been in this race, but Americans can be proud of our record.
1:38:21Young Americans have won four awards.
1:38:29And not for conquest, not for territory, but for the right of other people to be here.
1:38:36Or to have their independence, or maybe not just for a dream, but the right of other people to be here.
1:38:47I think just a little bit that we need to
1:38:56Our goal is not to...
1:39:24Our goal has not been conquest, our goal has not been territory.
1:39:27Our goal has been a more peaceful world where aggression does not succeed.
1:39:31We want a chance for all people of the world, all nations, large and small, to have the right to live in dependency.
1:40:37I think it certainly reads extremely well.
1:40:43It kind of reminds us of a tortured effort, which is a delegate.
1:40:46Historically, it was extremely good.
1:40:48Well, I remember the 6th and 7th are guilty.
1:40:56I mean, as little as we knew them, you know, as little help as we had, my God, we didn't have the NFC staff, the State Department staff, and all that sort of thing.
1:41:07It's really, you know, the fact that we're here to go back to that China section is extremely valuable.
1:41:18But this also is a responsibility.
1:41:22You never know how it will be
1:42:26That's about as much as you expect them to do.
1:42:27They're going to read a book.
1:42:29They're never going to get enough.
1:42:30They're never going to get enough.
1:42:31You know, that's why I say it's a little important to get the people who are the kids.
1:42:36But I know damn well that none of those guys, well, there's a very few exceptions.
1:42:41It's only a couple of other people.
1:42:43A couple of other people.
1:42:45Foreign policy experts might just sit down and allow for all that stuff, you know.
1:42:52And, you know,
1:42:54Excellent, excellent phrase.
1:42:57When you get it finished, be sure to tell Colson, that crowd over there, that I want them to read through, and to pick out.
1:43:15They put a sheet on top of it to send to all of our speakers, and saying, you know, we'll do this, we'll do that, we'll do that, and that's what the average guy needs, basically, is a way to sort of make speech.
1:44:13It's truly useful.
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] *****************************************************************
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 · 18 min — 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 · 40 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.
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 September 30, 2026).