{"conversationCode":"344-016","tapeNumber":344,"conversationNumber":16,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-344-016","startDateTime":"1972-06-22T15:29:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-06-22T15:39:00.000Z","startDate":"22-Jun-1972","startTime":"11:29 AM","endDate":"22-Jun-1972","endTime":"11:39 AM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.;","description":"On June 22, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 11:29 am to 11:39 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 344-016 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"EOB","recordingDevice":"Old Executive Office Building","latitudeEstimated":38.897567,"longitudeEstimated":-77.039147,"chronCode":3,"chronRelease":"Third Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"28-Feb-2002","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 344-16\n\nDate: June 22, 1972\nTime: 11:29-11:39 am\nLocation: Old Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with Charles W. Colson.\n\n[See Conversation No. 25-119]","filename":["344-016-splice.mp3"],"tapeStart":"02:42:34","tapeEnd":"02:47:37","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Colson, Charles W."],"prevCode":"344-015","nextCode":"344-017","tapeTranscriptFile":"344a.mp3,344b.mp3,344c.mp3","transcriptBoundary":{"start":9770,"end":10073,"startMethod":"llm-alignment","endMethod":"llm-alignment"},"transcriptSource":"bigtape","aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Charles Colson met to discuss strategic responses to the ongoing fallout from the Watergate break-in. They assessed the political implications of the scandal and considered potential methods to mitigate damage to the administration's public image. The discussion focused on coordinating efforts to control the narrative and manage the intensifying scrutiny surrounding the event.","topics":["Watergate scandal","Political strategy","Public relations","Crisis management","Executive branch"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T16:18:44.427Z"},"topicSlugs":["watergate","political-strategy","public-relations","crisis-management","executive-branch"],"audioDurationSec":306,"audioFiles":[{"file":"344-016-splice.mp3","bytes":4885200,"durationSec":306,"bitrate":127718,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-10-27T08:05:04.855Z","originalFilename":["344a.mp3","344b.mp3","344c.mp3"],"spliceSource":{"spliceType":"bigtape","sourceFiles":["344b.mp3"],"cutStart":9891.5,"cutEnd":10197.5,"adjustedStart":9891.5,"adjustedEnd":10197.5,"boundaryMethod":"llm-alignment","confidence":"high","splicedAt":"2026-10-27T08:05:04.855Z"},"transcript":[{"start":9881.78,"end":9893.03,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":9893.07,"end":9897.81,"text":"Well, Chuck, I don't know that it will come up."},{"start":9898.33,"end":9899.39,"text":"I doubt it, but..."},{"start":9899.45,"end":9900.93,"text":"There's a question of this..."},{"start":9906.82,"end":9913.25,"text":"We should not open the Pandora's box of tax reform this year."},{"start":9913.27,"end":9917.57,"text":"They do know you can't hang this on anything."},{"start":9917.63,"end":9925.33,"text":"A tax bill, a tax that has to stay with you, even though it's part of the Social Security Act, you know."},{"start":9931.77,"end":9942.85,"text":"But anyway, my point is, I wonder if they give me that, I guess I'm right in front of these people who understand if I say, well, it's unrealistic to have Patrick on this year."},{"start":9942.91,"end":9953.46,"text":"They understand that you're not going to have to, we can't press for it now."},{"start":9953.48,"end":9954.82,"text":"It's a letter to make sure of me."},{"start":9959.74,"end":9975.08,"text":"I just say, I just say they're not going to get as, as Chairman Mills has indicated in several recent statements that he says they can't go back and forth, go through this Congress in 11 years."},{"start":9975.46,"end":9977.26,"text":"Well, that's good, good."},{"start":9977.28,"end":9979.87,"text":"You made a good guess, David."},{"start":9979.89,"end":9980.61,"text":"Yeah, yeah, yeah."},{"start":9991.02,"end":9993.74,"text":"Whether it's nothing, it's a deliberate object."},{"start":9993.82,"end":9995.08,"text":"It's so amusing."},{"start":9995.58,"end":9996.9,"text":"Without it, it's a gross connotation."},{"start":9997.16,"end":9999.46,"text":"All of us have our problems."},{"start":9999.5,"end":10001.21,"text":"The way we look in the first half of the period."},{"start":10001.83,"end":10004.87,"text":"Everybody's more eager about hope."},{"start":10004.93,"end":10007.01,"text":"But you can't present yourself."},{"start":10007.05,"end":10009.25,"text":"That's the way your dad's face looks."},{"start":10009.29,"end":10010.65,"text":"That's the way everybody talks about it."},{"start":10015.24,"end":10016.54,"text":"What the hell did they write exactly about?"},{"start":10016.56,"end":10021.54,"text":"All the kids were from the government, jumping up and down, squealing, screaming, and so forth."},{"start":10021.58,"end":10031.49,"text":"Yeah, well, I told Bob the day about our conversation, and I said, no, I'm just trying to not fall into the business."},{"start":10031.51,"end":10037.13,"text":"You see, the press created this idea of a box, or a business, et cetera, et cetera."},{"start":10037.97,"end":10042.05,"text":"So what is it?"},{"start":10042.07,"end":10042.49,"text":"It's an old business."},{"start":10044.76,"end":10047.93,"text":"In many cases, it was in the election."},{"start":10048.81,"end":10050.27,"text":"They did it all."},{"start":10050.31,"end":10052.07,"text":"It wasn't there."},{"start":10052.11,"end":10052.65,"text":"It was because of this."},{"start":10052.67,"end":10052.77,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":10052.85,"end":10063.7,"text":"But my point, my point that I make, though, is that I feel about explaining it, and notice that I was interrupting, but the vote was on the left, so it didn't do it."},{"start":10063.72,"end":10066.58,"text":"So, it's called a macho, I don't know, who falls."},{"start":10066.6,"end":10068.26,"text":"And that's what your leaders have to say."},{"start":10068.32,"end":10069.8,"text":"And I've said it's strong, vigorous,"},{"start":10070.72,"end":10072.9,"text":"tough leaders in all of this drive."},{"start":10072.92,"end":10080.19,"text":"When you see a bunch of bull running around in a car in Poland, that would happen to a candidate, they'd say, that's the worst one."}],"transcriptConfidence":"high","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/344-016-splice.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/344-016","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/344/conversation-344-016","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}