Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 359 › Conversation 359-015
Nixon, Colson & Sanchez on Public Relations and Media Relations
Thursday, September 14, 1972 · 2:50 PM–3:41 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 20 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and Charles Colson met to strategize on public relations and campaign management during the 1972 election cycle. The conversation focused on countering critical media coverage from outlets like CBS and The Washington Post, including potential challenges to the latter's television license, and managing the political fallout from Watergate-related hearings. They also discussed administration efforts to discredit opponent George McGovern and the campaign's surrogate communication strategy.
Audio
NARA Description
On September 14, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:50 pm to 3:41 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 359-015 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 359-15
Date: September 14, 1972
Time: 2:50 pm - 3:41 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with Charles W. Colson.
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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 5m 38s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
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Grain deal and foreign trade
-Earl L. Butz
-Public relations efforts
-George S. McGovern’s statements
-Butz
-Colson’s view
-Butz’s statements
-[David] Kenneth Rush
-Forthcoming statement
-McGovern’s statement
-Negotiations
-Relations between US and Soviet Union
Wright Patman’s Committee hearings
-Maurice H. Stans testimony
-Colson’s view
-Margaret M. (“Peggy”) Heckler
-Support of the President
-News summary
-Television
Campaign charges
-McGovern
-Attacks on administration officials
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Henry A. Kissinger
-EhrlichmanShow the rest of the log (116 more lines)
-Butz
-Colson
-Clark MacGregor
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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 9m 41s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
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Public relations
-Campaign contributions
-George Meany’s actions
-McGovern
-Meany’s views on policies
-Effect
-United Auto Workers [UAW]
-Jay Lovestone
-Newsweek
-Frank E. Fitzsimmons
William L. Taub
-Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]
-Herbert G. Klein
-Kissinger
-Conversation with Colson
-San Clemente
-Alleged associates
-Ronald L. Ziegler
News coverage and media relations
-Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]
-H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Colson's call to William S. Paley
-Watergate coverage
-McGovern
-Chicago aldermen
-Vito Marzullo, James D.S. Coleman
-Watergate coverage
-Stans testimony
-Surrogate response to McGovern
-Frank F. Mankiewicz
-George W. Romney
-Virginia H. Knauer
-Robert H. Finch
-Washington Post
-Pre-election activities
-Colson's actions
-Stock acquisition
-[Katharine L. Graham]
-Graham
-WTOP radio station license renewal
-Colson’s conversation with William J. Casey
-CBS
-Power
-Recent and forthcoming coverage
-McGovern
-Stans
-1968 campaign coverage
-Hubert H. Humphrey
-Walter L. Cronkite, Jr.
-Time of election report
-Idea of competition
-Administration action
-Colson's call to Paley
-Richard S. Salant
-Colson’s view
-Businessmen
-Howard K. Smith
Watergate
-Indictments
-Response
-David Brinkley’s commentary
-Response
-MacGregor
-[Joseph R.] McCarthyism
-Civil suit
-Countersuit
-Press
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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 10m 36s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
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Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 2:50 pm.
Stephen B. Bull
-The President's location
-Oval Office
-Time
Sanchez left at an unknown time before 3:41 pm.
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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 2m 11s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
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The President and Colson left at 3:41 pm.Transcript (AI-generated)
This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 7 minutes of this recording (about 34% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.
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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The other thing that's leaking in my opinion is building up public interest in the trade.
Today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today,
He's fighting now.
I don't know if you wrote it.
You might want to.
It's a very excellent speech.
It takes the shame away.
It just grips it apart.
It takes it statement by statement.
It tears it down.
It tosses it up.
It's a naivete of the senators.
But how many of the other parties would toss it up?
I think that they, in some ways, would regard me as a friend.
I can assure you on the basis of years,
So I don't say I was wrong to say that.
And then I think that I was so delighted that Peggy Hector stood up.
I go over this one.
I put a note on it the other summer.
Somebody called me and told me, I don't want to get in the middle of every one of these folks.
I said, did you tell her that I had seen her?
And I said, did you have another guy that you wanted to see?
And I said, well, she was really great.
What did she say?
You know, I think the governor, of course, he's got to splash around.
He's part of politics.
But he's now attacking early.
What the crisis is doing, it's been after just a period.
I got that early.
Would you do that if you were president of Syria?
I don't know.
Well, he's thus far attacked history.
of us to terminate
And the mania is really, really, really hard.
This is not a personal, this is not, well, I'm sure it's mania.
It's mania, you can't let anyone.
Absolutely, well, he's finished.
He can't.
And he basically, he, he, he, according to what's done,
— 1 min 40 s with no transcribed speech —
that they have sent to America.
Yeah, the two of them.
There's only, they've got his name everywhere.
Oh, yeah.
And just so they don't see the essence of it.
The better, not better, worse.
Just for that issue.
One of the guys, they just pushed it into the water again.
They really did.
I didn't see it.
I didn't know if they were going to go through with the action.
I was in the camp.
I didn't give them much time.
It was the end.
They would be home at that point.
and then they had Marzullo, and then they had Coleman, and then they had General Marzullo, and then they had the third one, and then the last one, and then they had six men of our sergeants around the country, and then we had probably one of the best pieces we've done.
I think what they're doing is they don't get it.
What are you going to do about the Washington Post?
And finally she threw it on her television license.
I didn't see that.
How?
Just not really.
Is there a way we can do that?
Yes, there is.
Yes, there is.
When will it come up?
I don't know.
Hopefully Christ comes up this year.
Sooner or quicker.
Then how do we do that?
We put a group together that
They should have a lot of money.
I hate to be too much of a suggestive, but I'm sure it's enough money.
Why, I said.
I'm convinced that those volunteers are so sensitive, so
We know that.
We know that.
We know that.
We know that.
— 1 min 2 s with no transcribed speech —
I'm scared of that.
I'm scared of that.
I'm scared of that.
I'm scared of that.
I'm scared of that.
I'm scared of that.
I'm scared of that.
I'm scared of that.
So thrilled.
I said, well, I haven't come to see you in a while.
He said, oh.
He said, do you know what video?
I said, that guy.
I said, yeah, he told me.
He said, I'm sure they also never watched what I did.
the worst kind of home.
I mean that, I really mean, I don't know.
I think he's arrogant.
He's arrogant, certainly.
And I think they've got a good business.
But he also has a best friend.
He also proceeds with his number one.
So if you're a businessman, and you won't know where to stop to see if you can figure it out, I'll let him run it.
But if he isn't perfect, I'll have to do something.
Probably in Washington, some of the initiatives were bigger than what I was going to say on the screen.
And that they have a whole different version of it.
So that would be a hell of a day in terms of how much they can fill this one.
Yeah.
So my advice is that
... ... ... ... ... ... ...
My view of it is we should get a hang of it every time there is a site.
So I wish I was looking into it there, but you can't.
They just say they're trying to convert attention.
Just to convert attention.
Major issue is the confidence of their own candidates.
Well, whatever it is, it's not a winner.
Don't let it be such a loser.
Worry about yourself.
Also recorded on September 14, 1972
- 359-010 1:42 PM · 13 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 1:42 pm and 2:39 pm.
- 776-018 1:43 PM · 24 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:43 pm and 3:41 pm.
- 359-011 2:39 PM · 10 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 2:39 pm and 2:44 pm.
- 359-012 2:39 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:39 pm and 2:44 pm.
- 359-013 2:44 PM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Wayne N. Aspinall met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:44 pm to 2:45 pm.
- 359-014 2:45 PM · 9 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 2:45 pm and 2:50 pm.
- 777-001 3:41 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:41 pm and 3:49 pm.
- 777-002 3:49 PM · 2 hr 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, Stephen B. Bull, George P. Shultz, Arthur F. Burns, John B. Connally, Herbert Stein, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:49 pm to 5:59 pm.
Related conversations
- Nixon phone call with Ziegler on Vietnam War and George McGovern November 4, 1972 · 4 min
- Nixon & Ehrlichman on H.R. 1 and Veto strategy October 3, 1972 · 32 min
- Nixon phone call with Haldeman on George McGovern and John Connally July 23, 1972 · 4 min
- Nixon, Buchanan & Kissinger on 1972 Presidential Campaign October 27, 1972 · 39 min
- Nixon, Colson & Ziegler on 1972 Presidential Election and George McGovern November 4, 1972 · 45 min
- Nixon, Haldeman & Ziegler on 1972 Presidential Election and George McGovern June 21, 1972
Cite this conversation
Conversation 359-015, September 14, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/359-015 (accessed November 2, 2026).