Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 376 › Conversation 376-001
Nixon & Colson on 1972 election and Vietnam War
Tuesday, October 31, 1972 · 4:10 PM–5:34 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 14 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and Charles Colson met to discuss campaign strategy and domestic political issues just days before the 1972 election. They reviewed the status of Vietnam peace negotiations, agreeing that a settlement should not be announced prior to the election to avoid domestic political interference. Additionally, the pair strategized on post-election plans to challenge television media outlets through FCC regulatory actions and discussed their low opinion of the liberal media's election coverage.
- 1972 election
- Vietnam War
- Media bias
- FCC
- Welfare
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 5 minutes of this recording (about 38% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data
Each line starts with a timestamp button; press it to play the audio from that point.
NARA Description
On October 31, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:10 pm and 5:34 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 376-001 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 378-15/376-1
Date: October 31, 1972
Time: Unknown between 4:10 pm and 5:34 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with Charles W. Colson.
[An unknown portion of this conversation was not recorded while the tape was changed.]
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 29m 4s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
*****************************************************************
Issues
-Richard M. Scammon’s view
-Canada
-Welfare
-University of Toronto
-Economy
-Race
-Vietnam
-Conservatives
-Vietnam
-Henry A. Kissinger
-"Peace is at hand"
-The President’s view
-Negotiated settlement
-Timing
-Relative to 1972 election
-Interpretation
2
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
-Colson’s view
-Press coverage
-News summary
-George Meany, Frank E. Fitzsimmons
-Unhappiness with the settlement
-Colson's recent conversation with Jay Lovestone
-Kissinger’s forthcoming meeting with Lovestone
-Lovestone’s reaction
-Coalition government in South Vietnam
-National Council of National Reconciliation and Concord
An unknown person talked with the President at an unknown time between 4:10 pm and 5:34
pm.
[Conversation No. 378-15/376-1A]
The President's schedule
-Telephone call
[End of telephone conversation]
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 1m 28s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
*****************************************************************
Issues
-Vietnam
-Corruption
-Administration handling
-Lawsuit
-Dwight C. Chapin
-“Wait and see”
Post-1972 election strategy
3
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
-Television [TV] media
-License renewals
-Washington DC, Jacksonville, Miami
-Challenges
-Federal Communications Commission [FCC] action
-FCC
-Dean Burch
-Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]
-Primetime access rules
-Statement
-National Broadcasting Corporation [NBC], CBS
-American Broadcasting Corporation [ABC]
Requests to see Colson
-CBS re-runs
-Morning segment
-Length
-William S. Paley
-New York trip
-Significance
-Networks
-CBS, NBC, ABC,
-Equal time
-Mood of the country
-Morality
-Press, Professors, “Jet Set”
-George S. McGovern
-Feeling toward Administration
-Importance of issues
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 2m 58s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
*****************************************************************
4
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
Campaign practices
-McGovern and R. Sargent Shriver
-Italian-Americans
-Labor leaders
-Dayton
-Walter Cronkite, Jr.
-CBS Evening News
-Organization of demonstrators, name-calling
-Shriver’s October 29, 172 appearance in Albuquerque
-Eunice (Kennedy) Shriver
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 3m 48s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
*****************************************************************
Colson left at 5:34 pm.Also recorded on October 31, 1972
- 810-013 2:44 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:44 pm and 2:52 pm.
- 810-014 2:44 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:44 pm and 2:52 pm.
- 810-015 2:52 PM · 26 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:52 pm to 3:23 pm.
- 810-016 3:23 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:23 pm and 3:25 pm.
- 810-017 3:25 PM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:25 pm to 4:08 pm.
- 378-014 4:10 PM · 28 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 4:10 pm.
- 378-015 4:10 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:10 pm to 5:34 pm.
- 810-018 4:10 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 4:10 pm on October 31, 1972 and 3:01 pm on November 1, 1972.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 376-001, October 31, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/376-001 (accessed October 9, 2026).