Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 402 › Conversation 402-016

Nixon & Colson on political strategy

Monday, January 22, 1973 · 8:47 PM–8:50 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.Conversation402-016 on Tape 402StartMonday, January 22, 1973 at 8:47 PMEndMonday, January 22, 1973 at 8:50 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 402-016 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson held a brief, informal discussion regarding unspecified political activities or personnel matters. Due to the fragmentary and poor quality of the recording, no substantive policy decisions or clear action items are discernable. The brief interaction serves primarily to document the ongoing communication between the President and his advisor during this period.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yeah.
Thank you.
Okay, but I, uh, I really need to go out and consider what's going on.
Right.
Okay.
Well, at least you can't have the product in the reception.
I wasn't really able to piece of this, but they say that.
Okay.
Right.
Okay.
All right.

NARA Description

On January 22, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:47 pm and 8:50 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 402-016 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 402-16

Date: January 22, 1973
Time: Unknown between 8:47 and 8:50 p.m.
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Charles W. Colson.

[See Conversation No. 36-61]

Also recorded on January 23, 1973

  • 398-016 7:56 PM · 35 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 7:56 pm and 8:15 pm.
  • 036-060 8:03 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 8:03 pm to 8:05 pm.
  • 402-012 8:22 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:22 pm and 8:47 pm.
  • 402-013 8:22 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:22 pm and 8:47 pm.
  • 402-014 8:22 PM · 9 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 8:22 pm and 8:47 pm.
  • 402-015 8:22 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:22 pm and 8:47 pm.
  • 036-061 8:47 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 8:47 pm to 8:50 pm.
  • 402-017 8:47 PM · 48 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Raymond K. Price, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:47 pm and 8:50 pm.

All 94 conversations from January 23, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 402-016, January 23, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/402-016 (accessed October 1, 2026).