Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 443 › Conversation 443-006

Nixon, Colson & Bull on Watergate scandal and Public relations

Wednesday, June 6, 1973 · 1:05 PM–1:38 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 14 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.; Colson, Charles W.Conversation443-006 on Tape 443StartWednesday, June 6, 1973 at 1:05 PMEndWednesday, June 6, 1973 at 1:38 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 443-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Stephen Bull to finalize scheduling arrangements for upcoming meetings with congressional and executive advisors, including Melvin Laird and John Connally. Following this, Nixon spoke with Charles Colson to discuss the public reception of Colson's recent television appearance with Howard K. Smith. Their conversation centered on the ongoing Watergate investigation, with Nixon expressing frustration over Colson’s claims regarding his knowledge of defense payments and potential testimony.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 18% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yeah, I would like, I would like to see, I'll tell Al that.
Al, I want to go and see if Carl, you know, what do you think this 630 will look like in Europe?
Well, I don't know.
I didn't get to, just a second.
Did you get to see Colson?
I didn't see myself.
We had a grant on nutrition before, but she wants to see how this makes me feel.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I just had to tell Steve.
I didn't get to see your show, and I've been busy all morning.
But Al had said it was great.
He didn't see it either, but he got a very good report.
He said, aren't you in the summer?
He doesn't have it.
Tell me how you think it went.
Great.
Great.
What'd they say?
What kind of things did you say, Chuck, when you ran down?
Because I don't, you know, I refuse to listen to you.
I don't even know the man.
It's ridiculous.
I asked him, I said, what course does this lead to?
I said, I want you to come to it with me.
Well, we can get that done.
How do we deliver it?
How do you handle it?
And then what do you do about the tendency?
That's a good question you would probably ask.
And, you know, but nevertheless, to me, I understand, according to the czar, that the presence now in America, we have built it, because we realize it's a deliverable thing.
They're only witnesses, so they're making it possible for you to get them.
And we didn't talk about it.
March 1st, we didn't talk about it.
March 2nd, we didn't talk about it.
March 6th, we didn't talk about it.
March 7th, we didn't talk about it.
Not so long, March 13th, did he ever raise the subject?
Who might be involved in it?
And he said, the White House is involved in it too.
One does, you know, they don't do that.
Which we're doing.
We're going too far.
Good job, I think, at the actual people that work around here.
They have a really good job.
Really good customers.
We're going to be just unbelievable.
How about the reaction?
I'll give you that.
I'm out of time.
We're going to be out of time.
We're going to be out of time.
It wasn't even in the tractor boat.
They didn't even print it.
That means to me, owls, pretty clever, owls,
Yeah.
Because, uh, he, you know, when he gets right up to the wire, he has to testify under oath.
And his problem is water.
What do you think?
Because I'm supposed, I'm supposed to testify under oath.
And he did it perfectly.
Or, uh, he's convicted because of something else.
Only one man can save him.
We didn't want to spread it to the whole world.
We were going to be doing whatever we wanted to do.
Little people, huh?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I do see you.
Absolutely.
You'll see me.
You can go out there and practice.
I don't do it.
That's why they're trying to rehabilitate people now.
He was there.
He was a barred cursory for a group.
He knew that.
Never told me.
He paid off the defense.
He knew that.
Never told me.
He promised money to the defense.
He knew that.
Never told me.
Good God, I mean, how can I expect to do that?
I mean,
I think that he can do just as good as he can lie about the personal conversations I have with him.
Because I have enough time.
Obviously, you and I know, it's very common.
Unfortunately, Laura was a president of the United States.
They had a number of all the early presidents.
All right.
All right.
All right.
There's no reason to say you're going to stay out.
You're in it.
They're in it.
They ought to get in it.
They ought to get in it off their own.
I don't know if they have it.
Or if they only print one.
If you try to infiltrate the demonstration, you affect your life again, because you're attracting the light of the person's mind.
It's too bad.
I'm sorry.
I sent it to you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Get around the fact that you will.
Because the main point is, not just the text, but what I want to do is say to you today, this darned call to the Senate.
Well, of course it's true.
We ought to be honest about how we're doing now.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.

NARA Description

On June 6, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:05 pm and 1:38 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 443-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 443-6

Date: June 6, 1973
Time: Unknown between 1:05 pm and 1:38 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
                                                -3-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                            Conversation No. 443-6 (cont’d)

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

       President’s schedule
              -Meeting
                      -[Briefing paper]
                      -Congressmen [?]
              -Sequoia
                      -Melvin R. Laird
                      -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
                      -John B. Connally
                      -Bryce N. Harlow

The President talked with Charles W. Colson between 1:09 pm and 1:38 pm.

[Begin telephone conversation]

[See Conversation No. 39-106]

       Watergate
             -Colson’s television appearance with Howard K. Smith, June 5, 1973
                    -Tricia Nixon Cox
                    -Thelma C. (“Pat”) (Ryan) Nixon

Bull left at an unknown time before 1:38 pm.

[End telephone conversation]

Also recorded on June 6, 1973

  • 039-103 12:56 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:56 pm and 1:00 pm.
  • 443-001 12:56 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:56 pm and 1:00 pm.
  • 039-104 1:00 PM · 4 min — White House operator, President Richard M. Nixon, and J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. talked on the telephone from 1:00 pm to 1:04 pm.
  • 443-003 1:00 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:00 pm to 1:04 pm.
  • 039-105 1:04 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:04 pm and 1:09 pm.
  • 443-004 1:04 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:04 pm and 1:05 pm.
  • 443-005 1:04 PM · 18 sec — White House operator and President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:04 pm and 1:05 pm.
  • 039-106 1:09 PM · 28 min — White House operator, President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 1:09 pm to 1:38 pm.

All 80 conversations from June 6, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 443-006, June 6, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/443-006 (accessed September 28, 2026).