Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 472 › Conversation 472-015

Nixon with unidentified visitors in the Oval Office on Charles W. Colson

Tuesday, March 23, 1971 · 2:12 PM–2:44 PM ET · Oval Office ·5 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  White House operatorConversation472-015 onTape 472 (tape position 03:30:05–03:30:20)StartTuesday, March 23, 1971 at 2:12 PMEndTuesday, March 23, 1971 at 2:44 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 472-015 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon instructed the White House operator to place an outgoing call to special counsel Charles W. Colson. The brief exchange served as a procedural request to initiate communication with a key staff member. No substantive policy discussions occurred during this transition, as the recording captures only the operator's receipt of the directive.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Call and wait.

NARA Description

On March 23, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:12 pm and 2:44 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 472-015 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 472-15

Date: March 23, 1971
Time: Unknown between 2:12 pm and 2:44 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with the White House operator

     Call to Charles W. Colson

Also recorded on March 23, 1971

  • 472-010 12:13 PM · 55 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:13 pm and 12:16 pm.
  • 472-011 12:16 PM · 50 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, George P. Shultz, unknown person(s), and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:16 pm to 1:07 pm.
  • 472-012 1:07 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:07 pm and 1:10 pm.
  • 472-013 1:10 PM · 1 hr 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:10 pm to 2:12 pm.
  • 472-014 2:12 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:12 pm and 2:44 pm.
  • 472-016 2:44 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:44 pm to 2:50 pm.
  • 472-017 2:50 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:50 pm to 3:00 pm.
  • 051-002 3:00 PM — President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, Caspar W. ("Cap") Weinberger, George Romney, and mayors of United States cities, including Carl B. Stokes, James H. J. Tate, Roman S. Gribbs, Henry W. Maier, Louie Welch, Jack D. Maltester, Sam Massell, Alfonso J. Cervantes, Lee Alexander, Maurice E. ("Moon") Landrieu, John V. Lindsay, Lawrence F. Kramer, Harry G. Haskell, John W. Driggs, Richard G. Lugar, William D. Dyke, Robert J. Blackwell, Thomas J. D'Alesandro, Will H. Hays, Jr., Kevin D. White, Kenneth A. Gibson, Frank Curran, George G. Siebels, Jr., George M. Sullivan, Antonina P. Uccello, Ann H. Kilgore, Robert W. Knecht, Joseph Alioto, Peter F. Flaherty, Patrick Healy, and John J. Gunther, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 3:00 pm to 4:45 pm.

All 29 conversations from March 23, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 472-015, March 23, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/472-015 (accessed September 18, 2026).