Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 472 › Conversation 472-016

Nixon & Colson on Public Relations and Howard K. Smith Interview

Tuesday, March 23, 1971 · 2:44 PM–2:50 PM ET · Oval Office ·4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Colson, Charles W.Conversation472-016 onTape 472 (tape position 03:30:20–03:34:47)StartTuesday, March 23, 1971 at 2:44 PMEndTuesday, March 23, 1971 at 2:50 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 472-016 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles Colson evaluated the public and congressional reception of the President's recent televised interview with Howard K. Smith. The discussion focused on the effectiveness of the interview format compared to traditional press conferences and the impact of the President's upcoming troop withdrawal announcement on political support. They also assessed the timing and potential political implications of a forthcoming Louis Harris poll.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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I was just sitting here talking to Bob Haldeman.
He was going to... We were running over the reactions on the program.
Interestingly, we...
The general reaction was, of course, favorable.
What I said on the mic that was interesting to note was that among senators and congressmen, they rather not say a little report as far as people's business, labor, et cetera, et cetera.
I wondered what you find, what you're reading at this time.
I understand you only have about 10 to 15% of the audience, but that's what you would expect when you sit on one network.
Yeah, yeah, I'll give you that.
They were just, they're just looking for a way to get out.
Yeah.
That's why we had to get to do this thing.
I think we turned, we got a lot of that, but at least turned somewhat.
Well, they're only going to be satisfied if we make the next announcement.
That's right.
That's right.
with the other kind of formats.
That's the white department I ever talked about.
We find it in the telephone polling that's about English, but those like press conference or this, what do you find?
Those that prefer this, of course, many say they like Poe, but they like to mix it up.
What do you find?
I see Connelly, for example, very much likes this format, but...
But maybe we're not the examples.
He's not the example.
You may not be the example.
Maybe people like the battle of Mar.
I'm excited.
Right?
Maybe it doesn't sell as many.
Good.
Oh, you're there, aren't you?
Yeah.
Oh, well, I expected, I wanted you to.
I expected that.
Oh, your friend Harris is gonna do that poll.
You think he's gonna give us another hook?
Friday was bad.
Friday was good.
Saturday began to get bad.
Sunday was a bad day.
But I don't think it may have caught up with people until really more Sunday, Monday.
That's the way things go usually.
It takes a little bit of a ride.
I think I'm going to start publishing.
Oh, this is Vermont, I know.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
There it is.

NARA Description

On March 23, 1971, 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. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 472-016 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 472-16

Date: March 23, 1971
Time: 2:44 pm - 2:50 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Charles W. Colson

     President’s previous interview with Howard K. Smith
          -President’s meeting with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
          -Congressional response
          -Audience share
                -Reason
          -Congressional response
                -President’s forthcoming troop withdrawal announcement
          -Format
                -Haldeman
                -White House telephone poll
                -Press conference compared with interviews
                -John B. Connally
          -Audience

     Louis Harris poll
          -Release
               -Timing
                      -Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday

                -Harris’ location

******************************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 13s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

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Also recorded on March 23, 1971

  • 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.
  • 472-015 2:12 PM · 5 sec — 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.
  • 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.
  • 051-003 4:45 PM — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 4:45 pm on March 23, 1971 and 10:12 am on March 25, 1971.
  • 472-019 4:45 PM · 52 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:45 pm and 4:46 pm.

All 29 conversations from March 23, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 472-016, 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/472-016 (accessed September 18, 2026).