Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 592 › Conversation 592-010
Nixon, Haldeman & Colson on Media relations and Public opinion polling
Thursday, October 14, 1971 · 11:16 AM–12:25 PM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon met with H. R. Haldeman and Charles Colson to discuss media relations, public opinion, and political strategy heading into the 1972 election cycle. The conversation focused on efforts to promote favorable literature, manage network coverage of the administration's foreign policy initiatives, and monitor the activities of political rivals like Edward M. Kennedy. The participants also evaluated the performance of Republican spokesmen and considered adjustments to the President's schedule to bolster public support for his economic and diplomatic agendas.
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 88.5 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 89.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 81.3 MB
This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 01:49:18 into the tape and ends around 02:51:34.
Transcript (AI-generated)
No transcript is available yet for this conversation. The recording may contain no audible speech, or it may not have been processed.
NARA Description
On October 14, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Charles W. Colson, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:16 am to 12:25 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 592-010 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 592-10
Date: October 14, 1971
Time: 11:16 am - 12:25 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
Charles W. Colson's schedule
Hobart D. Lewis
Neal B. Freeman
Edith Efron's book
-Freeman
-DeVan L. Shumway
-William F. Buckley
-Bookstores
-Possibility of making book a best seller
-Controversy
Colson entered at 11:19 am.
-Broadcast magazine
-Clifford P. Hansen
-House of Representatives
-Clarence J. (“Bud”) Brown, Jr.
-Torbert H. MacDonald
-Harley O. Staggers
-Buckley
-"Firing Line"
-Mike Douglas show
-Television stations
-Congressmen
-Dean G. Acheson
-"Accuracy in Media"
-Views
-Network concerns
-Efron
-Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]
-Distribution of book
-Louis Harris
-Poll
-Hubert H. Humphrey
-Blacks
-John P. Roche
-New York Times
-Forthcoming review
-Washington Post
Book by Rowland Evans and Robert D. Novak
-Donald Oberdorfer, Jr.'s review
-People's Republic of China [PRC]
-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR]
-Colson’s view
-Melvin R. Laird
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Henry A. Kissinger
-Foreign policy
-Footnote
-Colson
-Massachusetts primary
-Edward M. Kennedy
-Colson
-[Forename unknown] McCarthy
-Evans
[Forename unknown] Pierce
Evans and Novak
-William L. Safire
-Efforts
-Robert H. Finch
-Donald H. Rumsfeld
Efron book
-Freeman
-Irv Kupeiner's show
-George Putnam
-Los Angeles
-Finances for Efron's travels
George Meany
-Edward M. Kennedy
-Chappaquiddick
Campaign practices
-Patrick J. Buchanan
-Campaign strategy
-Edmund S. Muskie
-Kennedy
Laird's activities
John N. Mitchell's activities
The President's previous meeting with Harris
-National economy
-John B. Connally
-Ehrlichman
-Peace
-Kissinger
-Administration issues
-Colson
The President's schedule
-Aircraft hijacking convention
-John A. Volpe
The President's previous meeting with Harris
-Poll
-Haldeman
-Popular view of President
-Laos
-Campaign
-Peace
-Vietnam War
-Networks
-CBS
-JoAnne Haldeman
-Washington Star
-Unnamed Prisoner of War [POW]
-Manolo Sanchez
-POWs
Television networks
-Sam J. Ervin, Jr. Committee hearings
-Fred W. Friendly
-Strom Thurmond
-Performance
-Media
-Motorcycle accidents
-Vietnam
Comments on the President's Soviet Summit announcement
-Kissinger
-War in Vietnam
-Television
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Democrats
-Article by James Doyle
-Democratic National Committee
-Wage and price controls
-Stock market
-Trip to USSR
-Trip to PRC
-Birch Bayh
-Harold E. Hughes
-Supreme Court nominees
-Robert C. Byrd
-Clement F. Haynesworth, G. Harrold Carswell
-George S. McGovern
-Muskie
-Byrd
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 40s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
**********************************************************************
-Mike Royko's column
-Comparison of Nixon and Kennedy
-Posters
-Campaign practices
-Kennedy
Royko's column
-The President
-Kennedy
News summary remarks
-Boston Globe
-Barry M. Goldwater
-Kennedy
-Radio
-Impact on popular opinion
-Humphrey
-Democrats
George H. Gallup's poll
-Timing of release
**********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 6m 34s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
**********************************************************************
The President's accomplishments
-Vietnam
-PRC
-USSR
Networks
-Ziegler, Herbert G. Klein
-New York Times
-Washington Star
-Washington Post
-Vietnam
-David Brinkley
-Haldeman
-Vietnam
-Soviet Summit announcement
-Doyle
Republicans in Congress
-Goldwater
-Kennedy
-Administration involvement
-Edward W. Brooke
-Hugh Scott
-Gerald R. Ford
-National figures
-Michael J. Mansfield amendment
-Head count
-Clark MacGregor
-[Unintelligible name]
-United Press International [UPI]
-[Forename unknown] Smith
-Rumsfeld's views
-Congress
-Richard B. Russell
-William Proxmire
-Staff
The President's legislative accomplishments
Spiro T. Agnew
-Visit to Greece
National economy
-Stock market
-Labor
-Phase II
-Retail sales
-Paul W. McCracken
-Sales
-Harry Reasoner
-Dan Rather
-Jacob K. Javits
Cabinet
-Connally
-Agnew
-William P. Rogers
-[Unintelligible name]
-Kissinger
-Laird
-Edward M. Kennedy
-John A. Scali
-Maurice H. Stans
-John A. Volpe
-George Romney
-Elliot L. Richardson
-Rogers C. B. Morton
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
-Harold L. Ickes
-Connally
-Democrat background
-Rumsfeld, Finch
Robert J. Dole
-Franklin C. Nofziger
-Networks
-Talk show
-Wichita, Kansas
Republican spokesmen
-The President's schedule
-California
-Cabinet
-Dole
-POWs
-Vermont
-Governor
-Federal Housing Administration [FHA]
-Becker Poll
-Importance
-Finch
-California
-Patricia R. Hitt
-Rose Mary Woods
-Arkansas
-Missouri
-Gladys O'Donnell
-Mary Roebling
-Romana A. Banuelos
-MacGregor
-Bryce N. Harlow
-Samuel L. Devine
-Brown
-Senators
-Brooke
-Javits
-Charles H. Percy
-Javits
-Kissinger
-Effect of polls
The President's schedule
-Connally
-Instructions to Haldeman
-Dwight L. Chapin
-Kissinger
Ehrlichman
Colson left at 12:18 pm.
Camp Hoover
Alexander P. Butterfield entered at 12:19 pm.
The President's schedule
-Executive Office Building
Butterfield left at an unknown time before 12:24 pm.
Colson
-Compared to Mitchell
Butterfield entered at an unknown time after 12:19 pm.
The President's schedule
-Kissinger's schedule
-Woods
-Mr. and Mrs. Frank Jorgensen
Butterfield left at 12:24 pm.
Haldeman left at 12:25 pm.Also recorded on October 14, 1971
- 592-007 11:08 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:08 am and 11:16 am.
- 592-008 11:08 AM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:08 am and 11:16 am.
- 592-009 11:08 AM · 58 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:08 am and 11:16 am.
- 592-011 12:25 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:25 pm and 12:30 pm.
- 289-001 12:30 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm.
- 289-002 12:30 PM · 7 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 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm.
- 289-003 12:30 PM · 4 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 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm.
- 289-004 12:30 PM · 9 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 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 592-010, October 14, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/592-010 (accessed September 28, 2026).