Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 744 › Conversation 744-020
Nixon, Haldeman & Colson on White House-press relations and Media bias
Friday, June 30, 1972 · 12:17 PM–12:44 PM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon, H. R. Haldeman, and Charles Colson met to evaluate the President’s recent press conference performance and discuss broader strategies for countering perceived media bias. The participants scrutinized press hostility toward the administration, specifically analyzing how to manage factual errors in reporting and mobilize an organized response to unfavorable coverage. They also assessed the political implications of George McGovern's campaign statements and debated the effectiveness of past communication styles compared to those of previous administrations.
- White House-press relations
- Media bias
- Press conference strategy
- George McGovern
- Public relations
- Administration communication
Audio
Easy Nixon does not have audio for this conversation yet: the Nixon Library lists it as “being processed”, and the National Archives Catalog has not put it online. It will be added once it is released. See the Nixon Library record ↗.
NARA Description
On June 30, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Charles W. Colson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:17 pm to 12:44 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 744-020 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 744-20
Date: June 30, 1972
Time: 12:17-12:44 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
The President's schedule
-Meeting with candidates
The President's previous press conference
-James D. Hodgson's opinion
-The President's style
-Hodgson's opinion
Charles W. Colson entered at 12:21 pm.
White House relations with the press
-The President's style
-Cost of Living Council [COLC]
-Donald H. Rumsfeld
-Factual errors
-Press bias
-Spiro T. Agnew
-Ronald W. Reagan
-White House staff
-John D. Ehrlichman, Haldeman, Colson
-1952 campaign
-Antagonism to the President
-Cambodia and Laos
-1962 campaign
-Factual errors
-Need for response
-Ehrlichman
-Press questions
-Anthony Lewis
-Mailing of articles
-Attribution
-James Keogh
-New York Times article
-Organization to send letters
-Media bias
-FinancingShow the rest of the log (67 more lines)
-John A. Scali's memorandum
The President's previous press conference
-Questions
-The President’s preparation
-Number of questions
-Topics
-The President's style
-1960 debates
-John F. Kennedy's press conferences
-Colson’s view
-Television pool camera
-Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 2m 16s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
*****************************************************************
New York Times
-Editorial conference with the President
-Spitting incident before 1968 election
-Jewish reporter
-Compared to incident at Jewish temple in 1960
*****************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 1m 24s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
*****************************************************************
-Max Frankel
-Incumbent's advantage
-Date for Vietnam negotiations
-George Sherman of the Washington Star
-George S. McGovern's interview on Associated Press [AP]
-Bombing in Indochina
-Adolf Hitler
-Administration's response
-Frank Borman
-Press coverage on McGovern’s "begging" statement
-Kennedy’s comments in Oregon
-Labor vote
-Wire services
-United Press International [UPI]
-National Broadcasting Company [NBC]
-Delegates
-New York Daily News
-Washington Star
Personnel
-Anecdote
-Abraham Lincoln
The President's previous press conference
-Robert Pierpoint's statement
The President, Haldeman, and Colson left at 12:44 pm.Transcript (AI-generated)
No transcript is available because Easy Nixon does not have the audio yet.
Also recorded on June 30, 1972
- 744-017 11:50 AM — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:50 am and 12:10 pm.
- 744-018 11:50 AM — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:50 am and 12:10 pm.
- 744-019 12:10 PM — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, Anthony T. ("Tony") Rossi, and Acheille Mongelli met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:10 pm to 12:16 pm.
- 026-029 12:16 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:16 pm.
- 347-001 12:50 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:50 pm and 12:52 pm.
- 347-002 12:50 PM · 13 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 12:50 pm and 12:52 pm.
- 347-003 12:50 PM · 39 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:50 pm and 12:57 pm.
- 026-030 12:52 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone from 12:52 pm to 12:57 pm.
Related conversations
- Colson & Sanchez on White House press relations and media bias June 8, 1971
- Nixon phone call with Colson on 1972 Presidential Election and George McGovern October 28, 1972 · 10 min
- Nixon, Agnew & Dent on Media Bias and George McGovern June 13, 1972 · 11 min
- Nixon & Buchanan on 1972 election and Media bias June 10, 1972 · 10 min
- Nixon & Colson on 1972 Presidential Election and George McGovern June 20, 1972 · 1 hr 7 min
- Nixon, Colson & Clawson on Foreign Policy and Press Relations July 27, 1972 · 19 min
Cite this conversation
Conversation 744-020, June 30, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/744-020 (accessed November 2, 2026).