Secret White House Tapes

829–12

About this recording

829–12
  • President Richard M. Nixon
  • Charles W. Colson
  • Stephen B. Bull
January 1, 1973
Conversation No. 829-12

Date: January 1, 1973
Time: 9:40 am - 10:40 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Charles W. Colson.

George H. Allen
-Visit to the White House
-Post-game celebration
-Personal style
-“All-American square”
-Reaction of Washington press
-Victory over Green Bay Packers
-Billy Kilmer
-Lifestyle
-University of California–Los Angeles [UCLA]

Henry A. Kissinger's telephone call
-New Years greetings
-Handling of Kissinger
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

Haig
-Trip to Saigon
-Relation with Kissinger
-Departure from White House staff
-Need for praise of Kissinger
-Colson’s relationship with Kissinger
-Public opposition to administration's foreign policy

Kissinger
-Log of telephone calls
-Unnamed staffer
-Calls to James B. (“Scotty”) Reston
-Billing records
-Max Frankel
-Kissinger's relation
-Sunday editor of New York Times
-10-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept.-08)

Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

-Kissinger's talking with Frankel
-Breakfast
-Relations with journalists

Press relations
-List of friends and enemies
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Rewards and punishments
-New York Times
-George P. Shultz
-Thomas Vail
-Herbert Stein
-Cutoff of access
-National Security Council [NSC]
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Washington Post
-William E. Timmons
-Washington Post article
-David S. Broder
-Compared to Carrol L. Kirkpatrick
-Ambitions
-Hostility to the President
-Man-of-the-Year article
-George C. Wallace
-Edward M. (“Ted”) Kennedy
-Violation of the President's order
-Truman
-Compared to Joseph W. Alsop
-Gerald L. Warren
-Washington Star
-Chicago Sun Times
-Detroit News
-Los Angeles Times
-Compared to Washington Post

Delegations to ceremonies
-H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-List of attendees
-Need for a broader list
-Recommendations
-11-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept.-08)

Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

-Colson
-Lester Pearson
-Labor leaders
-Kissinger
-[Unintelligible name]
-State Department
-James T. Roosevelt
-Democrats
-Criteria for selection
-Financial contributors
-Maurice H. Stans
-Political reporters
-Editors, publishers
-Paul Miller
-Previous lists
-George R. Bell
-Letters from the President
-White House social invitations
-Updated list
-Business Council invitees
-Stans’s list
-Sam Johnson
-Wisconsin
-David Rockefeller
-Roger Milliken
-Active members
-Peter M. Flanigan
-Colson’s assignment
-Shultz
-Stans’s list
-Business Council members
-Contributors
-Wealth
-Donald McIntosh Kendall
-Recommendations
-Stans’s list

The President’s supporters
-List
-Law firms
-12-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept.-08)

Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

-Flanigan
-Licensing
-Airlines
-Cut off
-Haldeman
-Enforcing orders
-Firings
-Lee White

Invitations to White House
-The President as the Vice President
-Democrats
-The President's supporters
-George S. McGovern

Stans
-Relations with Congress
-Relations with Colson
-Counsel for Colson’s law firm

Lawyers in Colson's law firm
-Jews
-Inclusion of a few
-Blacks
-Exclusion
-Jews
-Antitrust law
-Leonard Garment’s classmate
-Brooklyn Law School
-Columbia Law School
-Political cases
-Clark M. Clifford
-Republican National Committee [RNC] as a client

“Kitchen Cabinet”
-Clark MacGregor
-Bryce N. Harlow
-Richard M. Scammon
-“New Establishment”
-John B. Connally
-13-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept.-08)

Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

-Finances
-Invitations to join

Vietnam settlement
-December 1972 bombings
-Impact on the president
-Kissinger
-Publicity
-US credibility in world
-Nonpolitical approach
-Antiwar opposition
-McGovern supporters
-South Vietnamese reactions
-Impact on North Vietnamese
-December 1972 bombings
-National Broadcasting Corporation [NBC]
-Film from Hanoi
-Effect of bombing
-Propaganda
-Civilian coffins
-Congress

Stephen B. Bull [?] entered at an unknown time after 9:40 am.

Instructions
-Photograph

Bull [?] left at an unknown time before 10:40 am.

Press opposition to December 1972 bombing
-New York Times
-Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]
-NBC
-North Vietnamese reaction
-Surprise at capitulation
-Doves
-Congress
-Domestic pressure
-Effectiveness of bombing
-14-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept.-08)

Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

The President’s World War II service
-Guam
-Bombs

Bull entered at an unknown time after 9:40 am.

Request for pens for visiting group

Bull left at an unknown time before 10:40 am.

The President's political enemies
-Haldeman
-1972 election
-Establishment
-Strategy toward the President
-Administration's response

Press relations
-Broder
-Benjamin C. Bradlee
-Robert B. Semple, Jr.
-Ambitions
-Career
-Washington Star
-New York Herald Tribune
-New York Times
-Washington Post
-Bradlee
-Colson's plans
-Washington Post
-Richard Scaife
-Lifestyle
-Publishing

Miami television [TV] station
-Federal Communications Commission [FCC] licensing procedures
-Paul McCray
-Harassment
-Washington Post management
-Hiring policy
-15-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept.-08)

Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

-Basis for challenge to license

Washington Post
-Stockholder’s litigation
-Katharine L. Graham

Edward Bennett Williams
-George M. Webster
-File at Internal Revenue Service [IRS]
-IRS audit
-Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]
-Democrats
-1964 presidential campaign
-Barry M. Goldwater
-1960 presidential campaign
-Thoroughness
-Family
-Arrest record
-Farm incident


**************************************************************************
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]

Colson’s role
-Haldeman
-George H. W. Bush
-Loyalty
-William E. Brock, III
-Clarence J. (“Bud”) Brown, Jr.

1974 election
-Compared to 1934 election
-Economy

[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
**************************************************************************


Vietnam War
-16-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept.-08)

Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

-Impact on public opinion
-Compared to economy
-Albert E. Sindlinger
-Antiwar marcher
-Dean Francis B. Sayre
-Social background
-Racial attitudes of American public
-Asians

Convention of economists
-Hendrick S. Houthakker
-The President’s Vietnam policy
-Support
-The President’s appreciation
-Economic outlook
-Political attitudes
-Social background

Academic community
-Professors
-Poll
-Support for the President
-Poll at Princeton University
-Colson's son
-McGovern
-T. Hardin Jones
-White House intern
-Publication of poll
-Professors’ protest
-Pentagon Papers
-Students of Ivy League schools
-Influence of faculty on students’ attitudes
-Colson's visit to Princeton University
-Support for the President among students
-Princeton University
-Compared to Harvard University
-Colson in college
-Professor's influence
-Joseph P. McCarthy
-17-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept.-08)

Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

Second term objectives
-Left-wing opposition
-Wallace
-“Man-of-the-Year”
-Press coverage after shooting
-1968 election

Press relations
-Mary McGrory article
-1972 election
-Effect on the President
-Broder
-Wallace
-Landslide election
-Campaign tactics of the opposition
-Patrick J. Buchanan
-Article
-Ronald L. Ziegler
-Opposition to the President
-Avoidance of press after election
-Press conference
-The President’s schedule
-Harry S. Truman’s memorial service
-National opinion

Second term reorganization
-Change
-Personnel
-Frederic V. Malek
-Importance of lower level positions
-Political views
-Director of Census Bureau
-Importance
-Donald B. Moore [?]
-Scammon
-Lyndon B. Johnson
-Politician
-Scholars
-Kevin P. Phillips
-Robert Teeter
-18-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept.-08)

Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

-John N. Mitchell
-Haldeman
-Politics
-Social background
-Grosse Point, Michigan
-Busing
-Marijuana
-Raymond K. Price, Jr.
-Capital punishment
-California
-Environment
-Compared to Edwin L. Harper
-Religion
-Catholics
-Christian Scientists
-Ehrlichman
-Background of appointees
-Religion
-Buchanan's advice


**************************************************************************
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]

1972 election
-Colson’s meetings
-Detroit News advertisement
-Busing
-Harper
-Opposition
-Martin S. Hayden
-Black vote
-Ethnics
-Impact
-Robert A. Griffin
-Impact on Congressional races
-North Carolina
-Jesse A. Helms
-Virginia
-William L. Scott
-19-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept.-08)

Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

-Harry F. Byrd, Jr.
-Margaret C. Smith
-John H. Chafee
-Secretary of Defense
-Jack R. Miller
-Gordon L. Allott
-J. Caleb Boggs
-Delaware
-Problems of press coverage
-The President’s campaigning
-1952 election
-1956 election
-Kentucky
-Louie B. Nunn
-The President’s campaigning

1974 election
-Candidates
-Senate
-House
-Age
-Senate
-Age
-Age of candidates
-Leadership positions

Congressional leadership
-Age
-Robert C. (“Bob”) Wilson
-William B. Widnall
-New Jersey
-Norris Cotton
-Leslie Arends
-Lifestyle
-Arends
-Political future
-George D. Aiken
-Political future

Congressional candidates
-20-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept.-08)

Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

-Young liberals
-Donald H. Rumsfeld
-Robert H. Finch
-Liberal leanings
-Political appeal
-Finch
-Organization
-Rumsfeld
-Anti-Establishment

[End segment received under deed of gift]
**************************************************************************


Press relations
-Broder
-Man-of-the-Year
-Time
-Selection
-Reasons
-Kissinger
-Letters supporting the President
-New York Times
-Past coverage of the President
-Columnists
-Election predictions
-Edmund S. Muskie
-Polls
-Louis P. Harris
-Vietnam War
-Bombing

Truman memorial
-Bull
-Qualities
-Dean Sayre
-Avoidance
-Excuses
-Trip to California
-Trip to Independence
-21-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept.-08)

Conversation No. 829-12 (cont’d)

-Kissinger’s trip to Paris
-Camp David

McGrory article
-The President's behavior during Vietnam bombing
-Dancing with Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
-The President's not talking to public
-Feelings toward the President

Bull entered at an unknown time after 9:40 am.

George H. Allen and family
-Photographs in Rose Garden
-Warren
-Henrietta (“Etty”) Allen
-Sons
-Jennifer Allen
-Mr. and Mrs. Felix Lumbroso
-Tunisia
-Tour of White House
-Christmas decorations
-Previous tour

Roberto W. Clemente
-Airplane crash
-Puerto Rico
-Managua, Nicaragua
-Death

Photographs
-Signing
-Arrangements

Bull and Colson left at 10:40 am.
-22-

NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sept.-08)
Secret White House Tapes |

829–12

This recording is currently not available on millercenter.org. To listen to it, please email Mike Greco at mdg4u@virginia.edu

More Richard M. Nixon Recordings

View all Richard M. Nixon tapes
830–1
audio icon
393–1
audio icon
829–17
audio icon
829–18
audio icon
829–19
audio icon
393–2
audio icon
830–2
audio icon
829–20
audio icon
829–21
audio icon
829–22
audio icon