Charles
W. Colson and the Presidential Election
of 1972
Nixon
Tapes Show Colson at Peak Influence
The following is a sampling of Nixon tape
conversations in which Counsel to the President Charles W. "Chuck"
Colson was perhaps at his peak influence in the Nixon administration. These
tapes were released by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
on July 11, 2007. The conversations are from November 1972, including the period
immediately before, during, and following the 1972 election, when Colson spends
more time with the president than perhaps any other top aide, invaluable as a
source for the latest report from virtually any and every
campaign--Congressional or statewide--in the country, in addition to a mastery
of the latest polling data. There
is much overlap between the tapes and the opening pages of Colson’s memoir Born Again, especially with
respect to the late election night conversation Colson took part in, in the
Executive Office Building. [1]
The Presidential Election of 1972 was a triumph
for the Nixon administration. It resulted in not only a landslide victory, but
the tapes also reveal numerous other initiatives of the president and his top
advisers which occurred in parallel with the election. These included a final
winding down of American involvement in Vietnam, the president’s departure for
Florida and then Camp David to begin plans for a government reorganization,
continued negotiations with the Soviet Union, and planning for a heightened
foreign policy focus on Europe beginning in 1973, known as the “Year of
Europe.”
Taking
this sample of conversations below, one can, in a sense, travel back in time,
arriving at the White House the weekend before the election. There is much
excitement as the final polls that weekend and the Monday before Election Day
show the President strongly ahead in all regions of the country. There are also
several unique aspects of this election in which Colson took a direct role: his
analysis on relatively new electoral trends such as ticket-splitting, success in
the traditionally Democratic south, efforts with Catholics and ethnic groups,
and shoring up blue-collar and labor union support.
The participants are as follows:
- P = President Richard Nixon
- APB = Assistant to the President Alexander P.
Butterfield
- AMH = Deputy Assistant to the President
for National Security Affairs Alexander M. Haig
- CWC = Counsel to the President Charles W.
"Chuck" Colson
- HAK = Assistant to the President for National
Security Affairs Henry A. Kissinger
- HRH = Chief of Staff H.R. "Bob"
Haldeman
- JDE = Assistant to the President for Domestic
Affairs John D. Ehrlichman
- LMH = Larry M. Higby (assistant to Chief of Staff H.R. "Bob"
Haldeman)
- MS = Valet to the President Manolo Sanchez
- RHF = Counselor to the President Robert H.
Finch
- RLZ = Press Secretary Ronald L. Ziegler
- SBB = Assistant to the President Stephen B.
Bull
- TNC = Tricia Nixon Cox
- WPR = Secretary of State William P. Rogers
- WHO = White House Operator
- Unk = Unknown participant
|
Date
|
Time
|
Participants
|
Audio
|
|
WHT 033-002
|
11/03/1972 |
9:48 - 10:12 pm |
P, CWC |
mp3 (10.8m)
|
pdf
(55k) |
WHT 033-047
|
11/07/1972 |
8:06 - 8:20 pm |
P, CWC |
|
pdf
(48k) |
WHT 033-052
|
11/07/1972 |
9:29 - 9:40 pm |
P, CWC, TNC |
mp3 (5.1m)
|
doc
(34k) |
EOB 388-004A |
11/08/1972 |
1:00 - 3:00 am |
P, HRH, Unk,
WHO, CWC, MS |
mp3 (18.6m)
|
doc
(75k) |
EOB 388-004B
(continued from EOB 388-004A) |
11/08/1972 |
1:00 - 3:00 am |
P, HRH, Unk,
WHO, CWC, MS |
mp3 (16.3m)
|
(continued from
EOB 388-4A) |
OVAL 813-028 |
11/08/1972 |
12:03 - 12:12 pm |
P, CWC, RLZ, LMH |
mp3
(6.5m)
|
doc
(33k) |
EOB 388-008A |
11/08/1972 |
2:05 pm - Unk
before 3:28 pm |
P, CWC, Unk,
APB, WHO, SBB, RHF, MS |
mp3 (116k)
|
doc
(71k) |
EOB 388-008B
(continued from EOB 388-008A) |
11/08/1972 |
2:05 pm - Unk
before 3:28 pm |
P, CWC, Unk,
APB, WHO, SBB, RHF, MS |
mp3
(33.3m) |
pdf
(101k) |
EOB 388-008C
(continued from EOB 388-008B) |
11/08/1972 |
2:05 pm - Unk
before 3:28 pm |
P, CWC, Unk,
APB, WHO, SBB, RHF, MS |
mp3
(2.0m) |
pdf
(13k) |
WHT 033-075
|
11/08/1972 |
3:28 - 3:30 pm |
P, CWC |
mp3 (742k)
|
doc
(27k) |
EOB 388-017 |
11/08/1972 |
3:30 - 3:37 pm |
P, HAK, AMH,
CWC, WHO, APB |
|
pdf
(28k) |
WHT 033-108 |
11/19/1972 |
9:35 am (to Unk) |
P, WHO, CWC |
|
pdf
(87k) |
|
|