In 1971, President Nixon worried about young war opponent Kerry - tapes.

(From Agence France Presse)

In 1971, then president Richard Nixon was concerned about a young Vietnam veteran and peace activist named John Kerry, today the Democratic presidential candidate, according to tapes.

"We'll keep hitting him, Mr. President," White House special counsel Charles Colson says to the late president on the tape aired by the NBC television network.

In another recording, White House Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman, like Colson a key figure in the Watergate scandal that forced Nixon to resign, says of the 27-year-old activist, "I think you'll find Kerry running for political office."

At one point, commenting on an upcoming …