Nixon, Woods & Haldeman on Camp David and Diplomatic appointments

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 6 minutes of this recording (about 30% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

I don't think she didn't leave.

I don't think Patsy did either.

No, Patsy didn't leave.

Colleen did.

Colleen did leave.

Well, what he said.

They're gorgeous.

They must be worth a fortune.

Because those drops, even.

Those drops.

He says the enclosed trinkets were made into the prison to quit.

By Mr. Brown.

So that's the question.

I thought you meant when you said they are geared, you know, for right and left gear, also the little drops are removable.

So that you can have either adrenaline or not.

And I thought maybe if you sign this card, then we'll wrap this with some of your white paper.

Is it from you and the girls or from you?

Yeah.

Take it over with you.

I guess I will.

I told you to lay out here.

Should I leave one out there for you?

They got out right after we got there.

I don't want to stay home.

And I said, if you're going to be over here, or maybe in your briefcase, here's an FYI.

On the last night's speech, and the one with George Bush about something.

And an eyes-only letter that the Vice President asked us to give you.

He said it wasn't anything he needed to see right away, but something that you should have.

We have over there the tea and the Maotai that came back from China.

Of course, David Clarke doesn't think you ought to use that stuff.

I think it makes a lot of sense, a lot of it does.

Well, of course I'm going to use the key in the mouth.

Okay, well, it's there in boxes.

I want to send it over to one.

Do you think it's a fair rule that you shouldn't have?

It's too bad.

Well, if you don't think I really need to see him, I can just sit on him.

Are there things I ought to talk to him about?

Well, you don't have to.

There's one from old Jim Offenhoff and Josh DeBoer.

Oh, okay.

Tell him, then, hey, they're nothing such things.

You don't have to see them.

And then we want to throw away one tool.

So this is about talking about a cardinal quote that Billy Graham wrote on last night's speech.

Read a lot on last night's speech, and then found a lot of things for both, which came in to say how great it was.

But both the speech and the meeting, they just had to listen to that.

And that's how I read it.

So I can see all the red folders.

You know, I was thinking, Rose, I was mentioning to Bob, and I asked him whether he really thought that he had talked strongly enough to Bob.

Oh, I heard him say it.

Was it strong?

That's no doubt.

Well, Sir Glenn was almost hysterical, I guess.

Because she could see her.

She knows what she's doing.

So it didn't have, no doubt, no doubt.

That's why I say that it's just evil.

She knows, he even said, you know.

I didn't.

You know, the problem, I was going to say that this is, I was just thinking right now, it's a small thing, but here's a weekend.

And any kind of a speech that isn't a speech by hell, I had to work on that matter.

You know, that statement that Ray let out to make the decision.

And I could have put out a hell of a lot of energy and effort, and I'm always tired after these things, and I need this weekend off.

This weekend should have been one that you could just cut her around.

Or I could go over to the house now and have a drink and eat something and see the movie, maybe, and go to bed or something like that.

And then tomorrow we're going to cante or something.

But...

But, you know, they'd have to go there.

I mean, hell, I didn't want the Johnsons there.

I know.

No, if you really...

The big thing, to be frank with you, is we've got a problem, which all of us have.

We find it when we don't, too.

I mean, as much as we love our old friends, God damn it, they aren't on track anymore.

I mean, I have to really make myself to be interesting to the, you know, the, you know, I can't talk to the Rockies anymore.

They're nothing to talk about anymore.

Not to talk about with Jack, but Robin would be much better.

Yeah, at least they don't try to take you away.

But the difficulty is, you know, when you take for example, you don't realize what a prison they're in.

For example, when I go over there now, they'll be plumped down.

Right from that line.

I'll have to break through and they'll say, hi, oh Christ, I've got to go in and I've got to get dressed and so forth, and it's awful.

They just, they won't stay the hell out of the room.

They ought to stay upstairs.

You know, an interesting thing about B.B., he hadn't been there, but he didn't stay off.

No, I know.

He is never in that room.

Never.

He wouldn't be there.

He isn't there unless I'm there.

That's why I got Holly.

Holly is there all the time.

Plucked right in the middle of it and jacking all days of the house.

It's a hell of a thing to complain about because, see, he'll be there tonight.

He'll be there tomorrow night.

He'll be there Sunday night.

So I've got to find a way to get on my own.

I'm going on tomorrow.

I'm going over there.

I'm going to get the helicopter so they don't know that I'm gone.

I'm just going to get there.

And they call around five o'clock.

So I'm kind of, I'll get back to church.

I'm going to do that.

I'm going to scoot out of the goddamn place.

Yeah, there's no reason not to.

Just let the chopper wait.

Out and across here, or right on.

You won't want him on the lawn, but that's gonna pay land across here, so maybe just wait and take you back up.

We're gonna take a few minutes to get over there.

Go up there.

So they wouldn't know.

On Monday morning, could I start a little late in case I decide to go back to Camp David Sunday night as well?

Or if you have something early in the morning.

I go to New York on Monday.

That's right.

Any event is probably before 10 o'clock.

Well, if it is, it's all right.

It's pretty good.

I understand.

Well, I just want to have my options open as well.

Thank you.

What about, I don't suppose it would be worthwhile just to do that, to go up to New York and spend a Sunday night, how about that?

No, it's too much of a problem, that's what I mean.

Thank you.

I have to go to New York.

Well, that's good, yes.

Okay, well, I think, as we were saying, Rose, that it's a good,

signal to them if I'm around tonight for her birthday and then I ain't around for the other times.

Do you agree or not?

Yeah.

By all means, if you stay around.

Either Saturday night or Sunday night, I'm not going to be around.

That's right, and the other, let's look at the other Saturday.

Okay.

But Pat gets sick to death sometimes.

And she will be.

Because, you know, if you're not around, Jack will be with them.

Just let her go sometimes.

All weekend.

But the only way, sure, is when Elaine will just march in and say, go.

Sure.

And Pat was out there from Saturday to whatever day they came back.

Thursday.

So they had their business.

And she's been here now about ten days now.

God damn her for just telling Jack to come in here without any help.

And then telling the other people to do it.

Why do you think she did that?

Because she knew Pat would object.

She thought Pat would object?

Oh, I don't know.

I wouldn't object.

Pat couldn't object.

Jack's coming.

Well, a couple times.

You've never had Pat?

Pat doesn't.

You know, Jack irritates her.

I know.

Because he is so terribly crushing.

It's not his fault, though, Rose.

It's

just before the son of a bitch is.

I mean, after that woman has driven me nuts for years.

Well, I've got work out.

I think I'm absolutely right.

I'll go to Camp David.

I've got a haircut in the morning.

And I'm just going to go the hell to Camp David.

And I've got a lot of reading to do anyway.

And I'll read.

But I don't have this.

It's too bad.

I don't want to be that kind of thing.

I don't want to do anything like that.

It's making a difference.

I prefer to have nobody along anyway.

Because I only, if I ever have anybody along, I only want them there for the swimmers.

No, I just, I like it by myself.

All right, I'm so glad to be in here.

I'll tell you that, you know, if I'm here, I'm going to be fine.

I'll be over there.

I'm a prisoner in that goddamn bedroom.

And I can't go down to the Lincoln Room.

If I go down there, hi.

Well, I'd love to come in and chat a little.

How do you think the ranch is going to do this year?

I don't know.

I'll predict the conversation.

Or I'll just tell you the whole thing, but we don't know how to do it.

Well, I just bring this up, and I don't know if you know what all of them say to us on this whole thing.

They go around and around.

Or it'll be, God, I just think you've got to know about California and things like that.

Like I said, I'm jacked out.

She said one of the things she's got to do something about, and I don't know what to do about it.

But even if everything he said about California or about anything else were true, you don't, he has no right to, you have to move in.

I already said that.

But my point is, it's so inconsiderate, no matter what.

They can actually not come in and express an opinion on a goddamn thing.

You know, the thing about bees is they're anti-ethnic.

They don't.

But you know that they never express an opinion unless I ask them.

They don't express any of that unless I ask them.

Yeah.

And they don't hang around unless you want them around.

They don't.

The difficulty on him, as much as I love Raj, he is very smart.

He really isn't.

He really isn't much smarter than he is.

But not much fun.

I mean, she's just nice.

She's nice.

That old person.

They're better than him, but they have a lot of other things.

But you're going to use the way that you did.

Can you imagine what that dinner will be tonight?

Uh-huh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And God, I'm not going to say anything.

Pat McGraw, too, I told her, you know, I said to her, actually, I didn't suggest eating, but I suggested on the part of her, you know, that if you ought to fight, you know,

But Helene was sitting there.

I said, I think you ought to invite a couple of people to enter China.

I want you to caution those over this regard.

And then later, they just decided they haven't gone.

But I think the reason was that Helene... Tell them about me.

Well, I think that was it.

She wouldn't care about the cops.

She didn't have anybody that's going to speak.

She wouldn't want me because she was a long, long time ago.

She just wouldn't want me now because she wants to go back home and be a young woman.

She'll find another new story like that one on track.

I didn't read it.

I couldn't read it.

It was just a long, long and detailed story.

how her trip to China was this, that, and the other, how she, it even went back to how many degrees she had when she applied for her job and went here, went to China.

It was just, it was just impossible.

Thank you.

Well, what's the credit to the writer's story?

Because she's supposed to have told us what to do to China.

No, she went to China.

She reads you to China.

She went to Hawaii.

It was ridiculous.

Well, I don't care.

That's fine.

It helps your mind.

That's fine.

Well, it helps her with everything.

She does love that movie.

She goes back and tells her that she's been there weeks, ten days with Jack.

Could I ask you one question?

Sure.

George McKinnon wrote, and he was suggesting that Tommy Thompson's widow, Jane,

might be of help to you and Pat on the lost country.

She speaks Russian and has such a critical talent.

Get that to Henry.

You know that's...

I wanted to ask you personally.

I had remarks for Henry, but I... Knowing Pat, she won't want anybody along.

I mean, that's... She is a nice person.

Yes, she is.

She was one of the nicest ambassadors' wives.

She is a nice person, and she does know Russia, and she knows it well.

And I don't think that Mrs. B is a nice person, but not very.

I think we propose a problem with Mrs. B.

Yes, she's fine.

I really do like her.

She's great.

But I don't know any better.

I don't know anything.

By this time, Elaine probably fucked herself.

Well, at least, I must say, Patty's been good on that, hasn't she?

If she tried to lay down on Africa.

She knows she couldn't get Elaine out of here.

You know, if she got her out of Africa, she got it.

Because Elaine almost crushed her way into that.

And Elaine, at first, was trying to go to China, wasn't she?

I don't know.

Whenever any other wives do go, like if it's Rogers or those people go, there's really no problem if they just set up a different operation.

That their counterparts take them somewhere else instead of, you know, putting all the women together.

I can tell you.

It's going to be very different.

I'm not going to go to any place with Rogers or anybody else instead of him.

they're gonna show me something.

I've seen it all anyway, so I'm limited.

But what I'm gonna do is they have a separate thing set up for Roger so that he gets the picture, and a separate thing set up for Pat so she gets the picture.

You never can do it together.

I'm just gonna do it and kiss.

And you can't, oh hell no.

When I say no staff members, I'm not kissing you, I'm not calling anybody at all.

I mean it's there.

And the aides who go, they're used to getting out of the way.

The agents, that's right.

But the agents are a military aid.

They don't get out of the way, I think.

They have to be involved.

But I think that's all you should do.

And then the other people go separately, and then they're so...

It's not a big mob thing, either, with you being hidden almost by all the other people.

Yeah, and I had to deal with that.

Yeah.

I'm worried we get that all the way down.

But Pat, I think you heard it.

It's really incredible, and I think

They don't want to be out of town.

They want to be right here for them.

I'm just talking about being back for all the hours on end.

Spending time here, being close to families or so.

Families are so close.

Well, that's what they want.

They don't want to be stuck out.

Australia, because they were so bad lucky.

A lot of people would like to have that.

That's the only prospect of these days.

No, of course not.

He's going to just resign, or is he going to stay on?

He's going to stay on.

His wife wants him to stay here.

His wife doesn't want to be here.

I think it's great.

He's fine.

He told me when he was going in that he got him on.

I'm so...

I'll run ahead with this draft and have it brought up to you.

Wiley, we're going to give you something.

I think it's Portugal now.

We can't have Spain.

That would be bad.

The reasons are very, very simple.

I think it's Portugal.

Nixon, Woods & Haldeman on Camp David and Diplomatic appointments

AI Summary

Audio

Transcript (AI-generated)

NARA Description

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on March 17, 1972

Cite this conversation