Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 002-108
Date: Thursday, May 6, 1971 at 8:53 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/002-108

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] I had a couple things though.
[0:19] One, I want the hardened nuts on the stairs to stand in the line.
[0:20] Right.
[0:20] They can be at the bottom of the stairs.
[0:27] Yep.
[0:46] Second thing.
[0:52] They have an interesting figure in agriculture.
[0:53] I've been working over here.
[0:53] Right.
[0:53] And they say that output per man hour in agriculture went up 3% in agriculture.
[0:55] Right.
[0:55] Output per man hour in industry went up 150%.
[0:56] Now, the point is, then they go...
[0:58] The point that I want to make here is what did agriculture income go up in the last 20 years in the history of agriculture?
[1:27] It's probable that they can't figure it out because it's too complicated for them to go through computers, but I could do it if I had more.
[1:46] I'm going to cheat the papers on them.
[1:46] Let them try what you're doing.
[1:47] Tell them I want to try to get that.
[1:48] All right.
[1:48] Now, if they can't get it, don't talk to me about it.
[1:49] Try to find some way they can get around it.
[1:50] Okay.
[1:50] But it's a very interesting comparison to me.
[1:51] Right.
[1:51] If we can get it.
[1:52] Right.
[1:52] And...
[1:53] Another thing, I have just looked over the cancer thing, and I've proved it.
[2:18] I've made several notes on it.
[2:18] I'm not satisfied with anything they've done.
[2:19] Because all of them leave it on the internet.
[2:20] Well, one, the Kennedy approach, which breaks too much China.
[2:21] The one that they finally come up with is one of these in the NIH.
[2:23] What they missed, Bob, is
[2:24] The key point is that there must be a report to the president so that it's the president's decision.
[2:42] So I have modified it all in terms of that.
[2:43] I went over and asked Judith to take charge of the PR side of the company.
[2:45] I asked Judith to take charge of the business points of the body, even outside of government, if that's necessary.
[2:47] So the president's chosen to do that.
[2:48] I would like for you to pick somebody, or for Erlich to pick somebody on the staff, that was a market type, maybe it's cold, that will be my man.
[3:06] Because if they report to me on the program, and ultimately I want them to, I'm going to find out how one of these, how one of these programs works at GW and NIH.
[3:09] The trouble is that Elliot's too damn busy.
[3:10] You know, he doesn't have a lead in his boss.
[3:11] He can't.
[3:29] He's better than I do.
[3:29] He's got his secretary for medicine.
[3:30] I'm going to take the personal charge of this.
[3:31] Take a look at it.
[3:31] I'll send it over.
[3:32] This way we don't break the chain.
[3:32] We leave NIH and
[3:38] What you do here is to leave it in the goddamn engine
[4:07] Exactly.
[4:22] But figuratively, it reports to you.
[4:25] That's right.
[4:25] And then, of course, then I can be in charge of the...
[4:26] I'll have a dinner, or a reception, or I'll bring the people in.
[4:28] I can have a meeting from time to time, and they come in and report to you.
[4:29] Well, you go over there.
[4:30] Exactly.
[4:30] And a seminar or something.
[4:30] Yeah.
[4:30] Well, I think this really will do it.
[4:32] Okay, what else is new this morning?
[4:55] No, major things.
[4:55] Roger's got a pretty big play.
[4:56] I saw that, but I told you it's new.
[4:57] Yeah.
[4:57] So, uh...
[4:59] Nothing happens.
[5:15] Good mileage on it.
[5:20] The reports didn't indicate any breakthroughs.
[5:21] No.
[5:21] Not yet.
[5:22] The only other thing we've got is a problem that I think Connelly is going to handle alright, but Packard has apparently just totally flipped on the basis of the Mach-E position.
[5:25] And it's more of a
[5:26] somebody and it got through to Henry that was going to resign today with a blast at us for the Lockheed decision.
[5:48] And Henry, for some reason, was in the middle of working it out with Packard and Blair.
[5:50] And I got into it late last night and suggested that Conley be brought into it, which they had felt they should do.
[5:52] Conley got in, called Packard, and I think he's working it out with Packard.
[5:55] But we'll have to see.
[6:07] You may have to see Packard this morning.
[6:09] Yeah, that's right.
[6:09] Later on.
[6:13] But John's going over to see him.
[6:14] John talked to him last night, and he's going over to see him this morning.
[6:15] And he's at least got him now that we're, he may resign, but he will not say anything.
[6:17] And he thinks he can stop him from resigning.
[6:18] Well, he should.
[6:18] The point is that he didn't want to.
[6:19] He was in it from the military standpoint.
[6:20] Well, but we knew he was, as Conley pointed out, his opposition was fully known and fully stated at all times.
[6:42] And it was a close decision.
[6:43] And it was a close decision.
[6:43] We know that.
[6:44] We know that.
[6:44] And Conley can make the point that Packer's too big a man to be full of love just because he's one decision.
[6:46] Well, I think this involves other people.
[6:47] I'm convinced of this.
[6:47] Right.
[6:48] Right.
[6:48] Yeah.
[6:48] Should not do it.
[6:49] Well, not now.
[6:59] Well, it would be too damn bad for him to do it on the base of the Vietnam.
[7:01] At the moment, he's taken all the heat.
[7:02] It's downhill rough here.
[7:03] And now there's some things going to happen.
[7:04] His family's going to send her down, and her kids are going to be all right.
[7:05] Well, the other thing, too, is that Henry ought to take him on the mountain.
[7:07] I don't know if anything's going to happen in some other area.
[7:08] Yeah.
[7:09] But he did, apparently.
[7:29] Henry worked hard on it.
[7:30] Henry was the most subtle one.
[7:31] But that's the thing to tell him.
[7:31] Look, Dave, you're just ready to have some breakthroughs.
[7:32] Don't leave at a time like this.
[7:33] Leave with a victory, rather.
[7:34] Absolutely.
[7:34] It's hard to work with a goddamn good soldier over there.
[7:35] Working with Laird.
[7:36] But on the Lockheed thing, we knew all the time.
[7:36] We had to think of a job.
[7:37] That's what it got down to.
[7:39] Well, good.
[7:53] I'll see him.
[7:56] I'll be glad.
[7:56] Well, I don't know that you'll have to, John, but I want you to know how, because Conley may want to talk to you about it, but Conley, he is a great guy.
[8:00] I mean, just as soon as he got word of this, he just moved in and made the phone call, called back and reported on him.
[8:03] Just so that Henry is aware of it.
[8:04] Henry's aware of the importance of it.
[8:05] Yeah.
[8:05] Yes.
[8:18] They're told about some of these other things over here?
[8:31] Yeah, yeah.
[8:31] Well, that's it.
[8:31] He's paid all the price.
[8:32] I mean, he's leaving just as the cookies start to arrive.
[8:33] Uh, if I, well, he may just admit the best last night.
[8:34] I mean, it's a lot.
[8:35] well that's it you've been shooting signals up for five days five days long before that well yeah he knew it before that but i mean publicly it was pretty clear on saturday so he told henry apparently he was upset because connelly had made the justification on the basis of national national security i don't think he did he didn't no we checked the record on that and that uh
[9:04] And Packard backed off of that with Conley.
[9:25] Packard said, I wasn't upset with you at all on it, or what you said.
[9:26] I just think it's the wrong decision.
[9:27] It destroys everything I've tried to do in making defense contractors honest.
[9:28] And Conley made the point that you really put the squeeze on these people.
[9:30] So we're all for that.
[9:30] You've gotten credit for it.
[9:31] There's no way we're going to do something like that.
[9:32] Well, what's the thing worth it on?
[9:33] Now, another thing that occurred to me...
[9:34] That might be a good time to get close.
[9:54] You've got to have your warning clear on it.
[9:56] But it's what if it's that once they're all at the business end, they're all at the business end.
[9:59] What's the unemployment figure?
[10:22] I don't have an idea.
[10:23] I don't know.
[10:23] I don't know.
[10:23] I don't know.
[10:24] I don't know.
[10:24] I don't know.
[10:25] Oh, that's what I'm getting at.
[10:50] One of those, right here to the left.
[10:51] No, we're coming down.
[10:51] It all varies.
[10:51] Sure.
[10:51] Yeah.
[10:52] Did you have any further reactions about that?
[10:56] Yeah, they're working hard to try and escalate that because everybody's convinced that he is.
[11:10] Well, isn't it interesting that the president's given much more.
[11:12] Well, you see, what happened is there was no reason to remain of it.
[11:15] What he said was that at an Iona College dinner in New York, that Iran came in with a ticker.
[11:17] Well, it finally got on the ticker.
[11:19] It hadn't gotten on.