Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 003-110
Date: Friday, May 21, 1971 at 12:45 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/003-110

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Hello.
[0:04] Hello.
[0:05] Henry?
[0:05] Yeah.
[0:06] How are you getting along on your briefings?
[0:07] Have you seen any more people?
[0:18] I have, but I've seen people all afternoon.
[0:26] Right.
[0:26] But I don't know whether you've been to those actual times.
[0:27] No, no.
[0:28] John Scali was in it.
[0:28] He expressed, in my own feeling, he said, John said there is some thought, maybe on your part, that we haven't had a good rest.
[0:31] He thinks it's the most spectacular thing to see.
[0:32] Well, I think, what I really think...
[0:33] turn to the press is basically the Post and the Times.
[0:37] Like the Times headline, if you read it, it says, U.S. and Soviet distress ABMs.
[0:44] Well, you know, now that's a deliberate shaft.
[0:48] It's a shaft, and it's just totally incorrect.
[0:53] And somebody ought to take him on on that.
[0:55] Don't you think?
[0:59] Yeah.
[0:59] Is he coming in?
[1:00] Well, I would lay it in.
[1:01] I'd say that's totally incorrect, deliberately so.
[1:06] And it really is.
[1:07] And, of course, they didn't give it the play that they should have either.
[1:13] I mean, this kind of a thing would have been an eight-column banner if the other, you know what I mean?
[1:17] They're dying, Henry.
[1:18] That's their problem.
[1:19] That is their problem.
[1:21] And Scali has got to realize it, too.
[1:23] Whatever we got is not really what it's worth.
[1:27] I'm not disappointed.
[1:28] That's what I expected.
[1:30] But I would say that, unexpected, I think we've done an excellent job considering what the opposition is.
[1:37] But, you know, really, you figure, these senators are out on a limb.
[1:44] The newspapers are out on a limb.
[1:47] The Post and the rest have been saying all those things.
[1:48] So what the hell do you expect them to do?
[1:54] They're going to try their best to protect their position, and they're petrified with the thought that maybe we're going to get an agreement.
[2:11] But it has a certain advantage in that in the long term, that it is overplayed.
[2:13] Sure.
[2:13] Oh, that's true.
[2:13] It makes the negotiations easier.
[2:14] True, true.
[2:14] Oh, I'm not... And still, it's a big, you know, the Nationalist Times has a big headline.
[2:16] Sure.
[2:16] It's front page everywhere.
[2:17] Sure.
[2:17] Oh, it would be.
[2:17] Well, good God, it ought to be front page, but...
[2:19] What I meant is that I said the New York Times was playing its usual game, just straight out to stress ABMs.
[2:30] They missed the point.
[2:32] That isn't what it says.
[2:33] I mean, the significance is not to stress it.
[2:37] It's to stress both.
[2:39] Exactly.
[2:39] And I think most of the others got that, but it's defensive and offensive.
[3:03] That's good.
[3:03] Now that's the way to get it across.
[3:04] Sure, sure.
[3:04] So we've got these special problem children here for a few times.
[3:13] Sure, sure, sure.
[3:14] And as a matter of fact, they're not nitpicking too much on you, because there's going to be a deal made here.
[3:17] You and I both know it.
[3:19] And Galley is going over to the Fed stuff, and that's it.
[3:27] Yeah, for sure.
[3:27] So I think that... No, I think we're... No, I think...
[3:31] Listen, I don't think you could have handled it better.
[3:32] It's all out there.
[3:32] And of course, we want to realize we've got a hell of a television...
[3:34] Walloponk, they hit them.
[3:53] Was it the 8th minute of the network?
[3:54] Yeah, the 8th.
[3:54] And apparently they, uh, it's, uh, Severide and the others, uh...
[3:56] Very good, and John Sullivan.
[3:56] And, uh, Galley may not know a foot in the politics, but he, he feels this was a tremendous, uh, play.
[3:58] Maybe not as much as... Oh, no, it was fine.
[3:59] It was good, maybe not as much as Kennedy, but it's, uh, uh...
[4:00] It was fine.
[4:01] It's, uh, it's got them on their heels for a little while.
[4:04] It's just the normal days.
[4:28] Did they run the low casualties in their story?
[4:29] I don't know.
[4:29] I don't know.
[4:29] I don't know.
[4:30] I don't know.
[4:30] I don't know.
[4:30] I don't know.
[4:30] I don't know.
[4:31] I don't know.
[4:31] I don't know.
[4:31] I don't know.
[4:32] But I think it's fine.
[4:32] You're just doing just the right thing.
[4:33] We'll play it.
[4:49] We'll play it right on out.
[4:52] But I'll be seeing time and music this afternoon.
[4:53] Good.
[4:54] And play it very, I think the idea of playing everything just very positively.
[4:55] We're going to work for agreement.
[4:56] I'm sure it's hard, but we expect to get one.
[4:57] It's for offensive and defensive.
[4:58] It's simultaneous.
[4:58] Period.
[4:58] That's all.
[4:59] And have a little fun with them.
[4:59] Okay, Henry.
[5:00] Thank you.