Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 4 › Conversation 004-018

Nixon phone call with Mitchell on Law and Order and Drug Policy

Tuesday, June 1, 1971 · 10:30 PM–10:34 PM ET · White House Telephone · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Mitchell, John N.Conversation004-018 on Tape 4 (tape position 01:06:08–01:10:59)StartTuesday, June 1, 1971 at 10:30 PMEndTuesday, June 1, 1971 at 10:34 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 004-018 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Attorney General John Mitchell discuss the political fallout from recent anti-war protests and the media's coverage of law and order issues. The conversation emphasizes the administration's commitment to combatting domestic drug abuse, specifically rejecting the legalization of marijuana and framing the issue as a national crisis rather than one isolated to Vietnam. The two conclude by coordinating plans for a follow-up meeting scheduled for June 3 to address these policy initiatives.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 42% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello?
Hello?
No, as a matter of fact, I think that it was good that they tried to keep that subject up because we're on the side of the angels there.
Well, you know, really, this certainly exposes the press for what they are.
Those bastards, they don't care about keeping the government going.
They don't care about slashing the tires or trashing...
all over the city or stopping the traffic.
The bastards only care about the, what are we going to do about these poor innocent little bastards that are down here to demonstrate against the war?
They sure did, didn't they?
They really did.
I mean, it was, it's, uh, I'm sure it was everybody that viewed this night.
I didn't know, uh,
We hope so, yeah.
Well, I was thinking that.
Somehow or other, I think the word I was going to ask is that Cresco, you know, Cresco, they don't do diet trade in public space, because they don't do diet trade.
Anyway, we ought to have a good meeting on Thursday with these people and try to get something positive out of that.
Because we really want to get this law and order and the dope thing, too, that thing.
I've tried to put that in the context, as you know, that it's not just of Vietnam, but of the nation.
We just don't want to... That would be a bad wicket for us to say that the problem is only dope in Vietnam, which is ridiculous.
Well, this is absolutely true, because Vietnam is one way away.
Most people are in West Vietnam.
But there are only 200,000 left over there.
and there are millions here that are exposed to the damn dope traffic.
That's absolutely right, and I'm sure that Bud Krogh and the rest of them are working on it.
All of our departments are working on it appropriately now, and I think that'll be a real plus factor when it comes.
I hope it won't be too long, because this has become a business that's really generated incredible, and perhaps right, because of this experience of ours.
Oh, it's a terrible problem, I mean, terrible.
And I was glad to get across the point of not legalizing marijuana.
I'd said it earlier in California, but my gosh, it's time for the country to know that we're not going to crap around with these people.
Well, Mr. President, every bit of evidence that comes along in the Church's emergency bill, every bit of evidence that comes along, it's very hard to think of a good story.
Well, as a matter of fact, you could say it's kind of like cigarettes and cancer.
You cannot prove that cigarettes lead to cancer.
All the evidence shows that those who smoke cigarettes are more likely to get cancer than those that don't.
And so it is with this damn thing.
I really do, because that's kind of the result of it.
Yeah.
Sure, sure.
Well, of course, marijuana is an escapist thing, so they escape into the bigger escape.
Yeah.
But anyway, we'll have a little good meeting on Thursday, I hope.
Because, uh, you know, it's much more of a question than anything else.
Sure.
As long as it's, you know, good news and things like that.
Yeah.
Well, we'll keep, keep, keep slugging them.
We will.
It's just not a day in the past.
That's right.
The Justice Department has all these problems.
That's right.
That's fine.
Well, it's just so that they make a plus for us.
Yeah, when you got off the house, it was a good thing.
Yeah, we said we were going to make a statement later.
Okay.
That's the way to go.
Bye-bye.

NARA Description

On June 1, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 10:30 pm to 10:34 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 004-018 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 4-18

Date: June 1, 1971
Time: 10:30 pm - 10:34 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with John N. Mitchell.

     President's previous press conference
           -May Day demonstrators
                 -Washington press corps
                 -Law and order issue

     Drug problem
          -Forthcoming meeting June 3
          -Vietnam
          -Rest of US
          -Egil (“Bud”) Krogh, Jr.'s efforts
          -Legalization of marijuana
                -President's previous statement in California
                -Cigarettes and cancer
                -Connection to other narcotics
          -Forthcoming meeting with Mitchell June 3

     President's previous press conference
           -Analysis by John W. Chancellor
           -Housing issue

Also recorded on June 2, 1971

  • 004-011 10:09 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 10:09 pm to 10:10 pm.
  • 004-012 10:10 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 10:10 pm to 10:16 pm.
  • 004-013 10:16 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 10:16 pm to 10:17 pm.
  • 004-014 10:17 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 10:17 pm to 10:20 pm.
  • 004-015 10:20 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:20 pm and 10:23 pm.
  • 004-016 10:20 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:20 pm and 10:23 pm.
  • 004-017 10:23 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover talked on the telephone from 10:23 pm to 10:29 pm.
  • 004-019 10:34 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone on an unknown date, sometime between 10:34 pm on June 1, 1971 and 2:47 pm on June 3, 1971.

All 42 conversations from June 2, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 004-018, June 2, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/004-018 (accessed October 22, 2026).