Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 005-127
Date: Thursday, June 17, 1971 at 9:29 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/005-127

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:01] Yeah.
[0:01] Yes, sir.
[0:03] Well, I was wondering how the news came out tonight on TV.
[0:06] Do you know?
[0:08] No, I don't have one.
[0:10] I didn't see any of them.
[0:12] If I can get it and give you a call.
[0:13] No, no.
[0:14] I called Sigler.
[0:14] He's out.
[0:15] That's all right.
[0:16] I'll get it in the morning.
[0:18] But we'll check it out then.
[0:25] I still don't have John's stuff yet.
[0:27] Apparently, they're still working on it.
[0:29] I'll look at it in the morning.
[0:31] Let's see what he suggests.
[0:37] Hi there.
[0:40] Did you get a report back on Johnson?
[0:42] Yeah, I talked to Colson and also to Henry and so forth.
[0:48] They're going to talk about it at the staff meeting in the morning, give me a recommendation after the staff meeting.
[0:53] Perhaps it may be that John is waiting for that before he gives me the recommendations as to what to say
[1:02] I'm not going to say too much.
[1:08] It's a tough question as to know how much to say anyway, you know what I mean?
[1:14] It's one of those things where you can jump in and hit the thing.
[1:22] Did he raise the thought with you of reading it?
[1:26] Not yet, no.
[1:27] Because I was discussing it later this evening that
[1:30] Well, the thing is, if he wants anything done, Bob, I've got to see it.
[1:33] That's the problem.
[1:34] It's now 9.30 and 9.35 is not here yet.
[1:37] But do you want to read a statement to him on television?
[1:40] Well, it's a question of whether on television or not, but to read it rather than just... Well, I won't read it.
[1:48] I'll just issue it then.
[1:49] I'd prefer to issue it rather than read it.
[1:52] I think that's much better.
[1:53] I mean, reading it is not a good idea.
[1:57] I mean, I don't think that's...
[1:58] particularly effective to read something on that.
[2:01] It's just not good at all.
[2:02] I mean, if he wants to issue, if we want to issue a statement, that's fine.
[2:05] But let me put it this way.
[2:08] If I read something before a group like that, then it elevates it to the standpoint of a presidential statement and all that sort of thing.
[2:16] I'd just rather just low-key it than just issue the goddamn thing, let them run it, and then I'll just talk about the domestic things.
[2:22] But that's my view.
[2:23] No, I don't want to sit up there and talk about revenue sharing and welfare and the rest of it.
[2:28] I want to read you a statement about the New York Times problem, you know, about this whole issue that has arisen.
[2:36] We get into this, we're falling into that too often, I think, because it's the easiest thing just to read something, you know, and it just takes too much away from getting it across to the people.
[2:49] Well, for example, I'm sure that
[2:51] Bud and the rest would have rather that I had read that thing on drugs today.
[2:55] No, I don't think so.
[2:55] But that isn't the way to do it.
[2:57] I mean, I made the point better by talking for a couple of minutes.
[3:01] Oh, yeah.
[3:01] No, I don't think anybody... Do you think so?
[3:03] Absolutely.
[3:04] I don't think anybody had any question on that.
[3:06] The argument for reading this, I think, was because it involves a legal case.
[3:11] Because it involves a legal case, then the thing to do is to issue it and not read it.
[3:15] You know what I mean?
[3:16] I just don't like to sit up there and read something.
[3:19] What the hell good does it do to read it?
[3:21] That is, if it's a statement, we'll just issue a presidential statement on it.
[3:26] That is, I'm not sure anything should be done anyway.
[3:29] What's he got?
[3:30] Is it just too long?
[3:31] Is that the problem?
[3:32] I'm not sure.
[3:33] Could be.
[3:35] It was.
[3:36] That was the problem earlier.
[3:38] To try to boil it down.
[3:40] I know you said they had four pages.
[3:42] That would be ten minutes.
[3:42] Well, that's too long.
[3:43] Make the points and still...
[3:46] Yeah.
[3:47] But I'm afraid, Bob, it's too legalistic from the way I've heard about it so far.
[3:52] It's, you know, getting into all the legalisms.
[3:55] And that isn't going to sell anybody.
[3:57] I don't think anybody gives one damn about the legalism.
[3:59] That's absolutely right.
[4:00] That isn't, Bob, the point for me to make.
[4:02] Right.
[4:03] If I'm going to do anything, I've just got to go and make the point, look, this is not any of our doing.
[4:07] This is the, we, but I have to protect, I have to do this because it involves the
[4:13] the ability to conduct the presidency and to conduct foreign policy.
[4:17] I really don't think it lends itself to reading because of that reason.
[4:22] If we get into all the legalisms, well, the law has been passed and the law has been violated and all that sort of thing.
[4:28] That's what they're trying to get away with.
[4:31] Actually, there wasn't much of that in it.
[4:33] There were some long words and it made more of a case than they... Yeah.
[4:40] Well, I'll take a look at it in the morning.
[4:41] Fine.
[5:09] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I guess.
[5:12] So that takes care of that one.
[5:15] Good.
[5:16] And that's, everything's fine.
[5:20] Well, I'll take a look at it, but when you're in your staff meeting, I just don't, I mean, I'll either do one thing or the other.
[5:26] I'll either issue a statement or I'm going to ad lib something very brief.
[5:31] That's my opinion at the present time.
[5:33] If it's so long that it has to be read, then we'll issue it.
[5:37] But I'm not going to stand there.
[5:38] I see nothing to be gained by reading to a bunch of editors a statement on this.
[5:43] That just doesn't sound right to me.
[5:45] It doesn't feel right.
[5:47] Because then I'm getting too much into the legalisms.
[5:50] Okay.
[5:51] Okay, good.