Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 008-115
Date: Monday, September 13, 1971 at 7:43 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Ehrlichman, John D.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/008-115

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:01] Hello?
[0:01] Mr. Haldeman, sir.
[0:03] Bob?
[0:03] Yeah.
[0:04] Well, how's the New York incident played, do you know?
[0:09] I don't.
[0:10] I haven't gotten a reading on it.
[0:13] John Ehrlichman saw a part of it and was saying that NBC, at least, played it as the expectable bathhouse of, you know, great tragedy for the prisoners and all that kind of crap.
[0:27] Played the prisoner line.
[0:29] Yeah.
[0:30] I guess they had Tom Wicker on, John and all.
[0:32] Had Wicker on and all that.
[0:35] Not giving any Rockefeller any credit, huh?
[0:38] Did they give Rockefeller any credit?
[0:40] No.
[0:42] That's predictable.
[0:43] Yep.
[0:44] And I didn't see any of them.
[0:48] They had Kunstler and Wicker both on, apparently.
[0:53] played it that way.
[0:55] Poor Rocky, he's going to get his fill of these people.
[0:57] Yep.
[0:59] He'll learn.
[1:01] I think it is predictable that, you know, that's the way they would, they will build it.
[1:08] Not sure it's the way people are going to look at it, though.
[1:11] Not when they see the, if they ever get out and, well, if they get out the fact that it's basically a black thing, that's going to turn people off awful damn fast.
[1:21] That the guards were white and
[1:24] Right?
[1:25] Yep.
[1:26] And they killed a couple of Puerto Ricans, didn't they?
[1:30] Yeah.
[1:32] Apparently so, yeah.
[1:33] I don't have the...
[2:09] Yeah, let me talk to John.
[2:10] All right.
[2:11] Yes, sir.
[2:11] John.
[2:17] Yes, sir.
[2:18] Did you have some ideas that we ought to take some preventive actions in some of the federal prisons?
[2:23] Well, we've already alerted the prisons through the Attorney General.
[2:28] Right.
[2:28] And so they're all on kind of a standby basis.
[2:33] Well, I would think, John, that what happened in New York, rather than stimulating more, is likely to
[2:40] you know, have an effect that could be quite the opposite.
[2:43] A deterrent.
[2:44] Well, the concern that Rockefeller had was that SEAL and some of the Black Panthers who had been up there came out and said to the press, if any harm comes to any of these prisoners, why, we're going to blow up other prisons around the country.
[2:58] I see.
[3:00] That's what he told you this morning.
[3:01] Right.
[3:02] Yeah.
[3:03] So I passed that along to the Attorney General, who in turn alerted his system.
[3:07] They won't.
[3:07] I don't think they will.
[3:08] I may be wrong, but...
[3:10] I think Rockefeller had to do what he did.
[3:12] Oh, I think so, too.
[3:13] He couldn't possibly cave into these people.
[3:15] And he took four days, didn't he?
[3:18] Since Wednesday.
[3:19] Right.
[3:21] But he told me.
[3:22] He said they had negotiated and they were doing it.
[3:25] Yeah.
[3:26] It's going to make him a... Before you...
[3:29] Where you get through with Rockefeller, he may be more conservative than Reagan.
[3:32] Well, he's moving over there, isn't he?
[3:34] You think so?
[3:37] Well, he's being confronted with a lot of tough choices.
[3:39] Yeah, with Lindsey and then the prison thing and all the rest.
[3:43] Welfare just spiraling out of sight.
[3:46] Right, right.
[3:48] Okay.
[3:49] All right, sir.