Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 013-100
Date: Wednesday, November 3, 1971 at 12:25 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Annenberg, Walter H.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/013-100

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Hello.
[0:02] Ambassador.
[0:04] Hello, Walter.
[0:05] How are you?
[0:06] Couldn't be better.
[0:07] Well, I just want to congratulate you on that fine man you elected as mayor.
[0:12] Well, Frank phoned me the day after you spoke to him.
[0:17] Yeah, Rose told me about it.
[0:18] He was a boy.
[0:19] He was what?
[0:20] He was just as thrilled as a boy.
[0:24] Great.
[0:24] He was so delighted that you phoned him.
[0:28] He called me right away and he said, you have no idea who called me.
[0:33] And I said, oh, yes, I do.
[0:35] Yeah, yeah.
[0:36] He was so delighted.
[0:38] Great.
[0:39] I am your great friend in Frank, Mr. President.
[0:44] Let me say that don't you really feel that that's a lot better for us than to have had Longstreth?
[0:49] No question about it.
[0:50] No question about it.
[0:51] That's the way we played it.
[0:53] And I really feel, I just think we just got to keep frank from being taken in by that Democratic hierarchy.
[1:01] Mr. President, I want to assure you that I'm going to stick as close to that situation as I possibly can.
[1:57] Well, you're not coming in Thanksgiving, I understand.
[2:01] No, no, because if I do come then, I don't think it would be proper for me to return again for Christmas.
[2:12] And that you ought to do.
[2:14] Well, in any event, I'm just going out for, frankly, the dedication, and I have to come back because I've got a very heavy schedule here at the moment.
[2:22] I think it's very generous of you to go... Well, Bob Hope is such a good friend, and I just want to be sure that he knows we're supporting him.
[2:30] And it's a great project, too.
[2:33] So I'm just... May I tell you how very much I admire your continuing to grasp all the initiatives?
[2:40] Well, you know, some of your... You may have noted some people are sort of saying that this foreign aid thing is a defeat.
[2:46] Just don't believe it, because we'll get a continuing resolution.
[2:48] The Senate's going to look very bad on this.
[2:50] and quite possibly you might come out with a type of legislation that will even be better.
[3:00] We hope so.
[3:02] And we're going to keep right on top of them.
[3:05] The U.N. voted, so there wasn't a thing we could do about that.
[3:07] We did the best we could.
[3:10] And I can assure you that we...
[3:14] We're going to remember our friends on that one, too.
[3:17] I know, but in these areas, your footwork has been awfully good.
[3:23] You'll turn it around.
[3:24] We certainly got two good judges, incidentally.
[3:27] They'll both be confirmed, two very strong men, Powell and Rehnquist.
[3:31] I had a letter from a friend of mine from Virginia who is so enthusiastic because...
[3:38] Judge Powell has been one of his closest friends.
[3:45] He couldn't have a finer American.
[3:48] His only problem is his age, but as I said to the press, 10 years of him is worth 30 of, basically, Douglas.
[4:01] That's the way I feel about it anyway.
[4:04] Mr. President, I'm going to stay very close to that situation because I recognize what is involved.
[4:11] How are you getting along at the present time with Heath and the foreign ministry?
[4:17] Heath, I think, was just a little hurt.
[4:20] that he was only given one-hour notification, you know, about the news re-going to Moscow.
[4:30] Right, right.
[4:32] It would appear to me that the Russians did a bit of talking.
[4:38] Well, as a matter of fact... About a week ahead of time.
[4:41] The difficulty is that...
[4:43] I subsequently found that out.
[4:44] The Russians talked, but they told us not to.
[4:46] That was the problem.
[4:47] Mm-hmm.
[4:47] But in any event, I had inferred as much to Hume when I talked.
[4:52] I was trying to signal him that something was coming.
[4:55] I had been, you know, we had made a commitment.
[4:57] But we'll just, we've got to remember, Heath's got to remember that we're not going to embarrass them on South Africa or Rhodesia or any of those things.
[5:07] Meanwhile, whereas Heath would ordinarily be inclined to be understanding, he's got to put on some kind of a facade for the European group.
[5:19] That's correct.
[5:20] He's got to get in under the tent.
[5:22] So he has to act perhaps a little colder for several months.
[5:28] That's the way I read the cards.
[5:30] I understand that.
[5:30] And, of course, we've supported him on his Common Market initiative, and that was a fine victory for him, too.
[5:37] Well, anyway, it's good to talk to you, and I hope you and Lee...
[5:39] Thanks for calling.
[5:40] And give Lee my best.
[5:42] I'm delighted to do that, Mr. President.
[5:44] From Pat, bye.
[5:45] Right on.