Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 014-034
Date: Thursday, November 11, 1971 at 10:22 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Mitchell, John N.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/014-034

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:02] Attorney General.
[0:03] Hello.
[0:03] Good morning, Mr. President.
[0:05] What's your judgment on this man?
[0:07] I'm going to see him pretty soon.
[0:08] I have spent some time with him this morning.
[0:11] I know you're meeting at 8 o'clock with him.
[0:13] I think that he's the guy that can probably carry the mission.
[0:16] You do?
[0:17] Yes, sir.
[0:18] He looks like a Midwest evangelist.
[0:23] Does he have any crap in his shoes?
[0:26] Well, I hope so.
[0:27] If he doesn't, we'll get some for him.
[0:30] We can find left around here, can't we?
[0:32] And John Ehrlichman and John Whitaker tell me that they have checked back through his pronouncements and so forth, and he's not locked into any particular...
[0:42] ideology in the farm area where it'll come back to haunt us.
[0:47] I trust that's the case they say it is.
[0:51] So I think it's quite a stemwinder from the accounts that I've gotten around the country on the stand.
[1:48] I also am not particularly concerned about the condition that he's imposed with respect to the structure of the department.
[1:58] I think if that's handled in the right vein, it could be a very definite plus for the administration going in, and I don't think it's going to stand in the way of anything that might conceivably come out of governmental reorganization, certainly not between now and next November.
[2:16] Mm-hmm.
[2:19] Okay.
[2:21] All right.
[2:21] We'll see him here.
[2:23] Give him the message.
[2:25] Mr. Garcia.
[2:25] Yes, sir.
[2:26] Okay, Josh.
[3:57] I found that we have some problems with our dear governor from California and HEW, but I'll take them up with her.
[4:06] On welfare?
[4:08] Yeah.
[4:09] They're cutting into the programs, apparently, that you approved in San Clement.
[4:14] But I'll take it up with Ehrlichman and see if we can.
[4:16] Yeah, we were trying like the devil to...
[4:18] cooperate there, but it's not easy, I can assure you.
[4:21] Well, it's gotten into personalities, too, but hopefully we can get it straightened out.
[4:27] Because it really puts the heat under his collar every time he has to deal with ATW and Veneman in particular.
[4:35] Oh, I know, I know.
[4:37] So we'll see if we can't paper that over.
[4:39] Okay.
[4:40] Right, sir.
[4:41] Thanks.