← 017-157017-159 →

Conversation 017-158

TapeTape 17StartSunday, January 2, 1972 at 11:23 PMEndSunday, January 2, 1972 at 11:28 PMTape start time06:05:50Tape end time06:11:17ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Woods, Rose MaryRecording deviceWhite House Telephone
AI Summary

President Nixon and his personal secretary Rose Mary Woods discussed the positive public and political reception of the President's recent television interview with Dan Rather. Woods relayed enthusiastic feedback from William P. Rogers and Donald Rumsfeld, both of whom praised Nixon's composed performance and criticized Rather's unprofessional, combative questioning. The conversation also touched upon the President's firm stance regarding amnesty for draft evaders and the treatment of prisoners of war, positions that Woods felt resonated well with the public.

Dan RatherPublic RelationsWilliam P. RogersDonald RumsfeldAmnestyPOWs
AudioNARA Description

On January 2, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 11:23 pm to 11:28 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 017-158 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 17-158

Date: January 2, 1972
Time: 11:23 pm - 11:28 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Rose Mary Woods.

     Calls Woods took in regard to President's interview with Dan Rather, January 2nd
           -William P. Rogers and Donald H. Rumsfeld
                -Praise for the President

     Woods's location

     Calls Woods took in regard to President's interview with Rather, January 2nd
           -Rogers's views
                -President’s style and ability
                -Rather's questions
                      -Rather
                -Louis Harris poll
                      -President’s style and ability
                -Rumsfeld's views
                      -Praise for the President
                      -Rather
                      -Edward M. Kennedy
                      -William F. Buckley, Jr.
                            -John F. Kennedy
                      -Watched with friends of Rather
                            -Rather
                                  -President’s style and ability

     President's interview with Rather, January 2nd
           -Rather's questions
           -Rather
           -Rather's questions
           -Praise for the President from Woods
           -Public reaction
           -Woods's reaction
                 -Amnesty
                 -Spiro T. Agnew
                 -Amnesty

                     -Prisoner of War [POWs]
                           -President’s answers to Rather’s questions
                           -Woods’ view

     Call from Rogers and Rumsfeld
Transcript (AI-Generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

Yeah.
What's going on?
Hello, Rose?
Yes, sir.
Hey, I talked with Bill Rogers, and I talked with Don Rumsfeld.
What'd they both say?
Well, they both thought it was good to come over to Maryland.
I know it's good, right?
Exactly what you said.
You said?
Oh, no.
Where are you?
I'm home, and I've got to do some washing, some laundry, and some all sorts of things before I get ready to go tomorrow.
Well, you don't have to go to the fire service anymore.
I know, but I have to keep working.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
I wish I was doing what I do, but there's just too much to do.
But Bill Rogers said, I thought it was absolutely great.
He thought that some of the questions were perfectly silly.
That the questions were rather asked about the pledges and the campaigns.
One of the parodies said to him, you know, made him look like a stupid little guy.
He thought that you came over great.
And that, that the whole thing, he just thought you handled it so beautifully and never lost a fool.
And he said, you know, the hair pull bit, oh, it was getting tough.
It was stupid, but it was tough to handle this fool.
To handle these things too.
And he just thought you did it beautifully and never lost a fool.
Don Rumsfeld said, I thought he did a hell of a good job.
His responses to basically traffic were great.
He thought that it was, he thought that having Dan Rather there, that it was almost like, say, presidents were being,
put on the Teddy Kennedy-esque question about how bad he felt about the president.
Or that it was like a JFK letting Bill Buckley ask him the question.
And he thought, and he incidentally said, they watched it with neighbors who are friends of the Rathers and are Democrats.
And they felt that the president came off very well and rather looked like college editors.
And, boy, you can't.
Here's a guy who thinks he's a big shot.
But even his own neighbors thought that he looked like, you know, the editor of a college newspaper.
I wish he could ask better questions.
Oh, well, no.
He couldn't ask better questions because he's so damn dumb.
Well, he'd be smart.
Well, he's not smart.
Well, he was trying to...
If he'd been smart, he could have asked... Well, he asked what he thought were embarrassing questions.
That's what he asked.
But you were so much brighter than he and so much cooler than him.
And I think that one of the things that was evident is that anyone, almost everyone, would have wanted to get up and hit him.
And you didn't let on.
He'd ask anything that wasn't perfectly involved.
And this buzzed you.
And people loved it.
I think that's basically where it was.
And you did a good job.
And I personally thought that, like I said before, that answer on the M was too big.
But C-O-W, Carmen, over there, I am sure that in the long run,
Now that the TV stations are paying for stuff, the vice-church of Agnes, they have currently...
But I think... Well, I know that.
But you also said at this time...
But I don't know what that's all going to be, and I don't see it in my business.
But it was, I think...
I really think that answer on those guys who are on hand with you now and on the back end, I think that was great.
And I think that in the next two weeks, that's the thing that will get the answers, not the thing they pick up.
But the point is, they didn't think Americans chose to serve them.
That's right.
They didn't think Americans loved their country.
They didn't.
I wouldn't leave them out of the country.
I wouldn't let them back in ever, but then I'm nasty.
That's right.
After they're all back home, then you can look and see whether... As a matter of fact, it wouldn't be bad to let the POWs die whether those slackers get back in the country.
Or let them have a voice in the air.
But I think you can go to bed happy that you did a great job.
Yeah, that's what I just put.
Okay, sleep tight.
Good night.
← 017-157017-159 →