Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 018-059
Date: Monday, January 10, 1972 at 7:44 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Colson, Charles W.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/018-059

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:01] Hello.
[0:03] Good evening, Mr. President.
[0:12] Well, you survived the day?
[0:14] Well, I was laid up a little bit with the flu today.
[0:17] Oh, well.
[0:17] Well, stay in bed.
[0:19] Are you in bed or just home?
[0:20] No, I stayed in bed today.
[0:20] Absolutely.
[0:20] Well, I wish I were like you.
[0:21] Well, you were, no, but you've been pushing hard, you know, and I know you haven't been in the sun much, but stay right there and don't, we're needed for other battles.
[0:33] Mm-hmm.
[0:50] Mm-hmm.
[0:57] Right.
[1:23] I suppose the bombing, too.
[1:39] Yeah, it's a bad time.
[1:41] We'd better expect the polls to go up and down, though.
[1:42] Yeah, and he thinks it's a one-time push.
[1:43] He really does.
[2:25] Thank you.
[3:29] That's not bad, though.
[3:46] No, it isn't.
[3:48] That's, you know, considering the 53 could have been a flip-up, you see, in 49.
[3:50] And if it's 49-47 here, it's still 49-15 Gallup, you know, that kind of thing.
[3:59] Well, I don't mind the 49-47s.
[4:25] Yeah.
[4:50] Oh, that'll pass.
[4:50] It'll pass because basically that's just a press thing.
[4:52] And it passes because people realize it doesn't affect them.
[4:53] Yeah.
[4:54] That means each of the other categories, other than foreign policy, all of the foreign policy categories are maintaining relationships with China, maintaining relationships with Russia.
[5:09] All of them are down with a very large uncertainty.
[5:18] during the bounding, you know, with the NUFAC event.
[5:38] Sure.
[5:39] And on the NUFAC event, you get a very low rate.
[5:39] Oh, well, I'm sure of that.
[5:40] Yeah, very low.
[5:40] Couldn't possibly get anything else.
[5:41] There were only two areas in which Marcy made any gains over the previous one week, which is over $15,000.
[5:43] And that would be it.
[5:44] They would be...
[5:49] and certainly in foreign policy.
[6:10] That's good.
[6:11] Now on the economic side... That's good.
[6:12] That's good, because you're the war change support policy, and that's where we have a great majority.
[6:14] Because for the first time in two years, a majority, and I'm going to play this very nice song, a majority of the American people do not expect to realize that we're actually in the middle of the war.
[6:18] Now, in November,
[6:19] That's the first time in three years when the majority of the message is not based either in terms of doing more good than harm to make an economic policy.
[6:42] You know, let me say that doesn't bother me, because it's as well the show, but it keeps our own people on edge.
[7:08] So let him be up now, you know, let him get down with it.
[7:26] Well, I had three people, as I said, many of you, uh, from the government, but three people called me last week to do a political test, and I was, uh, sitting in a row, and I was like, uh, seven, and I had a count, and I was like, you know, you've got to take too much credit for what you're doing.
[7:32] So, uh, if you're getting that problem on, I'll be there.
[7:33] Sure.
[7:33] So, you may need it, but...
[7:37] Terrible sports.
[7:50] Which candidate do you believe does a better job with a problem than you do?
[7:52] Which is the people that you're pretty happy with?
[7:53] Well, I think, you know, it's going to be the economy of the 38,000 cities and Vietnam.
[7:55] That's what we're going to do.
[8:06] They're all kind of close, so... Well, but we're ahead of the...
[8:39] Yeah.
[9:11] Thank you.
[9:46] But I don't think, frankly, I'm not surprised because I'm inclined to think that more than India, Pakistan, which I don't think affects a hell of a lot of people, I think the bombing thing probably hurt them.
[10:09] The bombing may have been because it may have just been.
[10:10] But it wasn't in the news so much.
[10:11] It sort of makes me wonder whether the war is still going.
[10:12] Well, that's right.
[10:13] In the negative column, the president said, you didn't really do better than any of these people.
[10:15] Well, we have a...
[10:40] We've got to figure that our economic stuff helps us, our foreign policy can hurt us, but we aren't.
[11:00] We're still in pretty good shape.
[11:01] You say that his positive-negative is 49-47.
[11:02] That's pretty good for Harris.
[11:03] Well, that's right.
[11:03] Now, if you're going to remember it, it's Gallup.
[11:04] You're going to be 49 with Gallup, too.
[11:05] That's right.
[11:05] I would think so.
[11:05] Well, we should.
[11:08] Combination.
[11:29] And then it dropped down to, it dropped way down, almost to a negative of 48, 49.
[11:49] So you see if the, so you, it may be, comparing it with the second one, there hasn't been a shift in things.
[11:51] No, that's right.
[11:52] You said we're up, actually, completely to, we don't see it right now, but it's up in the real figure.
[11:54] It's up in the real figure.
[11:54] And after the U.S. goes to the foreign aid, they drop down, I'm sure.
[11:56] I agree.
[11:58] Well, that's not bad.
[12:20] But as he said, if he could even hold what we have right now, this is winning because he went on the issue.
[12:22] With the economic stuff turning up, he feels the economy looks good.
[12:23] Yes, sir.
[12:23] He said that's been showing an absolute steady increase.
[12:25] And in every category it has.
[12:25] Yes, sir.
[12:26] When Sue come with him, in July, he was rated 2273.
[12:51] And that's now 3856, which is up from November 3460.
[12:52] And that's just every single error total.
[12:53] It's still not even, but it's coming up.
[12:54] That's right.
[12:54] But, you know, if that gets up to 5660,
[12:56] Well, he wasn't disturbed by it.
[13:21] He wanted to.
[13:21] He doesn't see it.
[13:22] He doesn't.
[13:22] He doesn't.
[13:22] He doesn't.
[13:22] He doesn't.
[13:23] He doesn't.
[13:23] He doesn't.
[13:25] Okay, what else is there?
[14:40] Of course, that isn't reflected in this either.
[15:01] You know, we've had some very positive stuff in the last week.
[15:03] You know, they, uh, they had this, the, uh, Japanese, you know, that sort of thing.
[15:04] I think, uh, that isn't reflected in the poll.
[15:05] No, it wouldn't be, because January 4th would have been, uh, an athletic year, which, that would be, uh, the San Diego championship.
[15:08] That would be, uh, the, uh,
[15:11] We pulled at a tough time, so I just well know what it is, a tough time.
[15:38] At the bombing, you see, even though our
[15:39] I think that much more than my guess my guess
[16:10] If we can't control it, we can't control the world.
[16:36] All right, we're coming over.
[17:32] It lost a couple of points, I believe, at its best.
[17:46] Well, it was off about eight hours at minimum, I think, to trade point-trick, and it did bounce right back at the blue.
[17:49] It was about a really point-trap, but it was nice to show.
[17:50] I think it will do.
[17:50] It's become a very healthy trend.
[17:51] Yeah, the markets, we just want to keep it bubbling along.
[18:05] Thank you.
[21:37] Well, you keep well now.
[21:59] You've got a week left.
[21:59] I mean, the 18th of May.
[22:06] We'll be up in a minute.