Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 022-103
Date: Tuesday, April 11, 1972 at 10:10 AM
Participants: Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Walters, Vernon A.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/022-103

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Hello?
[0:01] Mr. Haldeman?
[0:02] Yeah.
[0:02] General Walters on the line.
[0:04] Okay.
[0:05] Mr. Haldeman, sir.
[0:06] Sir?
[0:07] Hi, this is Dick Walters.
[0:07] Hi.
[0:08] Congratulations.
[0:09] You're legitimate now, huh?
[0:10] Thank you very much.
[0:10] Not yet.
[0:11] I haven't been sworn in.
[0:12] Oh, well, I think you'll pass that one, all right.
[0:16] Yeah.
[0:16] If you can get your hand up.
[0:18] Yeah.
[0:18] We've got a logistic problem.
[0:21] I wanted to get your advice on the trip to Moscow.
[0:24] We've got to stop someplace on the way to spend a night.
[0:27] Yeah.
[0:28] You know, and then to make the flight into Moscow.
[0:30] Yeah.
[0:31] I'm trying to think of whether there was a U.S. base somewhere in the Mediterranean or in the European area there that would be a suitable place to do that.
[0:39] The only place I can think of offhand is Rota.
[0:44] Rota?
[0:44] In Spain, yeah.
[0:46] Where is that?
[0:47] What part of Spain?
[0:48] Rota is down near Cadiz.
[0:51] Is there anything in Mallorca?
[0:53] No, no base.
[0:54] No base in Mallorca?
[0:55] No base in Mallorca.
[0:56] There's a good airfield, but there's no base.
[1:00] uh with the navy has something at siganella in sicily near catania c-a-t-a-n-i-a the navy has an airfield there with a base i mean with you know housing facilities there are ground-based people there yeah rota would be the best huh i think rota might be the best either one i don't think you know there's a terrible lot to choose one way or the other between them yeah
[1:28] And either of them would be fairly pleasant at this time of the year and the chances of weather good.
[1:32] Okay, it doesn't make it, other than just adequate flying weather, it doesn't matter because we get in there in the evening, spend the night, and leave the next morning.
[1:40] Yeah, of course, we have a big installation in Naples, as you know.
[1:43] Naples is a problem, though, on housing.
[1:46] And also you've got the Italian screw-up.
[1:50] Well, of course, that would be a problem with Sigonella, too.
[1:53] Yeah.
[1:54] In Sicily.
[1:55] Yeah.
[1:56] I would tend to fall back on Rota, which is, you know, a Navy base in southern Spain, away from the big cities.
[2:10] Be that or else going into Switzerland or someplace and staying, you know, at commercial facilities.
[2:14] Yeah.
[2:18] What about Iceland?
[2:20] Iceland's too far away.
[2:21] Too far away.
[2:24] It's too long a flight into Moscow, and then you've got all the time going against you.
[2:28] We've got to get into Moscow at 4 o'clock.
[2:30] Yeah.
[2:31] Oh, I see.
[2:31] So you have to have, you know, a relatively approximate place.
[2:34] So we've got to be... That about knocks it down to either one of the bases in Germany or Roda.
[2:43] Germany's a problem, too.
[2:44] Yeah, because of a lot of psychological factors.
[2:47] Yeah.
[2:47] It looks to me like Roda.
[2:49] Or the Azores.
[2:50] The Azores is too far up.
[2:51] Oh, the Azores is too far, too.
[2:52] That's the same problem.
[2:54] You're six hours out.
[2:56] It looks to me like Rota.
[2:57] And you've got a big time factor running against you.
[2:59] You've got a three-hour time factor even from Rota running against you.
[3:03] That's only two hours from Spain.
[3:06] The time change I'm thinking of.
[3:08] It's only two.
[3:08] It's only two?
[3:09] Yeah.
[3:10] I thought Spain was on the same time as England.
[3:13] And then Central Europe and Eastern Europe.
[3:17] All of Europe is apparently only two hours off
[3:20] of Moscow.
[3:22] France, Switzerland, Austria.
[3:25] That makes Rota perfectly tolerable.
[3:27] It'd be what, about four hours flying time?
[3:30] Yeah.
[3:30] There's also an Air Force base up in Saragossa in northern Spain.
[3:40] And there's another Air Force base in Seville at Moron, M-O-R-O-N.
[3:44] So I don't know, those would seem to me to be the ones to explore.
[3:46] One of the Spanish bases, okay.
[3:48] Unless you want to stop in France somewhere, which is innocuous and wouldn't offend the Soviets.
[3:57] Okay.
[3:57] And might have to make a little money with Papadu.
[3:59] Well, except that you'd have to meet with Papadu, and then you're meeting with one of your allies on the way in.
[4:03] Yeah, true, true.
[4:05] Okay, I guess you're driving back to the Spanish bases.
[4:07] Middle of the NATO problem and all.
[4:08] Yeah.
[4:09] Okay.
[4:09] Right.
[4:10] Thanks, Dick.
[4:11] You're welcome.
[4:11] Bye.