Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 023-035
Date: Wednesday, April 19, 1972 at 2:11 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/023-035

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Hello.
[0:03] Yes, sir.
[0:04] Ron, I'm going to come over, as you know, to do that little ceremony with the chief of police.
[0:10] Right.
[0:10] And I thought probably we'd better go over any questions you have now, because you've got a brief at 3 o'clock, don't you?
[0:16] Right.
[0:16] I didn't think I'd brief at 3.
[0:18] I thought I'd let Jerry do it.
[0:19] I see.
[0:20] I want to stay fairly low-key today, but...
[0:23] Development just came up here.
[0:24] I was mulling around in my mind.
[0:26] Jerry Warren got a call from McGill, President of Columbia University, who's a good personal friend of his.
[0:32] He indicated that the strong, solid presidents of most of the Ivy League schools are going to issue a statement today at 3 o'clock condemning the bombing of North Vietnam.
[0:47] And my...
[0:49] My judgment says no comment.
[0:51] My instinct is to attack it, but I just think we're probably better off just no commenting it.
[0:56] I think so, yeah.
[0:58] Well, they've been doing this before.
[1:00] Sure they have.
[1:01] I'm not concerned about it.
[1:03] Yeah, what ought to happen, I think, the only thing I would say should happen is that somebody should just say, are they going to condemn the invasion?
[1:10] As a matter of fact, Jerry told me, he said to McGill, he said that,
[1:15] You have nothing in there about the violence and destruction that the North Vietnamese...
[1:21] The invasion.
[1:21] You've got to use the word invasion.
[1:22] That's right.
[1:23] Are you condemned the invasion of the South or the North?
[1:26] What did McGill say to that?
[1:28] Jerry said the only thing you could say is no.
[1:30] No.
[1:31] That's right.
[1:32] You know.
[1:33] Right.
[1:33] I wouldn't be sure.
[1:34] Well, you're...
[1:35] Don't be concerned about it.
[1:37] No, I'm not concerned about it.
[1:38] You mean you just didn't want to, I don't want the press people to think we're running away from anything.
[1:45] No, no, I don't either.
[1:46] But I think just a cold no comment would be better off than fermenting it.
[1:53] That's right, that's right.
[1:54] There's enough.
[1:55] We're strong enough.
[1:57] The boys are doing, you see, with Rogers and Laird, both going on with the, apparently the boys in the Senate and House are doing reasonably well.
[2:05] Right.
[2:06] And I just leave it right there.
[2:08] I think so.
[2:09] And let these damn Ivy League presidents get out on their limb.
[2:11] Right.
[2:13] Which is cold, no comment.
[2:14] I'll let Warren do that at 3.
[2:16] Yeah, yeah.
[2:17] But I don't.
[2:18] You don't want to leave the impression around that we're afraid to be briefing at this point.
[2:25] You don't think that's it, do you?
[2:27] No, no.
[2:27] I mean, with the press.
[2:29] Sometimes you don't brief at 3 o'clock, too, don't you?
[2:31] That's right.
[2:32] I'm just going to say I'm in a meeting.
[2:34] Yeah.
[2:35] that's good particularly because of your 245 thing yeah i mean was out today with a lot of news yeah now i'll go on a 245 you'll go on a 245 and i just don't think i should go out there at three o'clock and can't be bad around seek out a new lead that's right and if you want me to i will no no no no i'm all for it my view is i wouldn't even break them at all but you know how i feel about them right but i just uh but i just want you to know i'm not afraid of what you can say i mean you
[3:02] But I'd just as soon not make any more news today.
[3:06] Let it be made downtown.
[3:07] I mean, we're out there.
[3:10] We're in good shape.
[3:11] We're in perfect shape.
[3:12] 60 minutes of other stuff.
[3:13] That's right.
[3:14] Tomorrow they can cover the pandas, and we've got some Catholics coming in, and that'll be all we'll give them tomorrow.
[3:19] That's enough.
[3:21] Well, they had a good day yesterday, Chris.
[3:22] They had that damn, they made their $60 with that tennis team, didn't they?
[3:28] The ping pong team, yeah.
[3:29] Yeah, sure.
[3:30] That table tennis, as they like to call it.
[3:31] So they were satisfied.
[3:33] Don't worry about them.
[3:35] We're doing extremely well.
[3:37] Let me tell you, we're doing awful well.
[3:39] We're in a perfect position.
[3:40] Just tell everybody, you know, to just be very confident.
[3:44] Yes, sir.
[3:44] That's the posture we're presenting.
[3:46] And also, I believe the Ivy League presidents are out of step right now.
[3:52] I think they're about a year late, you know.
[3:55] Right.
[3:55] What do you think?
[3:56] Well, they've said this before, but I mean they're continuing the same crap, you know.
[4:01] They said they're all going to do this.
[4:03] I don't know whether they ought to be condemned by somebody.
[4:06] That is something.
[4:06] I'll have to call Chuck and see if he can get something going.
[4:09] Colson, maybe this is disgusting or something like that.
[4:17] Well, I don't know who the hell we can get to say it.
[4:19] Well, Agnew's going to tee off Friday.
[4:20] Maybe he can...
[4:22] Whip them up a little.
[4:23] Touch them up a little.
[4:24] I'll talk to Chuck.
[4:26] Okay.
[4:27] Although, maybe it's just as well they ignore the bastards, I must say.
[4:31] Why stir them up?
[4:32] I don't know what we get by giving them the target.
[4:36] It gives them a little more.
[4:37] I just think we pay no attention.
[4:39] We don't consider them any more worth commenting upon or paying attention to than an editorial in the New York Times or the Washington Post.
[4:45] They really aren't relevant.
[4:47] As a matter of fact, if you could get that point across and tell Scali to get that across or somebody in the background, well, we aren't going to comment upon that.
[4:55] We believe that what they say just really isn't relevant anymore.
[4:59] Right.
[4:59] They've lost touch with the real situation.
[5:01] I mean, they fail to see what the real target here that is the responsibility rests with.
[5:08] Okay.
[5:09] Okay, good.
[5:09] I think you're right.
[5:10] Good luck.
[5:10] Okay, sir.