Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 023-039
Date: Wednesday, April 19, 1972 at 3:27 PM
Participants: Kissinger, Henry A.; Buchanan, Patrick J.; Nixon, Richard M. (President)
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/023-039

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.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] Henry?
[0:02] Yeah.
[0:04] I was talking to the president about this Agnew speech.
[0:07] Right.
[0:07] And we think you ought to touch up the Ivy League presidents who are coming out against the bombing of the North a bit.
[0:14] Hit them?
[0:15] Yeah.
[0:16] Okay.
[0:17] And one of the general themes you should hit is what sort of thinking is it?
[0:25] that condemns a bombing of military targets of the aggressor, that condemns America when a country has 13 of its 14 divisions in the territories of its neighbors, engages in a massive invasion, breaks every understanding and agreement they have had with us and towards the international community.
[0:51] And then when we bomb the military targets, they condemn us and not the aggressor.
[0:56] Okay.
[0:57] Fine.
[0:58] That's in there generally, or a lot of it specifically, but I think we can get a paragraph that makes that point, okay?
[1:04] Can you do it?
[1:05] Sure.
[1:05] It'll be right on up there.
[1:06] I've sent the V for the third draft of the thing.
[1:09] Good.
[1:09] I'll send this one up and say the president wants this, okay?
[1:12] Right.
[1:12] The president wants to talk to you for a minute.
[1:14] Okay.
[1:16] This, of course, will, I mean, his attack on the Democratic candidates will get him, but this, of course, will get him some headlines, too, which, in other words, because they think they're hurting him.
[1:29] Right.
[1:29] But on the other hand, he's on the right side of it this time, you know.
[1:33] Okay.
[1:34] In my view, you know, he may not want to use it.
[1:36] But the point is that I think that he ought to say, when, pray God,
[1:41] are these great leaders, the presidents of the great universities, just once going to speak up for America rather than speaking up for the enemies of the United States.
[1:55] Lay it right to them.
[1:56] And what an example they're setting for their students.
[1:59] We can't blame, and he should say, we can't blame the students.
[2:04] the few students who, for, you know, their activities here, when they are led by spineless, spineless, soft, woolly-headed faculty and university people with no courage, no guts, and no patriotism.
[2:25] Put it to them like that.
[2:27] Okay?
[2:27] Okay, sir.
[2:28] All right.
[2:28] Right, sir.
[2:29] I don't know whether you can write it mean enough or not.
[2:30] I think so.
[2:32] Okay.
[2:32] Yes, sir.
[2:32] Bye.