Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 031-005
Date: Thursday, October 5, 1972 at 7:40 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.; [Unknown person(s)]; White House operator
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/031-005

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.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. Seacrest?
[0:03] Where?
[0:04] Yes, sir.
[0:04] Did you get registered?
[0:07] Excuse me?
[0:07] Did you get registered?
[0:08] Yes, sir, I did.
[0:10] Where do you register here?
[0:11] Sorry, I fixed it.
[0:12] Thank you.
[0:13] In Virginia.
[0:14] Yeah.
[0:15] I thought you registered in California.
[0:16] No, Virginia.
[0:18] I don't have a residence out in California, but I want to set up for the absentees.
[0:21] That's too damn bad.
[0:25] It doesn't count as much here as there.
[0:27] Well, I couldn't do it out there.
[0:29] I thought— I know.
[0:30] I know.
[0:30] And the press would, you know— They'd catch you.
[0:32] I know.
[0:33] Well, that's right.
[0:33] You might as well get a good vote in Virginia, too.
[0:36] Right.
[0:36] Yeah.
[0:37] Yeah.
[0:38] I was thinking that—
[0:43] And I would hope that out of this press thing today that some of the more fair-minded guys would give us a rather good play on the content, which of course is irrelevant because if you say anything that hasn't been said a hundred times before, but more on the
[1:06] on basically the style and so forth.
[1:08] Do you think we can get anything out of them, or what do you think?
[1:10] I think so.
[1:11] On the way you handled the press conference?
[1:13] Well, the style, basically.
[1:15] Well, the fact that it was held and the style.
[1:17] You know what I mean?
[1:19] That's really the only reason we did it.
[1:21] There was no news to make.
[1:23] I think so.
[1:23] I think we could get some follow-up on that.
[1:27] Absolutely.
[1:27] There was some of that on the wires.
[1:31] They were talking about it.
[1:32] I don't think it's an immediate thing that will come out of... No, I understand.
[1:35] It's not a big lead.
[1:38] And I think it'll play big tomorrow.
[1:41] I was not pleased at all with the television coverage tonight.
[1:45] What'd they do?
[1:46] Well, they handled it all right, but they're too tied up, you know, in the whole...
[1:53] the whole campaign atmosphere of things.
[1:57] So what'd they do?
[1:57] They all played their— Well, they, of course, put the government's so-called major foreign policy speech that you led on the show.
[2:06] What'd they lead with us and what was that?
[2:08] Well, the Vietnam thing, the tax thing, particularly the— Well, at least that's better to be on a positive line than a negative line.
[2:16] Oh, absolutely.
[2:17] No, the stories were generally good, but
[2:23] know they have a tendency here to move to everything that is done and to put it into the campaign atmosphere.
[2:32] Today's press coverage was not in that category.
[2:36] And the star didn't play it that way, the wires didn't play it that way, but the damn TV played it that way.
[2:43] And I think we have to assess, as you said today very carefully, how we handle that fast.
[2:51] that happened again.
[2:53] They played McGovern's foreign policy thing, you know?
[2:57] You mean?
[2:57] We didn't say a goddamn thing, that he was not an isolationist, that I'm the isolationist.
[3:01] Well, that's so big, big balls.
[3:03] Well, one believes that.
[3:03] That's what, yeah.
[3:06] They played it big, huh?
[3:07] Well, they played this foreign policy thing, yeah, this speech today.
[3:14] But it's something we have to watch very carefully, I think.
[3:17] I'm not concerned about it at this point.
[3:19] But my guess is that really it
[3:23] probably isn't worth our while to bother with these press things, Ron.
[3:27] I mean, it only affects the writing press.
[3:29] It doesn't affect the collusion press.
[3:31] And maybe the thing to do is just screw up and talk to the hell.
[3:33] I think before we do any more, I think we have to take a look at it the next two weeks.
[3:39] It might be better, you know, like this radio speech this week, okay, this Saturday, that will get played.
[3:46] Atlanta will get put to play.
[3:50] I'm inclined to think that it's probably...
[3:52] Your effort that you put in today would probably be perhaps better placed at a speech to a group somewhere on some specific positive position that you've taken.
[4:16] In other words, why you feel that your foreign policy approach is the
[4:22] No, I think that's what the press would say, Ron, but I don't think the speeches make a goddamn bit of difference.
[4:30] Well, the press hasn't indicated that.
[4:32] I'm referring now to television coverage.
[4:34] Oh, well, I think, too, that the television people say that, but I don't think it makes any difference with them either.
[4:40] The speech thing is a dead loser, in my opinion.
[4:44] I mean, they're going to play their own line.
[4:50] The television fiddling to play the press thing today is just simply bad reporting, isn't it?
[4:59] To a great extent it is, yes.
[5:01] Absolutely.
[5:06] I'm not—I think actually the best thing to do is to—and the attitude of these people is not to give them anything more.
[5:13] I mean, what the hell?
[5:14] I'm not convinced you should do another one of these.
[5:17] Oh, I agree.
[5:18] I was only kidding them there.
[5:20] Actually, and our staff too, I have no intention of doing any more.
[5:25] I mean the whole purpose is to sort of let Skelly and the rest of them roll around a little about it and not do a damn thing.
[5:32] But good to do, you know.
[5:33] We've now done it, see.
[5:35] Now they can't school about it by the time—have you talked to Conkite yet?
[5:39] Well, he was sick today, but I saw him on here tonight, so apparently he got better.
[5:43] I'm going to call him first thing in the morning.
[5:46] I'd be very cold and tough with him.
[5:48] No, I'm going to handle it just the way we talked about it.
[5:50] Don't give them an inch.
[5:51] I'll have a report to you tomorrow, but I'll talk to them.
[5:54] Good.
[5:54] I'm not—I don't want to— No, I wouldn't be mean.
[5:57] No, I don't want to give you the impression that I'm discouraged about the TV coverage tonight.
[6:02] I just sensed a tendency on the part of these guys to inject in a different way than the printed press has done and the TV that, of course, has the impact.
[6:17] Right.
[6:17] the political environment, you know, the reasons why for the press conference and so forth, which is absolutely total, you know, speculation on their part with no fact to it.
[6:34] Was this Rather and who else, Gerald?
[6:36] No, it was Valeriani, who I had a talk with today and I'm going to have a talk with tomorrow about this.
[6:41] And I'm going to get together with Chancellor for lunch, because I think NBC, of all of the networks,
[6:47] CBS, of course, would rather lose against us sometime.
[6:50] But my main concern from this point is NBC.
[6:54] They've got to shape up, and I'm going to have a lunch with Rather and talk—I mean, with Chancellor and talk to him about it.
[7:06] But I think we have to keep the pressure on them.
[7:08] What would irritate NBC the most?
[7:15] Doing something with Cronkite?
[7:17] It might.
[7:18] See, that's not a bad idea, is it?
[7:20] I think ABC we don't owe anything to.
[7:23] No, ABC we're in fairly good shape with.
[7:24] We've got to keep...
[7:26] Unfortunately, Gil's out with the vice president.
[7:29] He generally gives us a good shake.
[7:31] But, uh, Gerald, we just have to keep him off balance.
[7:36] He's just, you know, not too aware.
[7:43] against Chancellor, who has a great deal to do with the content of the issue.
[7:49] And then, other than that, just generally ignore him.
[7:54] Yeah.
[7:54] Yeah.
[7:54] Well, you know, we might, I see.
[7:56] Well, anyway, the main point about your conversation with Cronkite would be very congenial and the rest, but...
[8:03] I'd get cold as hell as about, now look, what are you going to do about equal time?
[8:09] Right.
[8:10] That's the thing we've got to know.
[8:11] Right.
[8:11] And when and so forth.
[8:12] And then if he says, well, we should go first and this and that, I may say, no, look, let's not be silly, Walter.
[8:18] I mean, what do you really have in mind?
[8:19] Right.
[8:21] Okay.
[8:21] Okay, sir.
[8:22] Fine.