Nixon phone call with Graham on 1972 election and Vietnam War

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Hello.

Reverend Graham, sir.

Operator.

You are.

Hello.

Billy, where did I find you?

Oh, I'm at home, Mr. President, down in North Carolina.

I never find you when you're working.

Well, I just wanted to tell you I had written you a note about which may not have reached you with regard to the Mary Griffin show, which just was fantastic, but I wanted to tell you that

all the things you're doing really have been great and it gets through we we follow it closely and uh the way you uh you your subtle way got it across is great and uh i'm seeing john tomorrow at three o'clock and uh

He cut it in California last week.

He's been sick for a while.

He had this terrible flu.

Yes, I know.

But he's now feeling great.

and did a great job in California.

I was supposed to be with him Friday night.

They invited me to participate.

They're going to Ananelli Friday night at the University of Texas.

They are?

Yes.

Or have.

Maybe you didn't know.

It's coming Friday night.

He would never tell me.

I'll call and make a...

The president's name is Dr. Spurr, S-P-U-R-R.

And he was kind enough to invite me to stay in his home and participate in it, but I can't.

I'm scheduled.

I'm leaving tomorrow on a swing through the Midwest in Ohio and Oklahoma and Missouri.

Good.

And I'll be speaking in each of these places and holding press conferences.

And next week in Tennessee and Pennsylvania and California again.

Good, good.

And then on Election Day, I'll be in Hawaii on my way around the world.

Oh, you're going around the world?

I'm going around the world.

I'm holding meetings in Japan and Taiwan.

That's great.

My next crusade is up in northeast India.

Oh, yeah.

And then I'm going to Iran and Rome, you know, those places.

Good.

But I'll be here until just the day before election, and anything you can think of you want me to do, I told Bob Haldeman.

that I'm not in a position to know all that I could do, but you just tell me and I'll do it.

You don't need any guidance.

You just take your political instincts.

Your political instincts are very good.

I was going to hold a press conference tomorrow afternoon in Tulsa, and I was going to talk about, and I'm so glad to talk to you tonight, about your personal character and your personal morality and integrity.

And that kind of thing.

And I was just going to sort of take the bull by the horns and say some of those things.

I don't think you need anybody to say it for you because I don't think this business is touching you, but you don't want to take any chances.

Sure.

And the point is that the fact that the political campaigns, they have smeared the

They smeared everybody, you can say.

They smeared Roosevelt, Isaac, well, not so much Eisenhower, but Truman, Roosevelt, Johnson.

You know, that's a way to do that to all presidents.

Lincoln, good heavens.

Well, not only that, but I remember when Kennedy was running and what Hubert Humphrey said, how many votes the Kennedy people bought in West Virginia to defeat him.

Which incidentally was true.

Well, that's what I'm presenting.

And some of these things, you know, I tell people that this is true in all these campaigns.

And I thought, incidentally, that John Ehrlichman did a good job on Sunday.

Good, good.

It was just great tonight.

I don't know what they showed, but let me tell you that I was really one of them.

Very moving experience, you know, after Montgomery came out with this terrible proposal to just get out of Vietnam and turn over everything and then pray for the

the mercy of the others, I just thought it was terrible.

So I really hit it hard.

I don't know what they carried on TV.

Well, they carried what you said on all three networks.

They carried what you had to say about amnesty, which was tough and right.

They showed people in tears at the end of your talk.

They gave the end of your talk right at the end.

They showed what you said about that you're not going to let them down.

And I thought it was just tremendous.

And then it showed you outside, shaking hands with a little kid and looking at his shoes.

And that little thing there, now that's the type of thing that human interest touched that I think is very, very good, right?

You illuminated the news tonight, really, sort of for the first time, in the sense that the networks gave you the dominant spot.

They did.

How are you feeling?

I'm feeling the best of my whole life.

That's good.

Now, on your trip, have you sent – be sure to send me an itinerary so I can send a few messages to some of these people.

I'll be delighted to.

You ought to see – when you're in Iran, you ought to see the Shah.

Well, I have already – as a matter of fact, that's why I'm stopping there, because about two years ago, he wrote me a very nice little note and said if I was ever through, he would –

be delighted to see me.

And I've written him a note and said I could.

His ambassador called and said that he would be delighted for me to come and see him any time that I was through.

So that's one reason I'm stopping there.

And then I'm going to, I have written to John Kashuk.

And the State Department, by the way, has just been marvelous in this situation in India.

They should.

Because the Indian government wants me to go because if I don't go,

The Nagas have said they're going to continue, they're going to really go into guerrilla warfare against the Indians.

Right, you can help.

So I'm going to see Mrs. Gandhi and different ones as I go around.

How long will your trip be, Billy?

It'll be five weeks.

Well, when you get back, you come and see me, will you?

I surely will.

I'll be back about the 6th or the 7th of this year.

So you won't be here Election Day?

I won't be.

Well, I'll be in Hawaii.

Yeah, well, you get the results out there.

Oh, my, I wouldn't leave the country.

Yeah, well, as soon as you get it, give me a call, will you?

Well, it'll be 7 o'clock out there.

I'll call you.

Right.

And thank God for you.

We appreciate it.

You're ten times more than I ever expected when you went in office four years ago.

Well, the main thing, we're...

Senator, we're working on Vietnam.

For your confidential information, Kissinger flew off today.

It will be announced tomorrow to Paris again.

We're still going around and working on this thing.

We don't know what's going to happen, but we're going to insist on the right time to settle, or we aren't going to settle.

Well, I think you're right, and I hope you stick to it.

We will.

And I think the people are back at you.

And I think there's going to be a tremendous tide on Election Day.

Well, I just hope you see that comedy show.

That was terrific.

I'll certainly see it, and thanks for telling me about it.

And give my best to Ruth.

I surely will, and God bless you.

And your father-in-law.

I surely will.

Okay, Dr. Bell.

Goodbye, sir.

Bye.

Nixon phone call with Graham on 1972 election and Vietnam War

AI Summary

Audio

Transcript (AI-generated)

NARA Description

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on October 16, 1972

Cite this conversation