Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 032-085
Date: Sunday, October 29, 1972 at 10:03 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/032-085

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Dr. Kissinger, Mr. President.
[0:04] Hello.
[0:06] Hello.
[0:06] Mr. President.
[0:07] Hi, Henry.
[0:08] How are you?
[0:08] Okay.
[0:09] Hope you got a good night's sleep.
[0:10] You deserved it.
[0:11] Yeah, I really feel a lot better.
[0:13] Yesterday was beginning to catch up on me.
[0:15] Ah, well.
[0:16] It didn't show.
[0:18] It didn't show.
[0:19] Where are you?
[0:19] I'm at home.
[0:20] Good, good.
[0:21] Stay there.
[0:21] Coming in in a little.
[0:24] We've worked it out, you know.
[0:25] I'm going to do a little briefing, and I've just talked to Hague, and
[0:29] the line to take, and we got it all worked out, and it's best that you not do it.
[0:34] We don't want to use the big gun until it's time.
[0:36] Well, I think the advantage is if the other side breaks off this week, there is a 20% chance that they may.
[0:44] I'd say 10, but go ahead.
[0:46] Yeah, 10.
[0:47] I agree with you.
[0:49] I probably should step out again and start slamming them, and then it's better that it's a non-political.
[0:54] Absolutely.
[0:55] Good, good.
[1:06] He likes the settlement, doesn't he?
[1:08] Oh, yeah.
[1:11] You know, these little bastards in the press are not trying to show that this thing is a coalition government.
[1:17] Well, are we getting that knocked down enough?
[1:19] I don't know.
[1:20] I'm going to hit it hard today myself.
[1:22] Agnew is hitting it.
[1:24] I've just got through talking to him.
[1:27] And if you can get Buckley to hit it and some of the right wing, like Jim Buckley, Bill Buckley, Joe...
[1:35] Joe Alsop, if he could hit it, it'd be helpful.
[1:40] And Dick Wilson.
[1:43] Those are the ones that basically...
[1:45] So the right says that it's not a coalition, that's all we need.
[1:48] The assholes that are saying it's a coalition are our enemies.
[1:51] And they're our enemies, and they're dying.
[1:53] I mean, here is a committee voting by unanimity, having as its functions to preserve, to cease fire, and to supervise elections.
[2:02] And...
[2:04] no police, no courts, no army.
[2:07] And if you compare when they proposed the coalition government, it was supposed to have full powers.
[2:13] I'm going to get Hague to make that clear.
[2:15] I'm going to go with that.
[2:17] As far as the assholes in the press, I don't think that's seeping in too much yet.
[2:22] No.
[2:23] It's more the writing kind of jackasses like Crash and those guys.
[2:26] I saw the television last night and they are basically wiped out.
[2:31] I'm niggling away at the
[2:33] periphery.
[2:34] Nobody really gives a damn about it.
[2:38] We haven't heard from Hanoi yet, so they might be getting tougher this week.
[2:44] All right, let them get tougher, and then we'll be tougher, too.
[2:48] But I think we want the right kind of a settlement.
[2:57] It isn't just ending a war.
[2:58] We've ended wars before.
[2:59] We want to win the peace.
[3:02] i would actually i think we are better off if they don't meet this week because then they won't have the cameras at andrews asking did you get an agreement but i've already put it out to the press that even if there is a meeting this week it will only that after that it will assuming it succeeds it will still take two or three weeks right good okay