Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 033-062
Date: Wednesday, November 8, 1972 at 1:31 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Humphrey, Hubert H.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/033-062

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Mr. President, I have Senator Humphrey for you.
[0:02] Hello.
[0:05] Hello.
[0:06] Mr. President.
[0:07] Hubert, how are you?
[0:07] Well, fine, and I wanted to call up just to congratulate you on the historic victory.
[0:13] Well, thank you very much.
[0:14] You racked them up.
[0:16] You've been a very statesmanlike man.
[0:19] I always, just speaking as friends, people ask me very privately to compare this with 68, and I said, well, the difference is that when
[0:30] Senator Humphrey and I were campaigning and we had this terrible issue with Vietnam.
[0:34] We both put the country first.
[0:36] And I said, this time, we had a problem where one fellow said any goddamn thing that came in his head were your private information.
[0:45] And I, you should know, for three days, I had the whole thing in my pocket.
[0:54] As you probably guessed.
[0:57] Yes.
[0:58] I had a talk with Henry a couple of days ago.
[1:01] Right.
[1:02] They asked me whether or not we could have got a settlement like this in 1969.
[1:06] I said no.
[1:06] Yeah.
[1:07] Well, you made a great statement, and I asked Henry to call you.
[1:09] But I think you should know that— Thank you.
[1:13] Well, I understood that.
[1:18] Well, I'll have a talk with you sometime.
[1:23] I knew that, you know, I did what I had to do.
[1:31] Of course you did.
[1:35] That's right.
[1:36] That's right.
[1:37] That's right.
[1:39] That's right.
[1:40] Well, we'll get together and we'll work for the good of the country.
[1:43] That's the important thing.
[1:44] Sure they will.
[1:44] And I didn't want to let this night go by without them.
[1:47] Well, it's so good of you to call.
[1:48] How are you feeling?
[1:49] I'm feeling fine.
[1:50] By the way, my son was elected to the state senate out here.
[1:53] Isn't that great.
[1:54] Well, I hope we didn't run a man against him that gave him any trouble.
[1:57] Well, as a matter of fact, the man that ran against him was a very fine man.
[2:00] I was afraid the boy wasn't going to win.
[2:02] Right.
[2:03] Isn't that great.
[2:04] But this is a good campaign, and you can imagine I feel pretty good tonight.
[2:07] We have some good things going on here.
[2:11] Say, are you in Minnesota now?
[2:14] Yes, I am.
[2:15] How's that coming out?
[2:16] I don't know.
[2:16] I haven't seen it, but I see it's very close.
[2:18] Yes.
[2:19] Of course, what you've got here now, Mr. President, is the city votes are in.
[2:24] How do you project it?
[2:26] I think you'd win out here, but not by as large as you would in other states.
[2:30] But we never did, and Minnesota's always closer.
[2:32] We're fairly well organized out here.
[2:35] I know, I know.
[2:36] That's right, particularly with you coming out, you see.
[2:38] You heard us, you see.
[2:41] But we didn't need you this time, like 60, so I won't hold it against you.
[2:45] I did my duty.
[2:46] Okay.
[2:46] Do you think we'll win it at the moment, seriously?
[2:50] Oh, yes.
[2:50] Yes, I do.
[2:51] I think that you'll most likely come out of here with over $1,500.
[2:57] Okay.
[2:59] I'll hold you to that.
[3:00] Anything less than $50, I'm going to make you pay.
[3:02] Make me pay, are you?
[3:05] All right.
[3:05] You and Pat both look good on that TV tonight.
[3:08] Oh, well, those things are so hard to handle with those roaring crowds.
[3:13] I never told you how much I appreciated that handwritten letter, but I just want you to know that my wife and I cherish it.
[3:22] That's a great deal to me.
[3:23] I've been through this, and I meant it from the heart.
[3:26] I know that.
[3:27] Anyway, we'll do some good things for this country in the next four years, Hubert.
[3:33] I told Henry you can depend on us.
[3:36] We're going to be there.
[3:37] Just remember, whenever you think you're checking yourself out, read about Churchill.
[3:42] I was reading Peter de Messingel's new, well, it isn't new, it's a great biography, California the other day.
[3:51] You know, Huber, when he was 68, he became prime minister, and Israeli was 68, so what the hell?
[3:57] You're still in your 60s.
[3:59] I know, but we Minnesotans got a bad reputation for running too often.
[4:04] Okay.
[4:04] You know about it.
[4:05] Well, good luck, and thank you for being such a statesman.
[4:08] All right, friend.
[4:08] Goodbye.