Conversation 034-033

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Hello.

Mr. Hobart Lewis, Mr. President.

Hello.

The President, Mr. Lewis.

Hello.

Hey, Mr. President.

I hope I've been trying to call you for a few weeks.

You've been away.

I've been away on your business, sir.

I was over in Moscow.

I know that.

And Leningrad.

And I must say... You missed the election.

Oh, no.

No, no.

I was here for the election.

And then shortly after that I went to Moscow.

Yeah, I tried to reach you about a couple of years afterwards, and off you were.

I left right after that.

But I must say your visit to Russia made a tremendous impact, the whole atmosphere.

Did you have a good visit there?

Very good visit.

I opened a fair in Leningrad.

Good.

Those trade fairs do a hell of a lot of good.

You bet.

Well, I must say that all the Russian officials we talked to there were terribly impressed by your visit and the atmosphere.

Everybody says the atmosphere has changed, as you know.

What they desperately want is trade, and they don't have much to trade with.

That's right.

You've been making a lot of progress in the last few weeks.

Oh, yeah, we're shaking things up.

After a great start.

But we have to do that, you see, because otherwise you'll just sort of slide down and the rest.

Right.

Just tremendous.

I think it's very exciting.

The main thing, how's the Digest doing?

Well, we're still holding together.

Right.

Now that life's gone.

Life's out of the way.

A little less competition.

Now, we're sorry to see that happen, of course.

Of course, of course.

But it's inevitable.

Television is just too much competition.

Yeah, for that kind of magazine, right.

Nobody needs to look at picture magazines, unfortunately.

Right, right.

But that was absolutely inevitable.

You know, they were losing twelve to thirteen million dollars a year.

Oh my God, they should have done it a long ago.

They should have done that.

They were just hitting the bullet a long time ago.

Right, right.

The USIA, I think, has got a great show going.

I think they're doing a hell of a job.

I don't know who you intend to replace Shakespeare with, but I think he did a fine job while he was there.

Yeah.

I really do.

Well, we do.

Of course, he doesn't want to stay, you know.

I know that.

I understood that he was— We've been thinking of Jim Keough as a possibility.

He might be very good.

Yeah, he's a strong man.

That might be very good.

And he's one of our people.

Sure.

I think he would be first rate.

We don't know.

I haven't even asked him yet because he's doing very well.

Sure.

But we'll take a look at that.

Yeah.

In the meantime—oh, incidentally, David's going to be out of the service, you know, maybe in about the spring, and he thinks he might want to go to work for the Reader's Digest.

Wouldn't that be something?

We'd love to have him.

You'd like to have a young guy that writes stuff.

We'd love to have him.

I don't know whether it's a good idea or not for you.

Talk to him.

Not for you.

I mean, because the Los Angeles Times has offered him a contract to go right with him.

I said, the hell with the Times.

I mean, what are you going to do, write him for a little one sheet?

Sure.

Because he's got more things.

But you might give him some advice.

I'll do my best.

In about April or May before he's out.

He really does want to write, does he?

I don't know why.

I don't either.

But anyway.

Right.

Yeah, we tried to reach you.

Tell you why.

I went to Florida about a week after the election, and we had Applenauf and Rabozov, and we tried to get you.

Oh, God.

And they said, you were out with some babe.

And I said, where the hell is he?

He said, he's in Moscow.

And I said, no babes there that even wear nice stockings.

You know, that's a grim place.

You know that?

Isn't it grim?

People are unhappy.

I was glad to get out.

You know, the faces, the faces.

God.

You go to Leningrad, and the other places are a little happier.

Leningrad is a little more European.

But Moscow, Jesus, you know, it's just a prison.

I know.

I'll tell you that Martin makes you love this country, doesn't it?

I was really glad to get back.

Right.

I really was.

But I've noticed everything you've been doing the last three weeks, and I think it's magnificent.

Well, we've been shaking things up.

And incidentally, we would like to get together, maybe you and Hope, I mean you and B.B.

and Bob and I, for one weekend.

And it may be now after Christmas, because I'm in the middle of Vietnam at the moment.

I'll bet you are.

And I've been working on that, and I've been shaking things up.

But you see, the shakeup is necessary.

People wanted me to keep the whole cabinet because they'd done well.

You need momentum.

You need new people, and I moved them all around, you know.

I thought it was great.

I think Bill Clements will do a good job for you there as deputy, too.

Oh, boy, he's a tough guy.

Tough guy.

No, I think it looks just first-rate.

Very exciting.

Well, any time that we could get together, you know I'd love it.

Right.

Well, you take care now.

Well, thank you very much for calling.