Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 043-020
Date: Saturday, February 3, 1973 at 1:21 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Mansfield, Michael J. ("Mike")
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/043-020

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Hello?
[0:02] Hi, Mike, how are you?
[0:03] Fine.
[0:03] Sorry to bother you.
[0:04] No, that's all right.
[0:05] I was just sitting here.
[0:06] As a matter of fact, I was just working with Henry on preparing for his trip to Hanoi.
[0:11] He just announced, we just announced today, maybe you didn't catch it, that he's going to go from Hanoi to Peking for another dialogue.
[0:19] So I just thought that was what...
[0:20] Anything to add to that?
[0:22] What's that?
[0:23] No, no, no, no.
[0:24] No, he'll be back on the 19th.
[0:26] No, he'll be back on the 19th or 20th, definitely.
[0:30] It depends whether P. King adds a day or not, but that's it.
[0:34] The P. King one, I should tell you, is not...
[0:37] is not it's coincidental with the other for the vietnam it's basically part of the continuing dialogue but uh naturally each side will have a chance to bring any subject up they want so in other words it's a we are playing a naturally
[0:57] very much that way because we don't want to give an impression that the purpose of going to Peking is to twist Hanoi's arm, you see.
[1:04] But on the other hand, the coincidence, let me say, it isn't unplanned as far as we're concerned.
[1:12] That's good.
[1:13] Good.
[1:13] Well, now, Mr. President, that was one thing I was going to tell you about.
[1:17] About, you know, my request to you that I wait until this war is over.
[1:22] Right, right.
[1:23] I'll tell, as a matter of fact, I've already, I'm way ahead of you.
[1:29] I told him to talk about it when he's over there, and he will.
[1:34] Good.
[1:34] Now, when would you, what, April?
[1:37] April or thereabouts.
[1:39] That would be the time.
[1:40] Why don't you give another option?
[1:44] April or May.
[1:45] April or May, and either of those times.
[1:48] All right.
[1:49] I'll do it.
[1:49] I'll see that he hesitates.
[1:51] I've already talked to him about it because of the request.
[1:54] Let me ask you one other thing.
[1:55] You mentioned to me a committee that I...
[1:58] Didn't get the and I asked somebody I think I asked a lot about it and he said he didn't to check with you if you've given us the dirt on that because I don't know anything I haven't made appointments to yet, but it's a committee for the For the study of foreign policy.
[2:12] Yes, there's four house members.
[2:14] When was it set up?
[2:15] Is it something?
[2:18] in September I believe I say by the Congress by the Congress and I
[2:24] four from the Senate, or two from the Senate, two from the House, with the leaders to appoint the two members in each place, two to appoint four.
[2:33] And I have not appointed any yet.
[2:35] I have not appointed any, you say?
[2:36] No.
[2:37] And there's been about a, there's been a sum allocated, I forget how much, around a million, I believe.
[2:44] And it's supposed to report back, I think, by June the 30th, 1974.
[2:49] And you're ahead of me on that.
[2:50] That was the other thing I was going to talk about.
[2:53] Well,
[2:53] The reason I asked you about it, when I got your, you know, you mentioned it to me, and I tried to check it out, and they didn't have their, I mean, it's one of those things where we didn't have it, apparently.
[3:03] Oh, I don't want to give the bill.
[3:06] No, you don't.
[3:07] I've got it now, and I'll tell them to give me some names.
[3:13] Now, these are civilians, are they?
[3:15] I mean, mine are not supposed to be congressional.
[3:19] No.
[3:19] No, no, no.
[3:20] But can they be, say, for example, if I wanted, could I appoint a governor on it, or would that not be proper?
[3:26] Oh, sure, if he could spend the time, you betcha.
[3:28] A governor would be all right.
[3:30] Sure.
[3:30] I was thinking of somebody...
[3:32] The choice is entirely yours, Mr. President.
[3:34] I was thinking of somebody like, well, like a Rockefeller, I mean, who has...
[3:39] That's right.
[3:40] Experience.
[3:41] Experience and could, frankly, spend the money to make a real contribution.
[3:46] I don't know that we could get him, but I'm thinking of people like that and the foreign policy field.
[3:53] You know, Jim Pearson and I are the Senate ones.
[3:55] You and Pearson, fine.
[3:57] All right.
[3:58] And I'll have at it, Mike, to see if we can get our appointments over.
[4:03] We've been so busy with some others.
[4:04] I know, but now that you're inaugurated and have gone through that travail.
[4:10] Right.
[4:11] That finished the war.
[4:13] Incidentally, I think you'll be pleased if you, I know you follow the papers, but I, of course, have been spending all the morning here going over it.
[4:22] The reports on the ceasefire actually are very good at the moment.
[4:25] There are six actions only in South Vietnam yesterday.
[4:29] That's great.
[4:31] Four initiated by the North Vietnamese and the VC, two by the South Vietnamese, both of which grew out of...
[4:37] but it happened the days before, but they think they're getting into place.
[4:41] The Cambodian ceasefire is working extremely well with Shea and Oak.
[4:45] Shea and Oak, as you may have noted, has come along now.
[4:48] And there's no action in Cambodia.
[4:50] The Laotian one is still on track, and we expect...
[4:56] This is something that we don't want to be hung on a deadline.
[5:01] We have no problem, but we don't want to put them on either side of the position.
[5:06] But we still think that our projection of 15 days after the 27th
[5:12] is in the ballpark now.
[5:14] That's great.
[5:16] The path that low and the others are meeting and if anything, and as soon as that happens, of course, then our air activities will stop.
[5:23] I know you expressed concern about that, but we have to continue the air activities or
[5:29] And frankly, in order to keep the pressure so that they'll make the ceasefire, that's what it is.
[5:34] But they will, but the air activities, they have been told that the air activities will be stopped the moment the ceasefire is agreed to.
[5:42] So they've got an incentive now to stop it.
[5:44] Well, that's great.
[5:45] Well, that's great, Mr. President.
[5:46] I think you must have ESP, but the two things I want to talk about you've anticipated me.
[5:51] So Henry will see what he can do, and you'll see what you can do about the committee.
[5:55] The committee, yeah.
[5:55] And I'll get some good names, and we'll send them down to you.
[5:58] Okay.
[5:59] You don't have any women on it, do you?
[6:02] On yours?
[6:02] Yes.
[6:03] Who?
[6:04] Mrs. Englehart from New Jersey.
[6:07] Oh, you appointed her?
[6:08] Yeah, I appointed her.
[6:08] Oh, yeah, fine.
[6:10] I just wanted to be sure there was one woman.
[6:12] Let me ask you, is there any black on, for example?
[6:16] Have you appointed any blacks?
[6:17] No, no.
[6:18] The other one that you appointed was his Republican fundraiser in Philadelphia.
[6:23] I forget his name, some Irish name.
[6:25] I've already appointed him, you see?
[6:26] No.
[6:27] Hugh.
[6:28] Oh, Scott, yeah.
[6:30] You and you.
[6:30] Yeah, yeah.
[6:31] Yeah.
[6:32] Well, now, let me see.
[6:34] No, I'm just thinking of, you know, all the sensitivities here.
[6:37] If it's foreign policy, there may somebody be.
[6:39] You see, with Africa, they're going to think some black ought to be on it, I think.
[6:42] But I just don't know whether anybody's qualified, frankly.
[6:46] That's not the most important part.
[6:47] I know.
[6:48] I'm going to point good people.
[6:49] Okay.
[6:49] Okay.
[6:50] All right.
[6:50] Bye.
[6:51] Thank you very much.
[6:51] Bye.
[6:52] Bye, sir.