Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 043-165
Date: Thursday, February 22, 1973 at 9:55 AM
Participants: Kissinger, Henry A.; Rogers, William P.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/043-165

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Hi, Henry.
[0:01] Bill, the President was wondering whether you, Bill, and Bill Porter, and Sullivan, and I mightn't have breakfast with him tomorrow morning to discuss the international conference.
[0:14] Yeah, good idea.
[0:15] And then we have a picture taken, and it puts it in its right perspective.
[0:20] That's fine.
[0:21] What time?
[0:21] 8.30.
[0:23] Okay.
[0:24] I was afraid you might get enthusiastic.
[0:26] It was 7.30.
[0:26] 8.30 in the morning?
[0:28] 8.30.
[0:29] Bill Porter and Bill Sullivan and you and I.
[0:32] Fine.
[0:33] And we swore, and that gave us about 45 minutes.
[0:37] How did your briefing go?
[0:38] I was tied up, so I didn't hear it.
[0:40] I think it went pretty well.
[0:41] You know, it was easy.
[0:42] I made many of the same points I had made at the briefing with a little less of the, you know, I didn't give too much of the color.
[0:50] I didn't give much of the color, and I didn't make any speculation about their motives.
[0:57] That sounds good.
[0:58] And on aid, they hit me, and I gave about the same answer.
[1:03] Mm-hmm.
[1:04] I really think we're going to have less trouble with aid than people think.
[1:08] That's what I think.
[1:09] Because the liberals, when they're put to the torch, can't really do anything.
[1:12] All they're doing now is heckling the president, trying to take some political cheap shots.
[1:16] But once that phase is behind them, I think they have no place to go.
[1:19] That's what I think.
[1:20] I didn't.
[1:21] McGovern raised it with me, and I thought that rather than challenge him, he's so goddamn low now, so much at the bottom of the heap, there's no point in building him up.
[1:30] But I think when the chips are down, we can really take him on.
[1:33] I think so.
[1:33] Well, he's really a tawdry guy when you think of all his bleeding about the poor people there.
[1:38] I know.
[1:39] And all the things he was going to do to help them when the war was over.
[1:42] That's right.
[1:43] And that we should be known as the people to reconstruct rather than as the bombers.
[1:47] That's right.
[1:48] Now he has his chance, and he does nothing.
[1:50] That's right.
[1:50] But as I say, he really is awfully, he's at the bottom of the barrel.
[1:55] Interestingly, the other senators were all sort of disgusted when they left.
[2:00] Really?
[2:01] Yeah.
[2:02] Okay.
[2:02] Okay, Bill, see you at breakfast.