On March 29, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Adm. Thomas H. Moorer talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:19 pm and 10:23 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 044-092 of the White House Tapes.
Transcript (AI-Generated)This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.
Hello.
Good evening, Mr. President.
Hello, how are you?
I just called you to tell you what a wonderful speech you made.
If that doesn't get every American up on his toes, nothing will.
Well, you're very good to call, Admiral.
You and I have been through it all, haven't we?
Yes, sir.
And I just thought I'd remind him a little of what the hell we went through in Cambodia on May 8th, and then these magnificent men that came back.
The fellow I referred to, incidentally, will get out.
It happened to be, it was Reisner.
Reisner, yeah.
He was the one.
He's a very religious man, you know.
Very.
So is Denton.
Well, Denton and Reisner, each said the same thing, but I told Ziggler he could say Reisner said it, because Denton has already said it publicly.
Right, yes, sir.
Well, I talked to both of them quite a bit after they really enjoyed talking to you, but they are real solid citizens.
They're all solid.
God damn it.
These prisoners of war have done more for the spirit of America
than a thousand speeches by a president, believe me.
Believe me.
Yes, sir.
They've done great, but your speech tonight is going to do a terrific amount of good, too, sir.
You think it will?
Yes, sir.
And you know, those prisoners, I've said many times in the press conference, we didn't select them in advance to get captured.
They simply are representative of the cross-section of Americans we had down there.
Right.
and any of them would have behaved the same way, I feel.
Oh, they're magnificent men, magnificent men, and they helped the whole spirit of the country.
How'd you like what I said about national defense, Admiral?
That was fine, sir.
We ended up struggling on... Look, fight like hell for the budget.
We cannot cut the budget.
Yes, sir.
We spent five days already on it, and we are working hard on the assignment and committee now.
Put it to them in the basis that if they cut this budget, they will destroy...
There's chances for MBFR and for the deal with the Soviet.
The Soviet, Brezhnev, I know I'm going to meet the son of a bitch this summer, and he'll be there.
And if we've already cut, he won't give me a damn thing.
You're right, sir.
That's exactly what I'm saying.
I think I got that point across.
The rule of diplomacy is that
one unbreakable rule that you can't get anything unless you've got something to give.
Exactly.
Yes, sir.
Well, we're doing our best, Mr. President.
We've got the, we've finished with the Senate now.
We've got the House Appropriation Committee and then the Armed Services Committee.
Just make the point.
Yes, sir.
Those who cut the budget will destroy the chances for reduction of armaments or limitation of armaments and for peace.
Right, sir.
Okay.
Well, we'll lay it on them as hard as we can.
All right.
Thank you, Admiral.
Again, thank you, sir.
Did you get my message I sent it over for you to convey to all the people that have handled the homecoming operation?
Did you get the word on that?
Yes, sir, and I'll take care of it.
And be sure that it goes in the files of everybody that worked on it.
They did a splendid job and they wanted to get something.
I certainly will, sir.
One other thing that I mentioned to you briefly, David had a remarkable man as his commanding officer, you know, the commander of the Albany.
Yes, sir.
He's a captain.
Do you know who he is?
Captain...
I can't think of his name.
I can't think of his name right now, but I know that... You check his name.
He's a sundowner.
He's tough.
He's a son of a bitch.
But he's a great commander.
And when he comes up for Admiral, would you watch for him and see that he gets special attention?
I certainly will, because as a young officer, you know, I've always said that...
It's really not those that you work for, it's those that work for you that really count.
This guy is not all that popular with the little guys in the crew, but he's a guy that
insisted he didn't go with all this crap about letting everybody go off.
He made him shape up and the rest.
And be sure you check that captain.
I can't think of his name, but he's a hell of a guy.
I was very impressed by him when I visited the Albany.
The captain of the Albany.
Yes, sir.
Remember that name.
You as a Navy man will be proud of him and be sure he gets the proper consideration.
I don't want to interfere, of course, with the promotion thing, but you can do something about that, I'm sure.
Yes, sir.
All right.
Well, good night, son, and thank you again.