Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 045-057
Date: Monday, April 30, 1973 at 11:04 PM
Participants: White House operator; Cox, Tricia Nixon; Nixon, Richard M. (President); Lewis, Hobart D.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/045-057

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Hello?
[0:01] I have Mr. Hobart Lewis for the President.
[0:04] Just one moment, please.
[0:10] Thank you.
[0:10] Sit down, sir.
[0:16] Hello?
[0:16] Hobart Lewis, sir.
[0:18] All right.
[0:18] There you are.
[0:19] Thank you very much.
[0:20] Hello, Rob.
[0:21] Mr. President?
[0:22] Yeah.
[0:22] I just wanted to tell you that was a tremendous job.
[0:24] Do you always say that, Hope?
[0:26] No, no, I don't.
[0:27] I certainly don't.
[0:28] In any case, I think this was the best of all and the toughest.
[0:32] You know, having to tell two men who didn't—who refused to resign—to tell them they had to, it was the toughest thing tomorrow, yesterday.
[0:41] And they're great men.
[0:43] Of course they are.
[0:44] But I had to do it.
[0:45] Well, you're going to miss them.
[0:47] Oh, well, the hell with missing them.
[0:48] I can—you can fill any position, Hope.
[0:51] Nevertheless, it was the only thing to do, just the only thing to do.
[0:55] You didn't think the speech was too emotional, huh?
[0:58] No, it wasn't.
[0:58] No, it had to be emotional.
[1:00] I thought it was exactly right, the right tone of voice, and you've got everybody pulling for you because you cleared the air on the whole thing.
[1:08] Without any question, it was the best job you've ever done.
[1:12] Hope you like God Bless America.
[1:14] I believe that, you know, very deeply.
[1:18] But it was very clear that your feeling about the whole thing was so sound and so sincere and so honest.
[1:28] You just absolutely put the cold light of day on the facts.
[1:33] Right.
[1:34] It's all about a crappy little thing that didn't work.
[1:37] No, of course it didn't work.
[1:39] Nobody ever got any goddamn thing out of this damn bugging.
[1:43] Of course.
[1:45] Just a bunch of schoolboys.
[1:47] Oh, assholes.
[1:48] Just terrible.
[1:49] You don't mind the word?
[1:50] That's right.
[1:52] Now you can just move forward.
[1:55] That's what we're going to do.
[1:57] I told Rose, is there anything I can do, either personally or professionally?
[2:01] I have that in mind.
[2:02] I've got the message, and I have you at very much in mind, my friend.
[2:06] Anything I can do at all, I want it done.
[2:09] All right, fine.
[2:10] Give our best to your lovely wife and the Admiral.
[2:12] Well, give my best to everybody there, Mr. President.
[2:15] All right.
[2:15] Thank you so much.
[2:18] Bye-bye.