Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 045-203
Date: Thursday, May 10, 1973 at 4:54 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.
Recording device: White House Telephone
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/045-203

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.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] Yes, Mr. President.
[0:03] Now, I thought with all the indictment of Mitchell and Stanton today that for me to talk to Henry tonight would be a real loser, you know.
[0:11] Oh, I think so.
[0:12] He doesn't expect— Well, apart from that, we want to do it for news purposes, and what I was thinking was that maybe that, if you would like, that—and tell me whether you think it's a good idea that he and Scowcroft and you and I might have
[0:30] breakfast in the morning.
[0:31] How does that sound to you?
[0:32] Or should I just meet him at 9 o'clock?
[0:35] Is that better?
[0:37] I think 9 o'clock would be better.
[0:38] He may be a little punch drunk.
[0:40] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[0:41] All right.
[0:42] Maybe 10 then.
[0:44] Give him time, yeah.
[0:45] All right, sir.
[0:45] But I do—you are going to have a—it should be covered.
[0:49] Oh, God, yes, yes.
[0:51] We're meeting with him now.
[0:52] In any event, too, Rogers has got to be on that damn thing, too, you see.
[0:56] See, Rogers is going off.
[0:58] See, we're having a meeting with him at 11 to send him off.
[1:00] So I don't think it should just be Henry and me.
[1:02] It should be he and Rogers and I.
[1:05] Don't you think so?
[1:06] Yes, sir.
[1:07] That would be excellent.
[1:08] Right.
[1:08] But Henry actually wants to see me alone.
[1:10] Yeah, you ought to do that maybe with Scowcroft, if you want, or talk by yourself.
[1:16] No, no, Henry, I want to do how he is.
[1:18] He likes to talk alone.
[1:19] That's better.
[1:20] And why don't you suggest to him, or you or Scowcroft, suggest to him that
[1:25] I'll see him at—that Rogers is coming at 11, that I'll see him at his convenience at 9.30, 10 o'clock or so forth.
[1:32] That's good.
[1:33] That's good.
[1:33] Good.
[1:34] And, you know, it's good to have this story coming, you know, with the— It's excellent.
[1:40] You know, let me say, I just told—I hate to see—
[1:45] Good guys like Stans and Mitchell undied it, but goddamn, they did dumb things, you know.
[1:49] Good God, a lot of perjuring themselves about a goddamn campaign contribution.
[1:54] That's right.
[1:55] But I think that's just one of the little battle scars we take, right?
[2:01] That's right, sir.
[2:02] But you're getting very good play today on today's exercise.
[2:06] You think so?
[2:07] Oh, yeah.
[2:07] It's coming.
[2:08] This is the way we want to do it.
[2:10] steady, solid.
[2:11] Steady and not too damn spectacular.
[2:14] No, not spectacular.
[2:15] No, that's right.
[2:16] But I tell you, I had called some scooch acts and he said, God damn it, he said, this is great.
[2:23] He said, he's thinking about which one, both?
[2:26] Both.
[2:27] In fact, he said, he said, you better do the same and the FBI and the president will
[2:33] Well, settled everything down.
[2:36] Tell me, what the hell on your FBI guy?
[2:38] Did you try to check on that 52-year-old guy?
[2:40] Can you do it?
[2:41] I did.
[2:41] He's a good man.
[2:42] He did trouble with—he worked with a campaign committee this summer.
[2:47] And while he had no involvement with these other characters, he was there and it would be smelly.
[2:53] That's right.
[2:54] Now, Jackson pushed very hard on Sullivan.
[2:58] He said he's just the best pro in the business.
[3:01] Well, check him out.
[3:02] No, I mean, the fact that Peterson and everybody else is against him may mean that he's the guy we want.
[3:08] Well, that's right.
[3:09] He just didn't get along with Hoover, and what's left over there is Hoover's entourage.
[3:13] That's right.
[3:14] And I'd just as soon take Sullivan in, and I'll tell you what you do.
[3:18] You know him well?
[3:19] Yes, sir.
[3:19] Very well.
[3:20] Get him in and have a cold, tricky talk and see if we appointed him, if he'd clean up the assholes and be our man.
[3:25] Right.
[3:26] Well, I know he'd be that.
[3:27] Hell, he's the guy that did all that early work.
[3:30] But on the other hand, will he be asked about the early work?
[3:33] Well, that's all right.
[3:33] He doesn't care.
[3:34] That's clean.
[3:35] That was all above board.
[3:37] But I like Sullivan.
[3:37] The Jackson's high on him, too.
[3:39] Very high.
[3:40] He said he's the best man he knows in the Bureau, and he'd clean it out and get the morale and the discipline back.
[3:46] And see, the reason the other guys don't like Sullivan is that he was basically trying to get Cooper in the ass, Al.
[3:52] Exactly right.
[3:53] All right, I'll give that assignment to you.
[3:55] You talk to Sullivan.
[3:57] On a cold, jerky basis, say, what in the hell should we do with the FBI?
[4:00] We can't put Byrne in the job.
[4:01] He's made a fool of himself in that court case.
[4:03] Oh, God, he couldn't do it.
[4:05] No, I think getting a professional is—it's really got to heal the bipartisan.
[4:09] They're really pleased.
[4:10] Really?
[4:11] Yes, because, you see, these guys have been here for years, and they've got these lines and friends.
[4:17] Yeah, like Colby.
[4:19] That's right.
[4:20] Jackson was pleased with Colby.
[4:22] Very pleased.
[4:22] He said that's top-notch.
[4:24] He was really pleased.
[4:26] Schlesinger, of course, they all know is a pro, cold turkey pro.
[4:29] Nobody dislikes Schlesinger.
[4:31] They just think he's great.
[4:33] Actually, he would be better than Richardson, you know, because basically he's more hard line, more cold, more tough.
[4:40] That's right.
[4:41] I mean, he'll cut the fat out, but he won't cut the muscle, and Richardson would cut the muscle.
[4:46] That's exactly right.
[4:48] Precisely right.
[4:49] I'm more pleased with him than I ever would have been with Richardson.
[4:52] Right, right, right.
[4:52] We haven't heard anything from—I talked to Rogers, and he said he was trying to get Warren.
[4:57] Yeah, he just called me this morning, and Warren said he just thought this was too political, but Bill thinks—and I told him to go back and check with the Chief Justice.
[5:07] And to see whether I can put more pressure on Warren because he said Warren was sort of wishy-washy.
[5:13] And he might be able to get him to do it if the Chief Justice thinks it's kosher.
[5:17] I see.
[5:18] But if not, Tom Clark.
[5:20] Right.
[5:20] And we'd have to tell Warren that we're going to go to Clark and that might be enough to tie him, you see.
[5:25] Yeah, yeah.
[5:26] Well, Bill, should I call Bill on this score or are you concerned?
[5:30] If you— Yeah, all right, I will.
[5:32] High five.
[5:32] Fine.
[5:33] Okay, bye.