Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 078-003
Date: Thursday, September 30, 1971 at 2:54 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Bevill, Tom; Burleson, Omar; Colmer, William M.; Henderson, David N.; Lennon, Alton A.; Mahon, George H.; Teague, Olin E.; Waggonner, Joe D., Jr.; Ehrlichman, John D.; Shultz, George P.; MacGregor, Clark; Cook, Richard K.
Recording device: Cabinet Room
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/078-003

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[1:10:47] But I wouldn't want to leave the impression that there's something on fire right now that is likely to break.
[1:10:56] But I do want you to say that the negotiating track is still open.
[1:11:04] how long remains over, of course.
[1:11:07] Now it becomes sharply reduced every month that goes by, because you see as we reduce the number of forces we got there, there isn't a hell of a lot to negotiate about.
[1:11:15] Then you finally come down to these people and what you do about it.
[1:11:21] Now there's something else that you can do something else and crawl to.
[1:11:25] They would well know that.
[1:11:26] Now, you know that the other day, for example, when they were building up in the DMZ, and somebody slew about it, and I ordered an airstrike on the southern part of the town.
[1:11:40] That's all Chinese.
[1:11:44] They've got to know there's just a sin in the table.
[1:11:47] If they don't, then they will make us wrong.
[1:11:50] That's why I've got to play with them a lot.
[1:11:52] And all of us can just continue to support them.
[1:11:57] Well, they ought to remember that the question is not between an imperfect election and a perfect one, but between an imperfect one and none.
[1:12:27] And that's what's involved.
[1:12:28] And also that they do have a House of Representatives apartment we just selected where over a third are opponents of the government.
[1:12:35] And 28 out of 31 of the half of the Senate have met with the government.
[1:12:38] I mean, that they have a free press.
[1:12:41] They raise hell down there all the time, you know.
[1:12:43] And then the other point that I'd like to make is this, and I really feel pretty strongly about this.
[1:12:47] You know, there are a lot of calls that are, I hope I'm not, I've watched all of you have said this, but a lot of people have been urging to cut off 80 degrees because they don't like their government.
[1:12:58] You know what I mean?
[1:12:59] I mean, it's because we prefer that they have a democratic government.
[1:13:02] And then they, and then somebody's put in something, we should cut off aid to South Vietnam because they do not have a president who was elected in the contested election.
[1:13:12] So as I parted on the president for the day and say again, we start down that road of cutting off aid to governments that do not have leaders elected in the contested election.
[1:13:22] You know what that means?
[1:13:24] We would have to cut off aid to 61 of the 91 countries we get aid to today.
[1:13:29] There are only 30 countries, by any stretch of the imagination, that at the present time have leaders elected in a contested election.
[1:13:35] Let me tell you my part, folks.
[1:13:36] You realize what I mean?
[1:13:37] You have to cut off aid, and this will get you home, in every country in Africa.
[1:13:45] Not only that, you know, if there's not one leader in black Africa that is there as a result of a contested election, not one, and there won't be, my opinion, for 50 years.
[1:13:55] It takes time to develop this.
[1:13:56] It's going to take time to be enough.
[1:13:58] Now, we wish it were different.
[1:13:59] But look how long it took for us.
[1:14:01] Washington.
[1:14:03] You didn't have opposition the first few times around, did you ever?
[1:14:09] Matter of fact, Monroe didn't want that.
[1:14:13] You know, in these early times, it's a...
[1:14:16] So I don't buy this business about the double standard.
[1:14:20] If you want to carry a little bit further, you're going to have to cut off a four-decker Caloosie Allen.
[1:14:26] But I've had opposition for once in six years.
[1:14:29] Don't spend these dollars.
[1:14:30] These are...
[1:14:36] Thank you very much.
[1:14:58] Thank you very much.
[1:15:25] Thank you very much.
[1:15:57] Uh, sometimes I'll explain it to you.
[1:15:58] All right.