Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam War and Bombing policy

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Hello, Mr. President.

I wondered if you've been able to get some of your calls made, uh, to the button.

Uh, I called back to you last night.

Yeah.

And, uh, he was, uh, he was divided.

Is he, is he going to try to get the, uh, the, uh, the, uh, the problem we have is, uh,

Did you talk to Mansfield about that?

I talked to Mansfield, and I said, look, this is a very delicate period, and anything you can do to get these hearings, and I just thought that Morgan wanted to do something, too.

Yeah, well, he's just, he doesn't bother you, but he's got a bunch of radicals on his committee, and so he's been busy.

And,

How did you explain to Nancy?

Well, I said that this is what we had wanted from the beginning, and they've now done it, and I was used to it, and I was used to it, and I was used to it, and I told her that, and she said,

Uh, you need to go hurry about these things.

I could call in on Tuesday.

He said that if I wanted to wait until after the, uh, suspension carriage, he was fully under control.

Well, he was fully responsible, wasn't he?

That's right.

Well, he wasn't up to all like, uh, I thought.

You see, some of these guys are getting a little feeling like Humphrey and that, so he just got it.

Humphrey came out again?

Huh?

Humphrey did?

Yeah.

Yeah, he said it was a marginal outbreak.

And, uh, then the taxi said the president left, left in a century, and it was something like that.

I'm willing to do it.

Yeah, but that's the other thing.

Yeah.

I don't think that's right.

But what they, what they're doing is, you know, the smell of blood, that was all they thought they had.

Taxi just in the air.

Yeah, and the taxi has been all over the place.

Yeah.

I wonder if you could get the vehicle, or if you could ignore it.

I think you could ignore it.

That would be my deal.

The other thing is very important is to present Albertson towards Mansfield and Scott.

Because, you know, Mansfield and Scott, they're there, and they're going to go wide.

All right.

and then, uh, run to Muller and break it.

Oh, God, he was divided.

Right.

But, of course, that doesn't mean anything.

No, he'd do the right thing.

It's always what is expected of him.

Right.

I mean...

Right.

But, uh...

We've got a few of our people that I've called to investigate.

Yeah.

And, uh, and, uh, the, uh, I think there's a, uh, you can have one point that it's very interesting to make, but, uh, you know, with all of the talk about, uh, this is demonic, you know,

When I was preaching at the war on Saturday, I got an interview with a guy that you know, a guy called me the other morning.

He said that he didn't know how to answer the question as to why did he make the made decision and why didn't he tell me or go on and explain why he made this decision.

And then I said, well, I'm too worried that it's not a decision for you to make.

So I said, you know, the thing you have to do is what I have to do, I said.

I was really about to go to the president, uh, temporarily, but I wanted to go to the president, but when they, when they came to me, they said, what are you going to be able to do?

It's a very powerful point to be able to do.

Yeah, it hasn't occurred to you that the suspect didn't have an objection to speaking to the law enforcement prior to withdrawing all of the arrests?

It's all false.

But, Mr. Benjamin, I think that those activists and all the others who have been, have proposed it.

It is always the same thing.

As a matter of fact, let me tell you, I don't think that's exactly enough to be an arrest for a referee.

I don't agree.

I don't know what you all see out there because you're past friends with God.

I think in part, I think it is, Mr. President, that it would have been helpful if this had gone on for you to go on television.

If it had gone on?

That's right.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Because people want it to be, but they'll go to public.

They don't go to public.

Okay.

But there isn't the insane emotion.

I mean, when I go to dinner parties, you know,

I was at a dinner party last night.

Mike Waller happened to be in town.

He was there.

But after a little muffling, he said, John, the president must want you more than anyone else.

He said, I...

He basically came out that I played.

Yeah.

Uh, so that I can put a new vessel, some of it, and now it's empty.

Yeah, but at the end of it, and I didn't go on at the beginning of it, we just put all this stuff right there.

You see, it's the debate.

Let's go to the bag.

Let's, uh, but now the debate is just beginning.

That's the last two or three days.

Right.

And now we'll fill it with this one announcement.

Exactly.

But what we think that we must absolutely do this is the thing that worries me about this day coming up, so, uh, maybe, but...

We have to avoid bloating.

Nobody's gonna bloat it.

You can't control the apartment's identity, you have to understand that.

Except it's really very dangerous.

If another jet gets out, they're gonna get these guys again.

It's so exclusive, they're confusing their mattress when they get there.

I don't know.

Right.

There's nobody around here that's dead.

I mean, Rogers is out of town.

Laird is out of town.

Rush isn't going to say anything.

Nobody from Warren is going to say anything except that he's coming.

He's got a duty of heavily controlled.

Right.

But I can't go and see the congressman.

I know he's got to be here.

I'd rather they could see it.

I didn't know what they were saying to me, but I didn't think it would be... All it can do is to be told what the announcement is.

They have to know that.

Right.

That's it.

But I think it's quite a quiet event.

Well, you make your calls, and I'll call you later.

See you later.

Bye.

Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Vietnam War and Bombing policy

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on December 30, 1972

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