Nixon phone call with Haldeman on 1972 Presidential Campaign

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And you asked for two letters.

They either come up with laundry list, which of course would be wrong, or they come up with basically the price thing.

It's basically mushroom.

It's going down hard there.

I love the hell out of it.

Dr. Billy Graham.

Yeah, that's great.

I don't know what we should be doing.

I don't think we should be agreeing with the situation.

I took over now in 68.

But it is a lot.

It's what the other people say.

He says, first of all, it should not be like four years ago.

It doesn't mean the flamboyance of a challenger.

What will appeal is the high road and that you should cover the accomplishments and then look to the future as to what can be done.

Make the case that you build a foundation to build a new world and to build a new America.

But we're just now able to move in

Of course we never do.

We never do.

So you should contrast the socialistic welfare state versus America, where you can start at the bottom and work to the top.

the one who knows what to say.

And he did do that anyway.

It's interesting.

He had spent the weekend at Johnson's.

And he felt that he had helped him modify his endorsement.

He said, Johnson wants you to know that he's selling his television station.

He announced later this week.

Billy thinks Johnson doesn't think he has much more time to live than he's getting affairs in order.

He talked to Billy quite a bit about death and all that.

He's selling it to the LA Times.

And he's giving his home and all his facilities and everything to the national park.

We're pretty close to the next damn near anybody, 48, 49%.

In other words, we're at least at an approval rate.

Gallup's lowest has been 49.

royally, you wouldn't get under 15.

Sure.

Well, the point is that the conservatives have never really felt.

We have a curious thing here.

Both the conservatives and the liberals, frankly, feel that we just don't have much solid support.

Conservatives because I'm not right-wing enough.

The liberals because I'm not left-wing enough.

Yeah, there's

Well, yeah, maybe that's true, but I think you've got a hell of a lot of solid support.

I think there's more there than the real.

I suppose one of the reasons that I say, as you know, we have been out that little this year.

The assholes have to see you out there, you know, somebody cheering.

But, you know, we haven't been out much.

But is that bad?

I'm not so sure.

I don't think it's bad at all.

I'm not saying that they'd be good.

I'm not.

Sorry.

I'm thinking, though, in terms of the traditional evaluation of politicians and whether they've got support, they want to know whether they're being cheered.

They don't.

OK. And I think people could cheer you.

They will cheer you.

Huh?

I think when you go out, people will cheer you.

Your point might make some difference.

I think you're absolutely right.

But I think they're old.

Those who cheer are not the ones that does enough.

to get your votes either.

And a hell of a lot of just folks in the home.

That's the point.

They're scared of the government and respect you.

The point that we have to bear in mind, that is the point we have to bear in mind, is that a hell of a lot of people in this country that are turned off with politics.

That's the thing.

There's been too goddamn much politics on television.

It's driven them crazy.

It's too brave and wrong.

what he's doing in California.

I'll tell you how good that stuff is.

You know and I know that our problem with California is

Reagan's support in that state is not something that adds anything to us.

Would you agree or not?

I would agree.

That's the trouble I do with the organization out there.

I agree with all the impulsions for it.

I know he's trying.

But this is wrong.

This is wrong.

This is a wrong approach to California.

Do you want to do him earlier?

Is another time better for a break?

Because we can, I think, probably move that around.

He's going to come in tonight, as I understand it.

It doesn't make any sense, though.

No.

Does that make any sense?

No.

It doesn't, maybe?

No, it doesn't.

It's not.

And it isn't.

You shouldn't be in the Ivy League anyway.

Yes.

We're going to have good people, not the, you know, he's got the intellectual elite and the rest.

Now that's something that appeals to a lot of people.

Well, he's right.

He's absolutely right.

And I totally agree with him.

But I don't think the average person knows what the Christ intellectual elite is.

Don't you agree?

And I don't think they all think it's bad.

I don't think they, those who, even some of those who know what it is, I don't think they realize how bad it is.

What we really come down here is the format of the speech in terms

Closed until 2 p.m.

The question is, how do you spell out what your beliefs are?

Now, the easiest way to do it, and the easiest way to do it because it's so simple and simple, is take three areas, and three areas

the economics, the law in our area, foreign policy and events, and say, in critical areas, this election offers a choice.

take him much too seriously.

That's what Buchanan would like, of course.

To a certain extent, some of the others don't have it in.

The other way you can get at it is to, frankly, give a lot of bullshit about this is what we believe in.

Maybe tangentially, but

We believe in a strong America, but we don't believe that we should cut America.

That's the best reaction on that point.

Let's say there's much easier, and much easier to understand, much easier to get across.

Maybe that guy was just a gentleman.

I said he thinks this, and I think that.

So you're right.

your course.

Where the hell are they?

See, they don't think in any specific terms.

That's the problem.

It's a matter of meaningless generalities.

If it's worth running the risk of elevating in order to be on the few key points,

one in the platitudes.

I think it will be a surprise.

I think you're going to be expected to be in the platitudes.

I don't know.

I just scratched it up.

The way you would do it is this.

And that

I totally disagree.

Uh, it does point at your desk building, though.

Yeah.

I'll do it the other way.

You just hit those, you make your case on each of those three issues, and then you go to the laptop.

Well, before policy is finished, the sheriff finishes your speech.

Cram around without peace.

Build a new world.

in the

thing apart, and re-dealing the cards.

I must say, I'm very far from this debate.

You know, Reagan is not one that wears well.

I know.

You can't worry about that.

I think the governor

or what they have to say.

That's what he ought to be saying.

But they'll keep hammering at him.

The media won't let him off to that.

They'll keep saying, well, nobody was there.

know.

You walked out of the Ohio State campus and there was nobody there.

Look what happened.

Remember when you walked out of the Ohio State campus in 70?

About 20 kids out there and all of a sudden there's a huge mob.

Count two or three hundred

200 people, man, that's a lot of people.

Well, we have been too sensitive about crowd estimates, you know.

Particularly in Los Angeles, we have been out there, El Toro, you know, and there have been four or five hundred times, we'll say, 90.

You know, if you notice how they said 110, you know goddamn well that there may be three times as many.

That doesn't make a difference.

It doesn't make a damn bit of difference.

The fact that there was a group of people...

They think they're stupid, though.

But they aren't.

They really aren't.

Because the guy who reads the paper doesn't know the difference.

And that's why we can't take any joy from small mobility.

You can for what it signifies.

It's not wrong that more people that aren't interested in coming out, even without good advancing.

Well, they're looking at your speech as if you had to put the whole campaign into your speech.

Instead of looking at your speech as being one, as sort of the keystone of a campaign that's built around it.

And there's all that's in, all kinds of other things.

We're doing a good job of making that case.

In other ways, I don't think you should say one word about what a mess things were when you came in.

to say is, when you talk about what you believe in, that, well, first of all, I'm not going to go on the record.

I'm just saying I'm not satisfied, you know, we've made great progress with that brochure.

Because they fundamentally all disagree with you.

They don't know what the hell to get at.

They've never done it.

They fundamentally don't understand enough.

There's their problem.

They just don't know what the crisis issues are.

They don't.

To those millions of Democrats, to those millions of Americans who have been driven out of your home in the Democratic Party, we say, come home.

But not to another party, but to the great principles which we share as Americans together.

So you get it?

You get it in my... Sure.

I'm not going to shit on it.

Sure.

We have one of those historic opportunities which come once

with a new majority in America.

I ask you, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, young and old, black and white, labor and business, all of the proud national groups which make up our country, to join our new majority, not on the basis of the old politics, but the new politics.

How can you not build up a candidate for the President of the United States?

That's going to be said about 100 times.

Did I say that?

No.

That's going to be said 100 times before you get on that podium.

That's what everybody's going to say.

I don't think you should.

of health.

They need health at

like that?

No.

I just feel very strongly that what has been done is the worst thing you can do.

Listen to the debates that are already beginning.

This presents America with one of those great choices in Congress.

Our system is wrong, and we should adopt a scheme so radically compliant, not 210 inches, but be on the government bill.

The choices we make will be too hard to judge for the people in America.

What should they have to judge for their history?

And he talks about the Franklin Bill, and Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Harry Epstein, John F. Kennedy, and that president who was very mentioned in the Justice Department.

Our party arguments have differences.

They were part of the tradition in America, for all of us are created.

I may, but in a different way.

And then he goes on.

There was another great American, Ed Lacey, who said, as I say tonight, much more than I say.

just the shit out of it.

That's very American.

And who everybody in that hall, and who everyone in that hall

I don't know what he said when it's done, or care.

No.

It sounds like the standard State of the Union address.

Here are all the things we did last year, and here are all the things we're going to do this year.

I've never made one quite standard, you know.

No, I know mine's a bit better than that.

I'm not talking about yours.

I'm talking about the standard ones.

I would sure go for the, what you say is the easy one, but it doesn't seem to me it necessarily is, but it's sure the effective one.

difference.

Yeah, well, I don't know.

I don't know.

Another way you can do it.

Well, I'm proud of you.

I think it's what I don't mind saying.

We have made great progress here.

And I hope that we are going to do this

Start.

It leaves it on somewhat more positive note.

because it gets you away it gets into what the people are thinking about which is those who are going to make up their minds and those who are going to fight for you the groups you're talking to really going through the standard all the stuff we've done or all the promises of what we're going to do

and instead goes into what we believe, really.

I think people will respond to that.

In a sense, it's non-political.

Maybe it's because it's the most political approach of them all.

forth the differences and saying, you decide.

I'll promise him.

I'll deliver.

I'll accomplish.

I'll have accomplished.

I'll say one thing, though, to a certain extent, please.

on to television in the midst of a week of variety shows.

You're going on when people have been watching.

I'm sure a lot of people watch you that won't watch the rest of the convention, but a hell of a lot will have seen at least some and a lot of them a good chunk of the rest of them.

It's going to be, what we've done is going to be hit over and over and over in different ways during

Anybody can get up and cite the record.

Thank you.

Nixon phone call with Haldeman on 1972 Presidential Campaign

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on August 17, 1972

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