Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 207-003
Date: Monday, August 21, 1972 at 10:26 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.
Recording device: Camp David Hard Wire
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/207-003

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:45] What do you think McCarthy would do?
[0:50] Sure, sure.
[1:01] Certainly showed their own problems, doesn't it, Henry?
[1:06] I don't know either.
[1:33] is that they're living in a dream world.
[1:40] Oh, he could say his judgment of McDuckers.
[1:42] Second, his judgment as to how the election's going to come out.
[1:45] Third, and he could say that you better watch out what's going to happen afterwards.
[1:48] He could say that.
[1:49] Third, why don't you make peace because it'll be generous now and it won't be generous
[2:10] he approached you in the first instance anyway.
[2:14] Right.
[2:14] Right.
[2:15] Right.
[2:17] That's good.
[2:19] Well, that's great.
[2:19] Well, I wish you were taking another day off.
[2:21] You're going to see the rain today, huh?
[2:29] Yeah.
[2:31] Yeah.
[2:31] Yeah.
[2:32] Yeah.
[2:45] But it's right.
[2:46] It's right now.
[2:46] It isn't just the thing we want right now.
[2:52] To make that deal, yeah.
[2:57] Are you worried a bit?
[3:02] Isn't it interesting that Goodwin was outraged by their attack on you too, huh?
[3:09] I know.
[3:10] Sure.
[3:14] I understand.
[3:30] I think, Henry, if others could start saying it, I think I've gone about as far as I can in my talk.
[3:37] Because, you know, the thing is, I can't give them the opportunity.
[3:42] I'm just finishing some of the final work on this draft now.
[3:46] Not so long on the domestic side, basically, a little on the foreign side.
[3:50] But I'm just trying to be sure to hone down anything that can be taken out of context and made to be a peer, to be, you know, a slam
[4:01] the other hand, I'm leaving him everything that's really come.
[4:05] It's going to be a very strong speech.
[4:09] We've got, let me say one thing that I did do that I think you'd be interested in.
[4:29] I agree with your analysis.
[4:33] But where we say that as a result of when we can turn toward peace, it will allow us to release our great creative energies to all.
[4:43] I don't know.
[4:43] I know that.
[4:44] You see, I listed that.
[4:46] I listed that we can rebuild our cities.
[4:48] We can do that.
[4:50] I just took that out.
[4:52] Now, but what I did do is what I think is a just,
[4:59] just a little place in America will mean that we can undertake initiatives at home that will be just as exciting as the great initiatives we've undertaken abroad.
[5:08] Just put it that way.
[5:11] You see, and then not say we can launch a war against the forces of poverty.
[5:14] We can rebuild our great cities.
[5:16] We can move toward our promising initiatives to restore our natural environment.
[5:20] We can have welfare for our, you know, that's just, that's the kind of stuff that the voice
[5:43] I've got to relate peace to our
[6:32] I know Bill didn't intend to say that.
[6:35] Yeah.
[6:37] Yeah.
[6:41] McCartney probably let him into it, though, Henry.
[6:48] Yeah.
[6:48] Anyway, we've now knocked it down.
[6:50] He was expressing a hope, and that's that.
[6:52] But I think Bill will be very good on that from now on.
[6:57] But we all sat around and acted.
[7:01] And the...
[7:03] One thing that I was going to tell you is this.
[7:06] It seems to me that we have a very, very interesting point here.
[7:14] You know, the bombing halt thing.
[7:16] I think these people are, and I may be so doctrinaire, and, you know, thinking history repeated itself, that they missed the point that there is no possibility of our getting a bombing halt now because they don't have anything to give.
[7:33] something to give.
[7:34] Now let me say, if they were to say in return for a bombing halt or say or do something, that would be something else again.
[7:41] But you recall, Henry, they want the bombing halt to be made.
[7:44] That's again a misjudgment that the left made about why the bombing halt helped Humphrey and or Johnson.
[7:52] And the left said it helped them because people said, thank God we're not bombing.
[7:56] That wasn't true at all.
[7:57] The American people were for bombing.
[7:58] I know, I speak in office time.
[8:01] The reason it helped Johnson was that the bombing halt was
[8:09] And you remember what saved us only by
[8:41] It is so illusory.
[8:43] There isn't going to be any bombing home under any circumstances of anything before the election.
[8:48] We're going to bomb more, believe me.
[8:54] That's my view, too.
[8:57] That's my view, too.
[8:58] You can't come to that when he doesn't look to kill us.
[9:22] On the other hand, if it's not
[9:53] They're surrounded, don't they?
[9:56] Even in that damn Citadel, they still have it, don't they?
[10:02] Anyway, that's good, and I think your idea is excellent, and I wish you well.
[10:07] I'll see you tomorrow at a good time.