On October 15, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 9:16 am to 9:24 am. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 220-011 of the White House Tapes.
Transcript (AI-Generated)This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.
Hello?
Well, look, as Kevin told me last night about 3 o'clock, he said we got them right down, almost got them on the ropes, and they got away.
Well, that's... Yeah, they booted.
Yeah.
They did that a couple years ago, too.
Well, that's all right.
We just can't worry about these things and make the best of it.
Good, good.
You talked to me about it today, and the president said that it had to do with the fact that he did not want to make the decision until he saw the written contract report and studied all the legal implications and saw what really happened, but that's it.
No, I'm not on the spending limitation, Frank.
Good.
On that, what about the Social Security when we miss you on that?
Say, just call it over.
We don't want to give a signal anyway because, uh...
Well, our prison, they did clean it up quite a bit, but not enough.
Is that right?
Right, right.
So it's a very, yeah.
And also put in the fact that how much does it presently add to the budget?
It still adds $800 million, doesn't it?
Even with the...
Anyway, you can, uh, you can say that, uh, you know, sort of, sort of killed it in a way, because your present feeling is that, that we're probably going to be till then, isn't it?
Well, with the spending.
Why?
I, I know you mentioned that yesterday, but Timmons just said it just took out welfare reform.
He didn't, he didn't get it that way.
Yeah.
Well, and then with the, then, well...
Yeah, that's fine.
It may be the two of the spending suit and thing.
Yeah.
Here they have the bandit welfare reform.
Right.
That's good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Great, great.
In other words, shift to that.
If his proposal for that didn't make it, just go out there and roll with the cost of that money and all the rest.
Great.
That's great.
I'll be on that, but I think...
Try to put it, and you can put as much as you can in the positive for us.
You know, I think...
I hope you can sort of start stirring them in the way as you get it on the base, when you want to roast up on the base, something a little natural, without indicating strength of your programs, but new directions.
Right.
Right.
See that?
That's all the big story in that.
How are you going to handle that?
Why don't you use the word McCarthyism?
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
Well, I would tag that.
The other thing I would do if I strongly urge it is to say that the...
that the shocking double standard of the Post and the New York Times used that line.
And here they are, here they are, in terms of being absolutely mum about the dirtiest campaign ever waged against a president in history.
If you've got that chapter and verse of a set of things, just put about eight of them and call them Hitler and call them the most corrupt president.
Don't say the most corrupt administration, just, you know, shorthand it.
the most corrupt, the most devious, you know.
You go down that hand here, they don't, there's never been an editorial raising a question about that.
There's never been any reaction at all about that kind of dirty campaigning.
It's the dirtiest campaign ever waged by a presidential vice president against a candidate, against a president.
Never say against a candidate, against a president, because that's true, because the Blaine Cleveland one was dirtier.
It was a different society.
Neither was president at that time.
See, and then what, where is this?
And also, and then I'd get into the bombing of headquarters.
And they had said a word about the bombing of headquarters.
I mean, violence, you know.
I would always attack.
And then I thought also, you know, I see you've got a big story in the Los Angeles Times about what you gave out, apparently, on the California property.
You'll do anything to get publicity, won't you?
No, I thought that was ignition.
No, no, I'm referring to the art times.
Oh, but Turner is there.
White-collar hatchet man.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, it seemed to me that the whole story was true.
I mean, did you read the New York Times?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, all this stuff.
I think if anything comes up about the amount of money that was spent on the property, none of that was my proof.
I lied.
A lot of it, they put up examples I didn't want.
They put up, you know what I mean, things that I didn't want.
Yeah.
You mean about what...
If there's nothing, if there's nothing here, we have to disclose because that's the total net worth.
That's absolutely total net worth, all it has.
And if you went into it, you covered it in this shocking kind of paper that is all that it was supposed to print.
Good luck.