Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 259-010
Date: Monday, June 28, 1971 at 4:07 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Butterfield, Alexander P.
Recording device: Old Executive Office Building
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/259-010

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[1:10:16] Say, uh, Rose, raise one point for me, I, uh...
[1:10:22] I wanted to be very clear.
[1:10:25] I'm crying about the fact that the officer told me about taking away from her a business about the dinners, and she said, well, she said, I can't work with all of you.
[1:10:33] So we called, it was expended.
[1:10:39] I helped many other ones than the other ones that he was there, which of course was also done the same way.
[1:10:48] Yeah.
[1:10:49] They haven't taken away from it.
[1:10:51] We just have heads.
[1:10:51] So, you know, don't growl at me.
[1:10:53] There has been no change in the pursuit.
[1:10:56] No change.
[1:10:57] I want you to tell her.
[1:10:59] Tell her that there has been no change.
[1:11:04] She says, Alex is doing it.
[1:11:06] What?
[1:11:06] Apparently, Alex is doing it.
[1:11:08] I didn't know they weren't doing it.
[1:11:11] They didn't.
[1:11:29] Maybe they were just filling out the list.
[1:11:57] That's right.
[1:11:59] That's why the country directors on the brand dinner were on because Henry set it up to begin with as a working dinner.
[1:12:05] So that was the country director.
[1:12:09] The original plan of the brand thing was the plan of his staff, the state staff.
[1:12:20] She's right about those things.
[1:12:22] There was work, you know, a couple of them.
[1:12:23] There was work to do about them.
[1:12:25] We haven't had a normal state dinner for, you know, some time.
[1:12:30] I don't know if it's possible to get anything, because that's not all that.
[1:12:34] She just, because it's all... Well, she may be right about some of them, too, because roses, they're all jammed.
[1:12:42] They're all so sensitive.
[1:12:44] She said that she was doing it.
[1:12:45] We were balancing everything in the right direction.
[1:12:48] We had to do the right thing.
[1:12:50] But when I got down to the specific, I think it's just the dinner.
[1:12:54] I don't think we've had any other.
[1:12:56] I mean, I'll ask Alex.
[1:12:57] I'll order.
[1:12:57] Alex doesn't finish.
[1:13:00] I'll say, maybe he's doing the dinner tonight.
[1:13:02] Yes, he is.
[1:13:03] He is working on, you know, trying to work with the other office on the floor.
[1:13:08] That's all I've got to say.
[1:13:09] But that's how she's got it.
[1:13:18] I don't know.
[1:13:20] I don't want to get her in it, but it's a bad hundred dollars.
[1:13:23] She's doing fine.
[1:13:24] I just want to be sure that...
[1:13:28] The other thing that she... She, I know, was having a... She has a great hang-up with Colson, who pushes for getting those political people on the bidders.
[1:13:38] However, Allison, I'm sure, takes Colson's side.
[1:13:43] And I hate the way she's... She's...
[1:13:48] It's all about balance.
[1:14:17] I'm strong for him, but the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board has got to be cleared.
[1:14:38] I'm mad that they shouldn't bring this up.
[1:14:46] Bob, isn't that true?
[1:14:47] Isn't that the one?
[1:14:48] Huh?
[1:14:48] Yeah.
[1:14:49] Isn't this the one that people are raising hell about?
[1:14:52] That's right, yeah.
[1:14:54] Or, say no, because he's been asking about it.
[1:14:57] Because the whole house is going up in smoke on this thing.
[1:15:02] You understand?
[1:15:03] Yes, sir.
[1:15:03] So I don't want it brought up to me unless they clear it up early.
[1:15:06] And greater.
[1:15:06] Right.
[1:15:07] Harlow.
[1:15:08] What?
[1:15:08] Harlow and Richard.
[1:15:09] Yeah.
[1:15:11] Well, Harlow is pushing for this.
[1:15:17] Well, I did y'all a great job.
[1:15:43] because he's so effective when he's with her.
[1:15:46] I think it's really a question maybe that you just had to tell her no or maybe you had her wrote her an MRN in the wrong thing to get her in.
[1:15:58] He perfectly cracked up those things and pushed them along as well as they have.
[1:16:03] Whereas the roads, as long as they have, yeah.
[1:16:07] Well, that kind of thing.
[1:16:08] That whole business.
[1:16:10] The party used to guess those things, and there's no way to...
[1:16:15] I'd love us to come out ahead.
[1:16:16] I don't know.
[1:16:18] I don't know.
[1:16:27] She's fine otherwise.
[1:16:29] She just, you know, all those people have to bitch about something.
[1:16:32] You know, I wish that was her wish.
[1:16:34] You know what I'm saying?
[1:16:59] Sure
[1:17:16] But I guess it may be again.
[1:17:17] We should better know what happened with the same patient.
[1:17:21] I don't know that certainly.
[1:17:22] We all, I know about it, I know about it.
[1:17:24] I know a little dinner was set up that last week.
[1:17:26] We expanded the loan in the last week.
[1:17:28] It's nobody's fault at all.
[1:17:29] I have made the decision to extend it.
[1:17:32] But I didn't have a dinner this week.
[1:17:34] I didn't have a dinner this week.
[1:17:37] I didn't have a dinner this week.
[1:17:44] I really thought that Alex was really great.
[1:17:46] I couldn't say no, and I said, of course you couldn't.
[1:17:52] But what the hell did he bring?
[1:17:55] He's bringing six members of his family, because they're all going to be in town.
[1:17:59] And of course, we're bringing in several of the post office department things.
[1:18:04] Now, that's really, four or five of them, me and him.
[1:18:07] Now, if the post office, if I could follow the work on that, I would have him in this position.
[1:18:14] I don't think it's pretty standard.
[1:18:19] I don't think it's standard law.
[1:18:23] I think it's typical of what we're doing here.
[1:18:33] That's 12 over 6.
[1:18:46] I think it particularly is important, too, with our statements, our public statements, and where, or what, you know, I mean, it may be that they were just fun ones.
[1:19:17] Basically what you're saying is the way you say it in a private meeting.
[1:19:20] That's the other point I made.
[1:19:46] Now we've really come down to the problem, the price of the problem.
[1:19:50] You've got to go over there and write as much as you can.
[1:19:53] Write that kind of thing wherever you can.
[1:19:56] And, uh, take a look at the video.
[1:20:01] It's got some text after it.
[1:20:06] It's colorful, isn't it?
[1:20:07] Right?
[1:20:09] I think there's one other side of the story that you have to realize.
[1:20:14] I think Conway may underestimate how much we have actually done in this way, you know, and how difficult it is to be in play, you know, with certain moves, wherever the guess is to break down what I'm able to do.
[1:20:23] Chomp, hammer out, pound, and smack the other issue.
[1:20:26] That's the rush.
[1:20:37] I'm Dr. Roberts.
[1:20:38] You can call me.
[1:20:39] I'll visit.
[1:20:39] I'm Henry here.
[1:20:41] Well, it's great that you came to call.
[1:20:44] I wanted to say that you had a letter from John Eisenhower, and that John was letting me know that he would be sending a letter of resignation to you.
[1:20:55] So, it was, uh, to determine your current plans for Santa Clemente.
[1:21:01] So, I'm going to take a second call.
[1:21:40] That was all he had to say.
[1:21:43] And I didn't raise anything.
[1:21:45] I just took a day off to raise the other subject.
[1:21:46] I just covered those points as long as I could.
[1:21:50] The other thing was he said as soon as the Supreme Court rules that he wanted me to know, wanted you to know, that he would be happy to step out, that Pete DePrest was going to do a special program tonight on that.
[1:22:04] and I got papers and wanted him to go on it and said if the court had decided this morning I wouldn't go on it because I think he's right for me to go on it but I would not go over the front rows because, you know, he said for one thing Potter Stewart, I could lose Potter Stewart for us on the decision because Stewart will look for some way of making fun of somebody in her beard or something.
[1:22:26] He was very strong and, you know, he should
[1:22:33] I mean, he's right anyway.
[1:22:35] He said he didn't do his check, and everybody seemed to agree that he should go on until after the decision.
[1:22:39] I don't know if that was right.
[1:22:41] I think it was a few of those, too.
[1:22:43] But he certainly would be the ideal person to get this thing after the decision.
[1:22:47] He said, yeah, I think I would, and I would.
[1:22:50] I mean, the purpose of the problem is to get home.
[1:22:52] I wonder...
[1:23:03] She said she had been told.
[1:23:20] I just mean it.
[1:23:22] It shouldn't be done that way.
[1:23:24] That's right.
[1:23:25] First, it's not true.
[1:23:27] And second, her judge on the list is better than everybody else's because she doesn't know how to balance these things.
[1:23:33] She knows how to keep state department people off of opportunities and on the damn right.
[1:23:38] She can stop Henry when Henry puts on a meeting.
[1:23:41] He's always there to interrupt and get some jackass on.
[1:23:46] And on the other hand, she has got to let him put
[1:23:49] Yeah, post-political input lists and that kind of thing.
[1:23:51] I'm sure.
[1:23:51] I'm sure.
[1:23:52] There was absolutely nothing for her to tell us because there was no question on the list.
[1:23:56] Each other marching by themselves in charge of the cabinet.
[1:23:58] You may have said there's nothing to do on these lists because they're already set or something like that.
[1:24:02] Another chore here.
[1:24:02] Yeah.
[1:24:19] Check it out.
[1:24:21] I'm sure it's just one of those things, right?
[1:24:23] We can only find it.