On July 1, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Alexander P. Butterfield, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:55 pm to 4:25 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 261-035 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 Do not cite this transcript as authoritative.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.
Ah, we certainly have it all confused, Mr. President.
Did you hear what Lansfield said?
He said that the new U.S.-Vietnamese offer was the result of a secret initiative taken by President Nixon.
And I told him, and I don't need to respond to this one, I said, my goodness, he said this amendment had nothing to do with him.
He's bleeding.
He's good.
You see, I told him, I said, I might make her first.
I always do try to get my hands on her.
I said, this may work perfectly.
I'm going to have to say so.
If it doesn't, I hope it doesn't.
You see, just as well, as you were talking about, the only problem we'll have is that Roger's going to stop spending.
And really, the next 10 days are going to be hell anyway.
You think he's going to share anything about this?
Yeah.
We just have to move out of line.
Because I saw that Peking, that little item about Peking, David Grasso, for example, he saw it all over my stand saying, don't know.
If it weren't for that, I have no memory of the dream.
Well, your staff said to me something like that.
They must be referring to what the president said in his press conference, but they got the wrong line of staff, so I have the instructions I gave is to say, these are leads by the department who want to get me away as far as possible without eliminating me.
Very well, it sounded like a good plan.
I don't have the right advice to end this speech here.
And we've toughened up, we're cutting down the opening statement, we're toughening it up.
In Taiwan, I just say three paragraphs.
Let's see what they have to say.
It's really filthy thick, I've told my dispatcher today.
You see, there's all these press press relations.
Now, if somebody asked me, I would probably be going to see them.
I see you through tennis.
And he said, of course if I ask for it, he'd be glad to take it.
So I thought he was going to say that I'm not going to ask for it.
But I think it helps us when Gregor is dancing around.
No, no, no.
But he's dancing around because he says all the people come to the whole thing.
If there is something, it must be God.
Well, it is important.
I was going to call you and I figured that you were interested in it, and your intuition must be correct.
My first question was where you said the way it played is that it was something, but that it wasn't enough.
In other words, it was too much, but after all the answers to that, it's all right.
I think we should be enigmatic about it.
That's quite right.
Exactly.
I tell them, what I told CCCA is to say, it should be discussed in a standard form.
Press will think it's bad.
Actually, what they thought of it publicly is a little less than what they thought of it to us.
For example, they offered us gladly that they would release the prisoners.
In another I've seen the text of what they wrote, they said that after we began destroying, we couldn't agree on modalities for releasing because of the prisoners.
The prisoners agree on modalities, but that's just a straight line, it's a straight line.
the modalities, you know, they did not say they would actually do these, but now everybody is rushing to come up with a very good, a very good notion.
And nobody's saying these stupid bastards, you know, I haven't raised my hand in a, I don't know, my jacket tells me they're concealed.
You might say,
But he did tell us he was going to be better than what he said he was going to do.
I don't know what he told us.
He didn't tell me for sure.
I'm used to that even though I don't know what he said.
I don't know what he said.
I don't know what he said.
And we're working on this.
The world would be much better.
I haven't told him that you went away.
Why not?
I don't know.
I know that when he would be infected, he won't go away.
If you're not just cold, you know what he's going to say.
My God, it's going to be all good.
He'll all be away.
That's what we've been telling him.
And I'll be back.
I think we've got to...
They're all interpreting this on their own.
It isn't as much as we thought it would be.
Oh, yeah.
We can't accept it.
And they didn't tell you about it, did they?
They said we have to stop supporting it.
I've worked out at the COCO that did it, and also later in your conversations, that he offers his fire.
No, but in this proposal, they offer the ceasefire and to the manifestor and to his office.
But in this one, they offer the ceasefire.
This one is more propaganda.
In this one, they offer as a ceasefire and to be withdrawn, but not to the office.
In the other one, they offer a complete ceasefire once the package is accepted.
None of the nine points are better than the seven.
Let me ask you a question.
So I'm going to be visiting people's lives.
It's very warm here in Nevada.
It's a very different tradition to the country.
It's a very different space.
It's a part of that.
I saw that tour time in China.
Huh?
I saw that tour time in China.
Yeah.
Wow, what can you do?
What was the answer?
I'm not going to speak on today.
I told him at 6 o'clock.
You say there is a de-classification?
Do you not want to see it until 6 p.m.?
It sure is.
Who's looking?
Who's probably the team that requested by the district?
Well, he's kind of confused.
I mean, I'm not sure what that is.
What is this situation?
I didn't know they were setting a meeting at 4.
I thought they were having one at 6.
Is there another meeting?
Yeah.
Well, what am I supposed to say to that?
I thought that was going to be done after I had a man to put over.
I'm not going to let that little shit-ass, the president chairman of the Grumman Committee, have that.
These are just clerks, Bob.
Ren Quist, people like that.
So I just got to say, I don't want, I really didn't want to meet the lender.
We had somebody to put in charge.
What am I supposed to tell them?
I don't remember what the deal was.
Yeah, I'll tell you what to do.
You get a hold of John.
I don't want to give them any, I don't want to give them a charter at this point because I intend to either abolish it or put, I'm not going to abolish it, I've got to put somebody over and call me back later.
I'll wait outside and I'll let you know.
Did it ever occur to you that there is one hell of a lot of very bright, well-imagined, but just
You can't do everything.
You just know it whenever you put it in.
I'm not speaking for everyone.
I'm not speaking for everyone.
Not this one, but this man.
One of those guys had a transmission disorder this time.
Not one, but none of ours.
The leader.
The leader.
You listen, people.
That's what I'm doing.
Thanks for listening.
Well, anyway.
This kind of thing doesn't strike me exactly.
They keep talking about goals of Americans and vice versa.
To many Americans, the goal is to get all the good care from the handicapped, open doors to education, job training, close the gap, and bring people in.
To many American Americans, these specific goals represent a forward flight.
But I would suggest that even after we achieve all these goals, after we clean the flight, there will still be a hunger in us.
Does that make sense?
After we clean the flight,
That's the name.
But it is also not a phrase that would give you a little confidence that it's precious.
It's precious.
It's very precious, yeah.
The reason that I'm working on this is almost a total
a little articulation of Jefferson.
Jefferson, you know, did some writing and so forth, but he was pretty loud.
He was a part of the goddamn country revolutionaries.
Frank and I had much more admiration for Hamilton than Jefferson.
He did a lot for the country.
He left a legacy for Jefferson.
I wanted to make sure that I had a balanced trade on this item.
If we don't hear from the Russians, then I'll go all out for a summit this year.
Then you don't want anything between my trip and your summit.
Not a deal this year.
The only advantage after putting the case was
is so that it doesn't look quite so specific.
It looks as if they were some program.
But, uh, and it depends a bit on how much of this we get done.
You'd say, well, I'm sure that it's very complex.
People are like, oh, I want to see some pictures.
We don't have that.
No.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
No, I can't.
I just see it here, and he wants me to say, to discuss with him, how can we cut down on unnecessary classification?
How can we speed up declassification?
I don't want to meet with this group.
That should be discussed with somebody else.
I'm just not going to do it.
Yeah.
i know but i thought we were i misunderstood i was going to use this group as the group to carry out but only when i wanted to meet with them when i had somebody to put charge of
Yeah.
Well, let him tell them that.
I work with Henry.
I don't want to spend any time on it.
Yeah, hello.
John, I'm so tied up with this thing with Henry right now.
It's so very important.
Could you tell this to Bunch?
I'll sit with him for a couple of minutes, bring him over here if you want, and I'll step out.
But I don't want to have to figure out what to tell him.
You know what I mean?
Well, I suppose if you want us to slow them down and all that sort of thing, all right.
Yeah, yeah, all right, fine.
I see.
Yeah, I know, I know.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then you will then control them.
Fine.
All right.
You bring them, if you would, bring them over.
I can only step out for 10 minutes because we're working on the final draft of these special papers, very special ones, you know.
But bring them over and bring them to this little outside room.
We've got a nice table and everything.
And then you're there.
You come in, get me, I'll come out.
And that'll be that.
Fair enough?
He just does what you say.
I like to do what you say.
I mean, he gives you advice, but then you can forget about it once he knows what you're doing.
But anyway...
Okay.
the American experience over two centuries has been far more than turning plenty of land into a land of fun.
I just wanted to be sure that I wasn't getting a little nuts in my reaction.
This is satisfying, of course, because he's brave.
I don't know if he's brave.
He could write for a lot of hit lists.
And frankly, I don't think it fits the occasion in our time, either.
I don't know if it fits it.
The bicentennial, oh, it's five years from now, the bicentennial.
The Chief Justice speaks three minutes about the Bill of Rights.
Speakers speak three minutes, and it's not very much, very much what's on it.
And I speak about something.
No, no, it's fine.
It's fine.
Britain is just clever as hell.
Somebody can, somebody can send them to the high court.
Sir.
I know, sir.
But I don't know.
I've seen that.
And it's overly clever.
It's not my vision.
But coming back to this, sending Bruce over is fine.
The problem that I see is that if we're going to go for the miles that we have to, I must say,
I don't know what the hell he's going to accomplish right now, except if you say, well, it doesn't appear to be some sort of... That's the advantage that it doesn't look so precipitated.
And also people would be doing something else in October.
And people would be watching.
And he would be doing it.
Yeah, I know what will happen.
I can get some position.
Nothing's been found through a story going on around, on the dashboard.
Uh, Bruce?
No.
No.
Maybe.
Because I think that I've been to him.
Almost regretted it.
Did you have a chance to call him?
Yeah.
Don't shoot.
Mr. Bennett mentioned the children, how nice it was to me that I mentioned my daughter.
I told my daughter all of that.
After all, they're not in humans.
They aren't really affected by human actions, but they are not in humans.
Mr. Bennett, they are people.
If the country had done this, they would say, well, you're just a slob.
You're supposed to do it.
Just because you're cold steel depends on business calls and dials.
and never pretend that you're going to win him.
He knew this was a spontaneous and something decent thing, and that's what it means, certainly.
That's what these liberals don't understand.
Well, anyway, come in, John.
We're all set anytime you're ready.
All right.
Well, anyway, maybe you don't have to.
I don't really have either one of you take on that one.
I think it might be all right.
Now, let me tell you, it poses one problem.
It should not be controlled.
And that is, I think, it proposes more of a problem than a problem in the state.
So it's not like that.
Why the hell would Bruce find out Brian was in there?
Why not a girl?
Why not?
If such, it is an active process, the only man in the country who could do it.
And Marshall Green, he couldn't shed.
No, sir, we haven't noticed this at all.
I know that what I meant.
I'm just thinking, if it's next year, next year, this year, we couldn't just do it on the basis of my thoughts.
But it's too small.
It's important.
We have a whole lot of groups going.
I won't push it, it's just that I don't think it will arise as a suggestion because I think the Russians, they wouldn't have gushed back at you so quickly.
They're coming.
I regret almost.
I was hoping we'd support them.
I was not hoping that they wouldn't come through.
Well, I don't think that's true.
But it's not.
It'd be a tremendous lesson to learn.
Well, the other thing I was going to say,
We'll kind of keep the feet of the fire around here.
Always pay great thanks.
So I'm convinced that you're going to be coming to the camp not early in the coming week.
And we can kind of hold up and go off where that's going to be classified.
So I'm going to keep my head up.
I don't know if she was ordered to do it.
I don't know if she was ordered to do it.
I don't know if she was ordered to do it.
I don't know if she was ordered to do it.
I don't know if she was ordered to do it.
That exists.
It won't be helpful.
I know there's a lot of people, I know there's, I've always, basically a people that I believe is very decent in life, which is what I believe is important.
And a conspiracy that would break the law, I'm pretty sure that's what I heard.
I know many of the people involved in these cases.
And I said, I think it's all a joke.
And I just can't believe that I introduced him on TV to say, well, he didn't do anything illegal.
That isn't a point.
It isn't something he should have done.
Why should he carry top-secret tables from up here now to a man who is no longer in government?
Well, he knows.
He's a radical opponent of the war enemy.
It's going to be quite a, quite a lesson to show how to do it.
I'll tell you the reason, I warned you, I told you, I told you the only thing I didn't tell you was why we had, when I told you we had all these people get stuck right over here, but we had to do something.
It's your, I could guess about the hook for the last 12 months.
There's other ways, more waterways.
And it doesn't cause our problems for our DL friends so quickly.
I don't know who I'm talking to.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
You know, Ken, uh, Ken had a few remarks about what had happened, but they had so much data that they couldn't do anything about it.
I said, I don't want to say anything about it.
I think it's too good.
I don't know.
I think it's too good.
I don't know.
We just have no choice.
We cook each in the house.
We don't do something.
I think we just want to help the people.
We don't want to fiddle away too much in the next few weeks.
But I think they are, it's beyond any imagination.
See, they're going to follow me too.
I have given instructions to every member of my crew.
No one talks to the press, not to get to the time of day when I really see it.
The only thing I want is that they put out the schedule each day, because I want to create a present extreme business.
And that'll work.
Well, come on.
Right, present.
I don't, I don't care who, I don't have anything important to have on me.
Thank you.