Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 277-008
Date: Wednesday, September 15, 1971 at 12:37 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.
Recording device: Old Executive Office Building
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/277-008

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[14:45] Now, one point that I may not make clear, I do not want this second exercise to be limited to two countries.
[14:54] Two countries that we get A to C. Like Yugoslavia, Romania, Ethiopia, for example, there's one.
[15:03] Ethiopia, Liberia, you call that an intensive election.
[15:13] They only had one there since the slave model.
[15:17] They just don't understand what I meant.
[15:18] The thing I want them to understand, even the same, even if Vietnam can be described as a democratic process, but the question is, is the present leader there as a result of a contested election, a legitimately contested election?
[15:35] Not a ten-to-one affair, but not a contested one.
[15:38] You can't even describe Mexico as that.
[15:42] Mexico is a one-party government.
[15:43] You can't describe Colombia as a contested election.
[15:45] You see my point?
[15:48] Give those as examples.
[15:49] Mexico is not contested.
[15:50] I'm not going to put the countries out, but I'm going to get the number out.
[15:55] Mexico is not contested.
[15:56] Colombia is not contested.
[15:59] Each party shifts it back and forth.
[16:02] Okay.