On October 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:13 pm to 4:18 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 282-022 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 Do not cite this transcript as authoritative.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.
Thank you.
Hello.
How was the Philadelphia?
How'd it go along up there?
Good.
I hope, uh, after all, Teddy Kennedy called you and Connolly and me, John Gertrude's.
I thought that was pretty goddamn cool.
Oh, he was here last night.
I told him, I told him, Colson, Colson, just give me a hand.
And if we had said that about them, he would have been smeared in red.
He just blithely says that the people, the president has advised him and the president are all like they're members of the John Birch Society.
Right.
What is the latest reports?
A little delay.
And Berger didn't talk to him.
But Berger must have felt very damn good that we're considering, or about anything.
Did he think it was a good idea, even though he's no old?
What did he say?
What was his reaction?
I'm curious.
Yeah, what'd you say about the age factor?
Well, he's good for eight, ten years.
I'm iterating with the doctor.
Oh, crap, just too much interest.
There ain't a question about his eyes, I don't know.
Nobody's there.
Bart's.
But Howard, now that's a, he's really, just can't screw around forever.
You can call him.
Yeah.
Now the other thing is this, that in my view, John, if both of them strike out, I'd really come down harder.
I'd go for Smith in California.
And on that, there's no question he's going to get well.
I just can't see, not that he doesn't, nobody else knows.
A elite school like Cedar Carroll or harder than I wish, and a big law firm, chairman of the Board of Regents of the University of California, by God, that's pretty hard not to do.
So that's that.
Now, the other one is, I think I'd go to home.
I mean, in terms of votes, it's worth the cost.
So what the hell, a dean of a law school and everybody else
They said Yoshi never lost to Z-Man.
So he's on the court at least.
I just don't, I know they're true.
You just think they, I think if you appoint one outstanding one and one mediocrity, that's not too bad, is it?
They caught me with all that.
And basically, that's basically what I'm calling it.
It doesn't mean, I mean, let's say that this whole business about the being of a law school sounds awful to most people.
Yeah.
And where I come down now, yeah, and Baker and Powell and right now, I'm coming down and we'll see Powell patients and I need to
I think that Powell is gonna be the mother that you need to be on.
It's better than to go for Powell and Spence.
Powell and Spence have the disadvantage of being two corporate lawyers.
I think that they're probably gonna just put yourself in the back.
Well, anyway, I serve my people now.
Okay, bye.
Come on, son.