Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 282-022
Date: Wednesday, October 20, 1971 at 4:13 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Mitchell, John N.
Recording device: Old Executive Office Building
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/282-022

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:02] Hello.
[0:04] Thank you.
[0:09] Hello.
[0:10] How was the Philadelphia?
[0:11] How'd it go along up there?
[0:12] Good.
[0:12] I hope, uh, after all, Teddy Kennedy called you and Connolly and me, John Gertrude's.
[0:18] I thought that was pretty goddamn cool.
[0:20] Oh, he was here last night.
[0:20] I told him, I told him, Colson, Colson, just give me a hand.
[0:32] And if we had said that about them, he would have been smeared in red.
[0:41] 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.
[1:02] Right.
[1:03] What is the latest reports?
[1:10] A little delay.
[1:14] And Berger didn't talk to him.
[1:16] But Berger must have felt very damn good that we're considering, or about anything.
[1:24] Did he think it was a good idea, even though he's no old?
[1:26] What did he say?
[1:29] What was his reaction?
[1:30] I'm curious.
[1:32] Yeah, what'd you say about the age factor?
[1:34] Well, he's good for eight, ten years.
[1:35] I'm iterating with the doctor.
[1:44] Oh, crap, just too much interest.
[1:47] There ain't a question about his eyes, I don't know.
[1:53] Nobody's there.
[1:58] Bart's.
[2:02] But Howard, now that's a, he's really, just can't screw around forever.
[2:11] You can call him.
[2:12] Yeah.
[2:13] Now the other thing is this, that in my view, John, if both of them strike out, I'd really come down harder.
[2:18] I'd go for Smith in California.
[2:21] And on that, there's no question he's going to get well.
[2:27] I just can't see, not that he doesn't, nobody else knows.
[2:32] 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.
[2:45] So that's that.
[2:49] Now, the other one is, I think I'd go to home.
[2:51] I mean, in terms of votes, it's worth the cost.
[2:56] So what the hell, a dean of a law school and everybody else
[3:00] They said Yoshi never lost to Z-Man.
[3:01] So he's on the court at least.
[3:05] I just don't, I know they're true.
[3:10] You just think they, I think if you appoint one outstanding one and one mediocrity, that's not too bad, is it?
[3:20] They caught me with all that.
[3:25] And basically, that's basically what I'm calling it.
[3:28] 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.
[3:43] Yeah.
[3:43] 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
[3:56] I think that Powell is gonna be the mother that you need to be on.
[4:00] It's better than to go for Powell and Spence.
[4:04] Powell and Spence have the disadvantage of being two corporate lawyers.
[4:13] I think that they're probably gonna just put yourself in the back.
[4:22] Well, anyway, I serve my people now.
[4:26] Okay, bye.
[4:29] Come on, son.