Conversation 304-016

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 Do not cite this transcript as authoritative.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.

Well, that's quite a day, isn't it?

Well, I think your point about the Renny Davis thing hadn't occurred to me.

Did you make that point to me?

Yes.

Well, Manolo did, too.

He was there.

He said, great day for heaven's sake.

Yeah, they had...

I just heard on the news that they told them to go to some of their people when they're here.

I don't think they've got that many, but to go to the George Washington University or somewhere, to the gymnasium or somewhere, until they sign up what they can do.

You're going to have a torchlight parade tonight.

All right.

Let's do it for them.

From there to the White House.

I don't know.

But have their telephone call from, you know, because there's not yet knowledge.

But that's tomorrow, I guess.

Maybe it was today.

with the peace banner, bent about the back of the box and rolled it down to the subject.

Well, last week, we did a grad test, and it was dark, and nothing, so the peace, you know, banner.

Uh, what does it mean?

I was going to ask, could I ask you a couple of things?

Yeah, that's what I was going to ask.

One thing, you know, you've had to sit for you a hundred of these booklets, you know.

Yeah.

Now who did you, what do you want me to do with those?

I don't know.

Okay, and I've got the book.

I've got the book.

But a couple of them, they all do this sarcastic humor thing.

You know, Pat has herself said that she wants to go to China.

And so they put, I read one, they were noisy characters, you know, like a discussion between the two of you that she wants to go to China and you ignore it, you know, and talk about sports or something and that sort of thing.

So I think it's so, I don't know.

But some either, I think a statement already made so that these women quit asking her.

Either she is, you know, or isn't.

And I hope she has brought that love at all because she's been asking, you know, to go.

I just don't think, you know.

Well, oh, John, I was just, no, I actually, I just wanted to ask you a question, that's all.

What kind of permit do the Rennie Davis people have, they can have?

I can't answer that.

I don't know.

Now, Dean has been calling me today, talking about the demonstrations, and we've missed each other all day.

I don't care.

John Dean, he has it under control.

And I know they've kept him from having it over on the side of the park because there was some discussion about that.

It's tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I hope, the first night.

No.

They were meeting down here.

They just told their people they got rained out at that theater at Washington Monument.

But it's today and tomorrow.

Right.

I think the thing where they're going to evict us all is tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

Yeah.

Because too many people weren't here today, they couldn't evict everybody.

George said that's fine for four years.

Fine.

And I didn't tell him what to do.

Fine.

Well, let me tell you about .

We, uh...

I know you originally weren't going to, and maybe now with him incoming, that's the only reason I'm bringing it up.

It's going to be a thorough plan if she reads it.

Well, I think she's probably going to.

Yeah.

Because you can't say you can't take a woman in when Kissinger took two gals with him this time.

I mean, he can't take a cat, too.

But also, we could have taken it secondary.

No.

Well, that's right.

When he took two girls with him, I was afraid that you still thought this would happen.

But I just think it uneasily said that she will be going, if you can say it.

Or that she won't.

So that she doesn't keep saying, well, I'm trying, and I'm getting myself fucked up.

Well, I had talked to her, and I told her that this...

about an interpreter or something to say, I told her, I'll report you tonight, and she'd say, well, and she had no information on it.

Now, as a matter of fact, there's problems there, basically, not so much with them, except that Joe and I also have problems with their lives.

I know that, yeah.

Well, I understand all that problem, but this, see, this thing ridicules the whole, and of course that's the half of people right, and this is about the second or third line, and what is it that ridicules you in a way, because you're paying attention only to the fourth, you know, and she keeps asking, and then you say at the very end something about, well, you know, she says, you mean maybe I could go or something, and he says,

You say it just might not be the idea.

And she says, you mean maybe I can go?

And you say, well, no, no, I was just wondering if George Allen might like to go away for a couple of days or something, you know.

And I'll tell you, this hit me just right when I thought that if she's annoyed about something, she's going to be more on holiday.

Well, she is not annoyed now because I talked to her about it last year.

Now the date for that one is set.

Just keep in mind that it won't be announced for a month.

But it's going to be set for February 1st.

And the present plan is, well, it's not firm.

So if they're going to do it for me, then my view is to come down on the side of it.

It poses problems.

But I will have to have a very hard talk with them about the rest of it.

Well, you might like that.

Except that.

You know, this idea of having to go with me every place and all that.

You've got to be careful.

That has to be clearly understood.

Sometimes you have to ride in different cars, and that sort of thing.

Yeah, that's right.

And I think you're right.

That's one of your... Well, I'll say the biggest reason.

Because they don't bring their wives.

Well, those two, I guess, they've checked that they don't.

And they're both very old men.

Yeah.

I wasn't trying, I just thought of it.

So that was, well, it came out, I read it, it came out, I read it, that's the one that I read.

The thing is, I just said, well, it might have been, I don't know, I don't know.

Well, it wouldn't have been a problem at all.

So that's good.

Oh, well, I don't.

I know.

Everybody.

Somebody yesterday was very like, I don't have to function by the box really well.

I know he's never seen it, but he's what to do on television and everything.

He was so, he mentioned that the thing that impresses him, of course he was, he thought he was going to do a job of president, but one of the things is that you don't, that you don't, you're not rude to the press.

You do not gush over them.

You just, in fact, what you do is politely ignore them, which is what you really do.

But you, but you are very polite to them in the press conference and you don't gush.

I don't know where Erwin came in, but he was telling us how intense he was.

I think that's something to do with all of our people.

Oh, yeah, he talked to all of our people.

He shouldn't talk out of personal... Talks too much.

Uh-huh.

In fact, all of our people do.

When I say all of our people, they don't all, but there's backgrounders and all that sort of thing.

They just feel that they've got to go...

I mean, like...

I don't know if we can't get

Yeah.

Well, that's true.

Everybody feels when he goes out.

But they have to be, they have to know more.

There's got to be a star, and there's got to be a little nugget.

I don't understand it.

They're building their own ego.

They cannot just stand being, you know, not knowledgeable.

They don't understand it.

Sometimes if they would just say...

I don't know.

In fact, I told you that Helen Collins said, Martha Mitchell told her one day at something, when we were both there, and they were asking Martha something.

And Martha said, why don't you ask Rose?

Helen just smiled and said, Rose won't answer questions.

And I just don't think everybody's going to try to let on they know anything.

Because a lot of times they don't, and they make them up anyway, which is worse.

I'd say, oh, that works, that's a fantastic topic.

Oh, I have to ask you, after you talked with Don Kendall, do you need to send him a letter on the death of his father?

No.

Now, we did not send flowers to him.

No.

Should we send that to the heart research fund?

That's what I thought.

Oh, we should send that to him.

Don't ever send a letter if I ever get a call.

Well, I don't think we should either.

And what it is, it's been recommending Richard .

I don't think he talked to .

Should I give this to Henry or to Peter or someone and tell them to do their best?

Of course, he wants to be an ambassador in one of the Eastern European countries.

He's a good man.

Just say to Planning, this is a good idea, and I'll be one of our career directors.

I'm glad it works on those.

I know that.

It's true.

I promised Roger that you told me there was nothing special to do.

Oh, I'm glad it works.

It works this way.

I think, too, that from the standpoint of the trip, we gave a lot of thought to him beforehand.

He went on a boat, and we should work on having him go.

And, uh, we had to put him in the middle of it.

And, uh, he was kind of sore.

And, uh, he didn't value him.

He had absolutely no coverage.

No, he didn't get any good coverage, just biking.

And, I mean, if he walked around, like, in the personal, I'd be for an hour and an hour behind closed doors.

The kids don't have nothing to do.

But I told another thing, too.

We're going to go very, very short-staffed here.

But we've got to go short-staffed in order to have room for the president and so forth.

I told Pat that she couldn't take her dad.

I just don't think we want him along.

So I said we'll discourage him and say we won't be going.

Scali won't be going to Colorado.

Probably a bad idea.

Probably.

Well, I just think it's better that we don't have Connie Stewart around when we're getting a wedding.

Or one of my other sons won't impress me.

I just don't know what the hell to do.

And also, I'm going to, on the second title side, I'm going to make sure that I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to,

Yeah, I think it would be a bad thing, though, if it's that bad.

Oh, right.

Oh, hell.

There's no danger there.

It's going to be close to science.

It's different.

Did they?

Yeah.

And, you know, that's how you get very good.

I'm not going to take a little White House message.

I'm going to do this.

I agree with you.

But it wears you out to listen to the idea that it is like it does.

When you work hard on something, and you give a good speech, you've worked terribly hard, but at least you've done something.

You take 25 hundred hands and you're exhausted.

And you can't really point to anything else.

That's really good.

I just changed, you know, last visit.

Today is Saturday, Friday.

I think that's the reason we were working on Friday.

I said, I'll be in front of you now.

I said, okay.

I must say, I think your scheduler should be a little more careful.

Or maybe you want it this way, but I think when there is a national holiday, you should go those weekends as well.

And not go for a four-day weekend on another time.

That's when you've went past those only because they're vacations.

Everybody does and a lot of people understand, but... Well...

If you go on a holiday, one of the reasons we didn't speak on Sunday is that it was a blank news day.

When you've got a holiday and we make news, we make the news, you see, whereas on other days...

So there are some advantages.

There are advantages.

I'm doing that for that reason.

Because there are disadvantages.

Like when the last time we had a four-day weekend and they had a church service, you know, we had a church service,

And your whole White House staff, I'm talking about the House by the book, and some of your other people who have to work on when you have something like that, that was legally a holiday for them.

And then they can't do the same on a four-day weekend when you go.

Well, the reason we did that... Oh, I know.

It's always very different.

Because the damn Italian Foreign Ministry, they wanted to call up us and say it's wrong.

stuck around for a while.

Well, I think I'm going to talk to Bob a little bit about that.

Just from...

I have just a little bit.

I don't know if you have any.

Oh, you don't have to say.

You can say whatever you want.

I don't know if you have any.

I don't think they're either, and I wouldn't worry about them.

I'm not worried.

I just think that sometimes these fellows, like Paul, Dominique, or any of your schedulers, most of them go with you when you go there for a four-day weekend next weekend, and they do get time off.

The other people in the White House don't.

You know, I'm sure there's plenty of time off.

I'm not talking about the West Side.

I'm talking about your three-day-old time off, too.

Yes, but they don't get like a Monday off free.

They have to take annual leave if they get that.

Oh, I see.

That's the position.

Tell all of them to get it.

Tell all of them that they are to change when I have them.

I work them on a holiday every day and they get up the next time.

That's something that's very heavy.

Like for example, they should get up the next Monday off and they get up the next Monday sometimes.

Because you're going to be gone now.

I'll talk to them about it.

What else about how it happened that you got knocked the two of us off?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

I agree.

Did you get him?

Yeah, I did.

Too bad he lost.

Gosh, that Lenny guy, I don't know if it was Lenny.

He is certainly a smooth-looking guy out to football, too.

I hardly ever get to see him, but I watched him yesterday because I started when Joe was in there.

Morning.

And that one pass, that pass that was put down ahead, that last one, that fellow who jumped up and got that pass, that was absolutely sensational.

Because he must have hands like those.

Yeah.

He was one of the best, one of the best.

Oh, that was special.

Washington's guy, Charlie Taylor, broke his ankle.

Oh, yeah.

I've heard Washington's might have won the game himself, but probably because he was a great player.

But they played well in the history.

Over the end of the ending, I'm actually back to football.

One of the fellas told me about a 27-year-old Secret Service man who was riding along, not here in Washington.

Said something, just somebody next to him was just walking around.

And by the time they got him, I think they got, took him, and when he went to get out of the car, he could hardly move.

And he died of something, some virus had affected a part of the heart.

It just shot off all the fingers, and he died, 27.

So I don't think playing football, or not playing, or doing things.

Well, the whole thing is, if you decide that life is so, if you've got to be everything but sick, there was something called the auto racing.

for all the boxes.

So what the hell, can you climb a mountain?

No, it's dangerous.

A lot of times you go out, you go across the edge, you're ready to get in an airplane, no, it might fall down.

Or you would never get in an automobile.

It's dangerous.

That's the whole point.

I've been trying to think of what we're going to do about it.

and a trip to California.

Oh, I'm not questioning about doing it.

Well, the point is, there's Thanksgiving Day this Christmas.

Julia, and this is good, Julia, she said that she and David and his parents had a different relationship.

I mean, they should be together.

That's what I'm trying to learn.

And I don't know if Trisha knows anything about that.

Yeah, because they've never seen that.

Well, they don't have to.

They don't know anything.

Yeah, you'd go out to California for Thanksgiving.

That would be my big favorite.

I'm proud of Ms. Rose.

What the hell would you do out there with the ground problem?

Has Matt mentioned that?

She hasn't mentioned it.

She has talked to her a couple times.

I think...

I think, look, I think we ought to have them around on occasion.

But never with alone, see.

That's the problem.

Because if you ever get them alone, then I will be really sad about it.

Well, if they can be guided so they don't stay.

That's it.

I think you should have it for dinner, but not to spend the night.

Never.

Nobody should spend the night.

Nobody.

And maybe to do that, you invite somebody to come with you.

I'm trying to think out there.

I don't know what the hell we do with Thanksgiving.

Out there, that's it.

I'm supposed to have Thanksgiving.

I don't think we do anything.

Huh?

don't really have to do with that.

You know, you might have, if you think that's the time to have the job, invite them, and then we'll think of a couple that would ride with them.

They'd have to take them back.

They've already dated, right?

They'd have to be invited and followed us.

Of course, they did follow somebody.

She told me it was the outside line.

She thought she'd already had a week's vacation from being up there.

We raised the question of coming up the plane, and I told her that we were paying, and I was like, there's a third class there, and she's like, no, we're ready.

She thinks, you know, she really is that child.

I think we've got to talk to her.

You want to talk to her?

But I think you all know she can't do that.

She couldn't have married two and she shouldn't have borrowed everything.

It's $200.

It's a cost, but also...

The more they come, the more, you know, it's so regular, it's got an extra sale every weekend.

I wouldn't even say every weekend.

I just say there is a little profit.

But I think you could tell her about the money.

Frankly, $200 in airfare every single weekend of the year.

Add that up, and then in between sometimes for other little things.

It isn't even good for them to feel they can do that.

They're all good.

I don't think I'm up in there.

I don't think I'm up for a weekend.

See, I can talk to Julie about that, but the other day when you asked me to talk to her, she didn't even return my call.

All right, Mom.

Thank you so much for calling.

I want to thank you.

No, it should have been done on the phone.

When the hell is my notes here?

That's it.

They should have gotten it.

Oh, that's okay.

Yeah, I need it for the portal right now.

It's not there.

It is.

I really think that.

When you told me that time you were going to do it every three weeks, I tell you, I couldn't be more strongly for that position.

I just think it's so vital that you do that.

Well, we should have gone this week then.

They've got a quick thinking on it every weekend, and for her to then make it so you can't go away.

Well, I think this.

I talked to Julie.

I said, you know, what's ever one nice thing about going down this weekend is Julie.

comes back up on Monday.

And I'd have her and David maybe come down there with me that night.

I don't know if it's a better way to do this.

But anyway, I'll stop and pick her up.

Bring her up.

And then she'll be here for three weeks, which is great.

She'll be here at the first.

On the second job.

So would she have been a great help then?

She would have been, in many ways, integrated on the team.

I told her that there were occasions when I said no, but she would have done it.

She understands that.

I'm sure she does.

You know why?

Because she has had enough now.

When she went away, I wouldn't let her fool for a while.

She got away enough.

And then when she was back here for any length of time at all, she sees what happens.

And she sees how much she has to do right now.

And oftentimes she says to me, oh, Daddy's got to get ready.

He's got to have something.

He's got to have a little bit of relaxation free from all of this.

She does understand.

Thank God.

Well, the fight is that she also understands that, you know, it was when I take, like, when I go to Florida and Pat goes down with me,

They were often sick during the whole Eisenhower period.

All of us, all of us, were always enjoying the sheriff Eisenhower, as you remember.

And what time it is.

They would used to call him in.

They would call him for all the time.

They would tell him that.

They'd all say a word, and I'd be in the middle of it.

But that was right.

They needed to get the president.

And also he chipped himself up.

He got the hell out and played golf twice a week.

And he played bridge.

Oh, that's a good friend.

He never played golf with me.

He went down to Augusta sometimes with me.

They've only got a year.

They've only got a year now for the selection.

My better is not just deciding to change people, but deciding to make it four weeks.

And if I don't go this week, then it'll be five, it'll be six before I go, and I'll be done that time.

And I have to get away, and I should.

And you know when I go to Camp David, I, except for a city football game, I...

I know, I know.

And frankly, it isn't a hell of a lot of fun.

You have too much tension there.

It isn't very much fun.

I go out and I have a drink, and we go out, and I'm always on edge, all the time.

I know.

And that's the hardest thing on earth.

And, you know, it was the closest I could.

It still ain't.

It's unfortunate.

So I used to go to this and I would come up by, make an appointment and I'd come out and listen to that.

And every time I heard it, then I should go by myself and do a free attempt to do that thing.

I know, I've heard you come and ask for something long ago, but I've not heard it.

There's one problem about this region, I see, that the whole of this country has come up with.

But there's a reason I don't want to go there.

I don't want to.

He didn't raise my attention to the problem.

Yeah.

Except for your dad.

Yeah.

I told him that Pat had said she was going to get there a couple days a week, and also that you would both love to see New York City and go to the Peel Church when New York is decorated for Christmas.

Also, he isn't trying to deter us.

He wants the world to be better for us.

That's right.

Oh, I got that.

I do think she needs to be talked to because I don't think they pay, I don't think she really thinks about what you're having to pay out.

Also, that when you go to Camp Davis, you can't always have the entertain coming out.

The point is that they should be there.

You know what I think I'll do?

I'm going to just cover it.

I think I'm going to cover it.

And then the next time they do get down, I'll just let them come together.

I think I've got to have them.

Because then she'll come here, and then you can talk to her here, and then... Because they've got to learn a sort of budget, like Julie always asks.

And Tricia needs to learn to think a little bit about your problems.

It'll help her.

But that's no solution, either, to them.

They don't really solve it.

Well, I like them very much, but then I've got to sort of...

They haven't been able to keep up with you all.

I've got to sort of go and talk to them.

You know what I mean?

It isn't a question, really, of...

So I just want to...

It's not like you don't have to talk to me, but you have to talk to Roger.

I'm a little sure.

You just can't sit there...

He's very good.

But you don't need him, you don't need anyone.

I need a total difference.

Maybe she does want to come to you, and if she does, then you need the weekend anyway, so you go.

And you're going to bring Julie back to visit, you know.

The daughter of the village needs to rest.

I don't have any change of faith.

I mean, they say, why do you see the votes go around?

Well, basically because they are totally uneducated, decent men who are never thinking for themselves.

And that's very unfortunate.

I don't have any of that.

I think everybody else is on edge here.

Because it's relative.

I don't have any of that.

I don't know.

The staff jealousy.

Staffs often, you know, bitch at one another, and then they come to her in line, and that'll be comedy there, and all the rest.

She just isn't going to handle the staff personally.

I don't know what it's going to be.

Sigrid will handle it much better anyway than I will.

And also, it gives, you're so right, that it'll be something that she can be doing to give all the reporters something to cover it.

Just say things while you're talking, because you can't have, you don't want them sitting outside the door eight hours, those doves off press, cracking at each other and making up stories.

That's one thing that she can do.

All of them.

I think what may have helped the little one here, because she doesn't know, I said, oh, when am I going to go?

I said, there's nowhere for such a nurse to go.

No, she would have been.

That's why I was there.

Well, I told him that.

That she would have these two girls.

See, now that he's taken two girls with him, you see, he's crossed that bridge, and he knows damn well he can't get along without doing the same thing.

He doesn't have any better to do the job.

And he takes such a lot of taking care of.

He takes one little girl just to show her shoes are shining and all that.

What girl is that?

Oh, right about the time they've been shining all the time.

But you know, we'll kind of work this out.

I've been trying to think of ways to solve this.

Like, we had to come to the front line.

That was nice of them.

But just thinking back on that, because it wasn't coming for me.

The reason was, I liked them.

They were there.

And I liked them.

I thought they were fine.

I thought they were nice people.

But what the hell?

You know what the problem was?

I was having any friends in now that were coming to me.

I think so, yeah.

You know, I have changed.

Well, you've got to figure this.

You take the Councils and the Rays and the rest of them, and I don't mean I don't love to see them.

Big functions, big functions, but I've got to sit there and talk about things that are totally irrelevant to me.

Irrelevant.

And go back to the, go back to the, which is why I'm going to go back to the days when we did this and that and that and what have I done.

Yes, she said she wanted to go around Christmas, but you're right, just go over there and not stay overnight.

Never, never stay overnight.

Never stay overnight.

Trust, trust, trust.

And you have to think about what you want to do next day and then.

I don't think you want to have all the damn relatives.

I love them, but you've done that, don't you?

Yeah, that's also hard because you've got all those kids.

You've got 35 or 40 people.

I know.

And they all want to get a few months alone.

I understand.

The thing is, it isn't a day of thanksgiving or joy for you.

It's a pain in the neck.

at least you know she's good for him too he's good for her too or not but you know he's always laughing and he's always firing her out then

He's always present.

He really is.

He's the only man, always, that is special.

Roger isn't that boy.

Roger is the respondent.

But, you know, maybe it's just because of time.

Biggie's good for her, and in some ways, to caution her because she feels she has to help him.

Biggie is just great for that, really.

He's good in there.

She didn't cut him, and he just, I don't know, he hears her.

You know, he's just very nice.

He's just, he's a wonderful guy, really.

Well, what about the keys?

Is she like that?

I don't know.

Because I don't belong.

That's right.

I wish to crush you.

She makes a friend.

And Elaine isn't really a good friend of hers because of it.

She's the only one who's got a friend who's been through it.

And it's not bad all the time.

somebody that could send an e not i mean somebody in the white house

But I don't want something else in it because then everybody quotes me as... Yeah, it is about economics, etc.

Maybe he is... No, no, no.

No, also, she might want to serve me.

So, me or maybe...

or somebody outside, just say that I, I saw some good fellows at about a hundred of these schools.

People are out.

I had no reason to get sick.

It must have been a contagion chip that I had.

Except I do get a cold now and then.

I could have just realized that it's so easy to do this.

I've been in a lot of my work for years, almost.

And three years from now, actually, I'm serving a lecture.

But now that you're sitting, that's something.

Yeah, there it is.

I'm going to consider all the questions, the frames, the problems, and everything.

I was thinking that

You could have somebody get together a list of those that were the Roy Day, Roy Crocketters, and Jay Crockett.

Roy, Roy Crocketters.

They might want to have a little pun.

I will be here to help you see.

I think Frank Darcy would have gotten asked about it.

Sure, yeah.

Well, you could ask Darcy.

Max, yeah.

He and, well, look, he and Max are such, the one I was under was... Day is such a pain.

Day is such a pain.

He is terrible.

That's fine.

Why don't I ask Harrison a little?

No, except Day was... And Harrison and Frank, like you said... Harrison, Frank, and Day, they could get together.

They could deal with Day.

If Dave starts dealing with someone here, he thinks he's around.

But Harrison is, and I know that Harrison and Dermot get along very well together.

If Dave- They might have a party tonight.

They might give me a, maybe we could send, if we start sending something, I'm gonna send a little letter to my friend.

There was a committee of a hundred.

Yeah, and Jordan is having, he has already said he wants to get people who have recollections that they're going to get together and put it on, put it around, and get it down on tape.

their recollections of that period, you know, went all the way.

He said, you know, so many of us, some of them are gone now, and others, he says, everybody, I don't mean to get wrong, they put something out of history wrong, but they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they

They don't want us to figure out how to show them how to do something like that.

We're also going to wash them over and have them bring them back.

And of course, if they're out here in San Antonio.

Okay, there you go.

Okay.