Nixon & Ziegler on Equal Rights Amendment and School busing

2:24:32Well, there are a couple of points to be made.
2:24:58You...
2:25:31I know that they don't want me to...
2:25:32I've got to stick with my previous position.
2:25:35There are two ways to go.
2:25:37One is there's a letter here in Scottish.
2:25:40It says, I therefore favor the enactment of House Bill 208.
2:25:50The other way is, I therefore favor the enactment of the Constitutional Amendment
2:26:02which he has called, which basically says 208 versus the Constitution.
2:26:09Now, saying that, the question would be, well, does he support 208?
2:26:13Does he support the thing that came out of the resolutions?
2:26:18What's the argument against that?
2:26:19The argument against it, or any chance of changing it, doesn't matter.
2:26:25Well, the argument against saying that you support the Constitution 208
2:26:31is that it blocks you specifically to the working, and perhaps reduces the flexibility of amending that.
2:26:38There are some amendments, apparently, that are now still being considered by the Congress on the description of that, and other types of amendments.
2:26:51Which is a debate... Well, I think you should say that I support a constitutional amendment.
2:26:56I want you to say I support the President's, has supported...
2:27:00The Equal Rights Amendment.
2:27:03He supports the Constitutional Amendment.
2:27:05Of course, he defers to the House and the Senate as they do any protections of, you know, or modernizations of it.
2:27:13He supports the Constitutional Amendment.
2:27:16Get away with that.
2:27:21Well, that's what I want to know.
2:27:23We don't care.
2:27:27President, well, what about the House joining?
2:27:29He doesn't oppose it, but as you know, the President is not involved in the Constitution.
2:27:37He does not have a constitutional role in it.
2:27:39I would just say that I believe that's a good start.
2:27:41Of course, I would not preempt, the President should not preempt, I do not preempt the right of the House and the Senate
2:28:22has supported a constitutional amendment for people right in the room, and so forth and so on.
2:28:30Of course, it really is the... Because the...
2:28:32It's always the same.
2:28:33Because of the wording of the amendment.
2:28:35Fine.
2:28:35All right, fine.
2:28:36Has supported it.
2:28:36The president supports the constitutional amendment.
2:28:43He, of course, recognizes that the House and Senate may, after consideration,
2:28:57I don't know.
2:28:58The wording, it will maybe be a...
2:29:04If you just want to do it, I think you just might go for the goddamn thing.
2:29:08And you could say, well, as far as the changes and so forth are concerned, I've got to see it when it comes to my housing center.
2:29:17What do you think?
2:29:18I don't really give a god damn.
2:29:20I think a lot of them don't know that because some of the pictures they do have, and it passes with respect.
2:29:29I think this is the same thing.
2:29:35He supports the Constitution of America.
2:29:38Then, what if that dropped?
2:29:39Yeah.
2:29:40If they come back on the question, well, that's his advice.
2:29:42He's the one who's in charge.
2:29:45He's the judge that's in charge of America.
2:30:18He has supported the Constitutional Amendment, and will continue to support it.
2:30:25Now he will tell us, he will address a proposal, and we have to recognize him still before Congress, and he will accept the wording of the amendment, which reflects the best judgment of Congress after they have adhered to the mandate of the Constitution.
2:30:39In other words, that does give you some option.
2:30:41And of course, he supports the Constitutional Amendment.
2:30:49However, the president recognizes the prerogative of the congressman to work his will to mean to...
2:30:54He, of course, will...
2:30:55The congressman takes his action.
2:30:57He believes he probably will be...
2:30:59He will support...
2:31:00I can't get the congressman to check, but I can just say that he recognizes the prerogative of the congressman...
2:31:17This is not indicating that it's this amendment, or not.
2:31:24His point is he wants an amendment for equal rights to go through.
2:31:29He supports the amendment for equal rights, recognizing the right of the Congress, the prerogative of the right of the Congress, to consider it, to make it fully, and to perfect it,
2:31:42and the event where they believe that it needs prevention.
2:31:44You see, they believe in prevention.
2:31:45It's not going to get into that.
2:31:48It's not going to get into the debate in the countries about amendments to the amendment.
2:31:54It's just not going to get into that.
2:31:59Just say that I'm for it.
2:32:05The best thing you can do is just say I'm for it, period.
2:32:08Just let it go.
2:32:09See, that's where I'll start.
2:32:12He says he supports it now, period.
2:32:13The lawyers don't like that, but he's got his paper in the commission.
2:32:19He'll report it.
2:32:22Better fly, better fly.
2:32:24Did they survive their briefing?
2:32:28All right.
2:32:28I understand.
2:32:30CBS had to be walking one of the margins to tell us how many what cases of racial violence he was about to say.
2:32:42Of course.
2:32:43Sure.
2:32:43You know, those sons of bitches, they don't think we do our homework on these things.
2:32:47They do a good job.
2:32:51And really, to put down those, you know, CBS made a big point last night about the fact that there's no cases in which the court is over, busting for racial violence.
2:33:00That's what the hell the goddamn thing's all about.
2:33:02It's not always the same.
2:33:04It does what it is.
2:33:05Some racial violence is involved.
2:33:08They're moving blacks into white areas, or whites into black areas, western areas.
2:33:12Reagan was out.
2:33:13I'll tell you, this is one time.
2:33:19The liberals are off the script.
2:33:21I like them for it.
2:33:22That's why they all underestimated Wallace, and overestimated Lindsay, and governed all over.
2:33:33Absolutely.
2:33:34I think so.
2:33:35As far as the country is concerned, that part of the country, their attention to this issue
2:33:42They would support, 90% of them would support what I said last night.
2:33:455% of the other would go further.
2:33:48In other words, they would, well, some of them would go a hell of a long way.
2:33:51They'd turn the clock back.
2:33:52We can't do that in the Constitution.
2:33:55That's what I was telling them.
2:33:58It won't work.
2:34:00And the others, as far as the people in the country are concerned, which are in the fashion of the liberals, and say we're promoting terrorism.
2:34:07They don't like it.
2:34:12Do you agree?
2:34:15I mean, they don't want their kids to go to the bus, but they don't want their kids to go to the bus all the way across town.
2:34:24I'd be forced to go and go to school, but they don't allow me to go to school.
2:34:34Absolutely.
2:34:34Including most of the members of the press corps.
2:34:36I don't like that.
2:34:37Because I would love to be all alone.
2:34:38I'd like to sit around and think.
2:34:39They can talk about it, they can stand up and make speeches, but when they get in their living room that night before the school starts that day, and they're talking about that kid, getting in that bus, going 40 miles or 40 minutes across town to the school, with a bunch of vowels, they'll back off their position real fast.
2:34:56You mean going 40 miles or 40 minutes to the first school, lousy teachers, and the second school with inferior kids in the behind them, frankly, black kids.
2:35:06They aren't going to do it.
2:35:10It must be spoken out there.
2:35:17I haven't seen it.
2:35:38Well, he may be against it, but he gets on the wrong side of this as you would have cut it to be a drink.
2:36:03Black or...
2:36:11They asked, a few of them asked,
2:36:36Questions about rollback and so on.
2:36:39But the tone was not...
2:36:41Nothing better than going on and getting our case on first and then following it.
2:36:55And then going on the next day and have to write it first.
2:37:00Strictly self-interested.
2:37:02Always, otherwise, otherwise, you're eating news, and it could be a montage, well, some say this, some say that, and some of them, well, we don't have television.
2:37:13We'll do it our way first.
2:37:14That's right, first, right.
2:37:19The action is breathing for now.
2:37:22The new action is breathing to work on.
2:37:25Well, they're working hard from our standpoint, which is a little bit of a press agreement.
2:37:30Well,
2:37:31They don't like change, and they say, well, it's a very hard time.
2:37:35I'm dealing with it, and I take it.
2:37:43It doesn't matter.
2:37:44If anyone else saw it briefly, that's why I had to raise it with you.
2:37:49Don't worry about it.
2:37:51I'm sure they want 30, so they can write two stories.
2:37:56Well, not only that.
2:37:57They'd like a crack.
2:37:59They want a crack for 20 seconds.
2:38:02That's the point.
2:38:02If they get you to Martin, and they can crack you at night, don't let them.
2:38:04Of course, you know, there are good voices, guys.
2:38:06It's all different for each one of them.
2:38:10You take the radio guys, the television guys, they're the ones who have to be careful.
2:38:14Because they need $30 to radio a spot, and $60 to television.
2:38:21Who's that?
2:38:22To a degree.
2:38:24They don't have what they feel is a constant potential for them.
2:38:30So once a day is enough.
2:38:31The other change is the other change.
2:38:35It's the change itself that frustrates me.
2:38:41It's going to work well.
2:38:42We'll see how it's going to work.
2:38:48We'll get to that.
2:38:50It's better from your standpoint.
2:38:51But we need this election year.
2:38:53Let them squeal.
2:38:55I believe this is not an issue anywhere else but Russia.
2:39:24It's not out there in the country.

Nixon & Ziegler on Equal Rights Amendment and School busing

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on March 17, 1972

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