Conversation 332-035

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...will not preserve or receive the respect which is essential for the United States to play the great role we are destined to play in helping to build a new structure of peace in the world for generations to come.

And, uh, hey...

another little tape that's for me to turn on.

Thank you.

Mr. Rose.

Can I go to the mic?

And after all, I was not, I was not traveling in the United States.

I was in Vietnam.

I was in Virginia.

I was in Vietnam.

We sent 500, over a half a million men to Vietnam rather than Iraq.

I have been bringing that home to Vietnam.

And if you go in where it says the argument goes like this, or the case goes like this, or something like that, it doesn't matter.

Put it in about like that.

Okay.

There you go.

You got another roll banger?

Yes.

You think so?

Yes, sir.

You got orders?

Sure.

I don't know.

Where do you think he was?

No, I'm cold.

I tell everybody I'm cold.

Mr. President, I don't think you're going to find out.

You shouldn't.

I don't.

The moment that I tried to leave Sonnenfeld.

Yeah.

He wasn't there.

And I didn't even press him.

That's where I am.

Yes, sir.

I didn't know about the first one.

That's fine.

Is that coffee or constant?

Coffee.

That's fine.

No, no, no, no, whatever you've got.

Fine, fine, fine.

I'll have constant there.

Well, I must say, it is, of course, very dramatic in China, but it is, in a way, damn near.

What do you think?

In many ways.

I mean, it's so, we're trying to, we're trying to, it's totally unexpected.

This might be true.

I think a lot of people probably thought he was in Paris or something, or I'm not sure.

No, I don't think anybody thinks he was anywhere.

I can't believe that, but I think it's true.

I can tell you, nobody's even suspected that.

I didn't take a call.

I went just one hundredth of a ground.

I went so far below ground.

I don't think anyone has any feeling other than the fact that you're going to go to level three.

Yes, sir.

Two quick things at the end.

Well, first of all, I'll be asking you today, now that you're back, as I've been, Jerry's been asked every day, and I was asked last week, have you made a decision as to when, how, and what you will say before May the 1st?

Yes.

And aren't you saying yes?

Yes, I made it over the weekend.

Our president made a decision over the weekend that he will announce it before May 1st.

Why don't we say you made it?

Let me suggest it.

When you're writing this story, I know we decided not to, but I'd like you to rephrase it and consider it from now on.

Whether you don't want to say, yes, he has decided, and he will be making that announcement tomorrow evening, I think we might as well.

Well, you put a battleground situation is what I really wanted to retain.

I don't know that you can, but I don't think you can.

And it's going to go back and forth anyway, and it doesn't make all that much sense.

I don't think it matters.

But I don't, there's a lot of advantage to it in getting today's, there's going to be confusion on today's story.

We have just went round and round studying on the briefing stuff, and as you think about it, all the things you raised are exactly the things that, you know, you see there as you start thinking of the questions the guys are going to ask you and how you answer them.

We want to keep people, we want to keep our people positive.

We want to keep the opposition confused.

Yes, they are.

I think the president will make the...

I don't have the time set yet.

Yeah, he will make an announcement tomorrow on television.

Should I say announcement or address or statement?

No, I just said he will make an announcement.

He will make a statement.

He will make a statement tomorrow.

No, just say, no, no, that he will make a, the President will address the nation on the general situation, on that and the general situation.

That would be the story.

And the general situation.

So that has the advantage of tying Henry's thing to Vietnam right away.

And one of the things we're concerned about is just what you are.

Well, you have the problem, but from today until 7.30 tonight,

of that appearance being that Vine went off to save the summit rather than that he went off to do something like track hunting.

The way I would propose to do it is to walk out there and make a statement about Henry's trip to the summit.

And then go on and say, my gentlemen, I know you've been asking me over the last few days, has he decided when to do it?

Right now, he made the decision over the weekend.

He will address the nation by television tomorrow.

He will make a television report to the nation tomorrow on that announcement, on that decision, and on the general situation in Vietnam.

I think that gets us in, that screws us up this afternoon.

Could I say, could I say this?

We've got our Hawks, Goldwater, and four or five others are really cutting loose this afternoon.

I said we go ahead.

I think that's good.

We've got everybody asking, what are they asking?

They do.

They're hitting the Democrats.

Right.

And they're hitting this man of bin.

You know about this letter that a man of bin wrote to the Congress?

And they're jumping on that, which that doesn't gain good balance for us.

She just made a ghastly propaganda error, don't you think so?

All the congressmen are probably kissing her ass just the other way.

Just the other way.

Are you sure?

Oh, yeah.

We put it to the Congress from yesterday.

We moved the Congress from yesterday.

Well, we just said that the White House was following on her part to inject itself into our system.

The congressmen and senators know full well who they're elected to be responsible to.

And that's the American people, not the enemy.

Not the communist enemy.

All we do is the communist enemy.

Goddamn it.

We got our congressman on this yesterday, too, Bob Tapp.

Some of the guys on that.

But what about the Democrats, though?

Are they remaining silent again?

And that's what we're hitting on today.

Yeah.

Why don't we call upon them to repudiate the...

I think you ought to go back to Ohio.

We call upon the members of the Congress

to refute this attempt on the part of the communist enemy to influence the Congress of the United States.

Put that right to us.

Okay, we've got that one moving.

But I didn't say anything in the paper about today.

Oh, yeah.

Out of the Times and the Post.

Yeah, it was.

What'd they say?

I'm not interested in the goddamn news, I don't understand.

White House, the White House, NBC and CBS both noted the sharp White House reaction.

Steve, there's all the bombing.

Brian hit a fire over there.

You and the I-Leaks, how's Fox responding to the sound and fury of these reports?

Why don't we say that the president called, huh?

The president.

Don't you think so?

Are you calling?

This is the President's view that every Democrat or Republican, whatever you may think about the war, should fatly repudiate this blatant attack by the Communist enemy

to interfere in our, in the conduct of our, of our affairs.

But go ahead.

Listen to these folks.

Lutzer, she was treating Congress like a monkey at the end of her string.

Lutzer?

Charlie Lutzer.

For old Charles.

Representative.

Oh, right to that.

Be sure he's at the affair tonight then.

Sorry, one minute.

I'm told, I'm told they saw Alex.

Now wait, wait, wait, wait.

What's that?

Wait, wait.

Where is he doing that?

I don't know.

Yeah, I know.

Ted knew us because they went to round table 20 where he added we knew you guys could qualify for a greater mentality than we might consider.

Followed by a bill server who made those statements yesterday.

He'll understand.

And Wayne Hayes, if she sends me a letter explaining the wastebasket, it's outrageous that this woman tries to tell me to go ahead and do it.

Alex said the inability of bad men to comprehend the self-respect of members of the Congress.

Also, I'll like Wayne Hayes.

I'll understand.

There are several of them.

You see what I mean?

Why didn't you want to do it?

Well, leave it to them.

They don't want to do it.

Sorry.

They don't want to do it.

Don't have it.

Okay.

But tell me, if McGregor can hand it, I can hand it a few more days to him.

They had, that's Dr. McGregor, you see, we had 110 because they had a separate E-shaped table and I can't .

Okay, it's Dr. McGregor, I'll give you a second.

Bob Taft, this is a tissue of lies and propaganda that catalyzed the U.S. and the United Front.

The view of such a communication as this is hardly believable.

He called on Democratic aspirants Kennedy and GOP candidates to denounce him.

They moved on that one.

Before you go, though, I get the feel of this.

I'll go tomorrow night.

I'm hoping to keep it until 10 o'clock.

I'm hoping to keep it until 10, but I've got a band of people who are trying to put stuff in it, but I'm going to keep it very short.

And we're just going to be a damn hard-line statement.

We're not going to...

I mean, after all, the Hawks-Dubs sentiment is a mild body of inquiry, and I'm glad it's a little warm up for some coverage.

But that's very unusual at this point in time to have that.

So we're going to play to the Hawks, Bob.

I'm not going to play to the Dubs.

Do you understand?

Sure.

Well, I agree.

What are you convinced?

And what about the press people?

Aren't they... What do you... How do you think they're going to react to this announcement?

They're going to...

I think it would be next, I think it would be Sopranos, it would be some... Blacker guy.

But they got away a guy.

So I agree, if you want a certain sense of satisfaction, even if Washington only had a guard on his mind, you just toss it up.

You know, if you screwed it up, you screwed it up.

So it's not a risk to the Soviet Union.

It's not a risk to the Soviet Union.

And our relationship with the Soviet Union is too bad that you got next started.

I'm so glad of it.

May I say, Mr. President, instead of saying over the weekend that you made the decision, as to what you say tomorrow night, why I can't date it?

Because Warren yesterday- Just say I made the decision while I can't date it.

Warren yesterday did say that you had decided .

Yes, I made the decision.

No, no, no, I would say that he made the decision and can't date it after Dr. Kissinger had a meeting with, after Dr. Kissinger, after he got a report from Dr. Kissinger.

We made it last night, yesterday afternoon.

Yes, sir.

You're not worried about being locked in tomorrow night?

Because that's, it's still a disadvantage.

Well, so you have a hell of an advantage.

What the hell is your... You have no objection to being consulted.

You have to read your statement.

You have rights.

Could I suggest this?

I'm going to change the statement.

And the Russians always change theirs.

Do you have it with you?

I do not have a seat.

All right.

Don't say chairman of the Seoul Circle.

Just say Chairman Brezhnev and Foreign Minister Gromyko.

You understand?

He's got the chairman of the Soviet Communist Party, of the CSPU, etc., etc., etc.

You just do that, and don't worry about what they say.

Just read it that way.

With Chairman Brezhnev and Foreign Minister Gromyko.

Fair enough?

And he'll die.

They always do it that way.

It's simple.

Well, I think it's interesting that the, uh, all of our people, when we eat, all of our people, I only talked to two people, which was Colson, Hagerty, and Price Frye.

Oh, sure.

And Colson's immediate concern was that he had launched all these guys on the spot at night.

And I kept saying, I told him that we're in good shape with the tough guys.

And Chuck said, well, how are we going to go back to the table after we went to Moscow?

And they won't know this afternoon that we're going back to the table.

All of those, and we went to Moscow, had some obscurity about Vietnam.

The key thing is the line, and he said, and both, pardon me, part both of them, is we will continue bombing North Vietnam

As long as South Vietnamese communist invaders are killing Americans, then South Vietnamese, then South Vietnamese.

Well, that's my line.

I said that ancient's a whole line.

If you can get that said, then there's a great thing.

I'd say the same thing.

But the fact is also that...

I gave you that fact.

I know that.

I made it... No, Al would say it.

I used your...

The other point is the actual fact, given another day or so, the fact that the moment does seem a little satisfying, but the concern is this afternoon, this evening's news.

But I think, incidentally, on that score, let's get up at the 5 o'clock briefing that we are going to continue the bombing in North Vietnam.

Don't wait for me to say it.

Put it down.

They are to follow at 5.30.

We will continue to bomb military targets in North Vietnam.

Exactly this way, as long as communist invaders, as the communist invaders are killing South Vietnamese, you've got to put them first because they're killing more of them, and Americans in South Vietnam.

You got that now?

That's the phrase.

That's what I'm going to say the following night.

It's got to be said very, very hard.

You can't say that the president is going to say that the following night.

You know what I mean?

That's the president's position.

And they should know it.

On the other hand, I'm sure McGregor and Coulson were smart enough to see that this is a good ploy in terms of we handle it right in terms of just accusing the shit out of people.

Or maybe they don't see it completely.

Because it's hard for Henry to see it.

I mean, for many to see it.

I'm not sure it is a good ploy to see it.

They want them, especially once you get, once you get the whole thing going.

And then, of course, if you... Well, I had a quite a set of two with Henry.

Oh, seven.

Speaking of my life.

You know, I'm bored, Danny.

like November 3rd or anything of that sort.

Let me say, the length of it is going to be the length of November 3rd or of Cambodia.

And Baobab's got to have a tough record.

We've got to realize that the record was what made both of those things.

Can you bring me the, like, the back of another?

Yes, sir.

You got any?

Yes, I have.

Yeah.

I'm going to do it.

It's going to be done in a different way.

It's not emotional.

But it's going to be so goddamn hard about...

I don't think this really is a break from that.

I don't know.

We all think something's breaking.

Well, I don't think it's a big break.

I don't think it's, you know, a strong, earth-shaking event.

I just think it was a student that caught on air.

And we'll work hard at it.

See what I mean?

What did she say?

I haven't read the letter, but she apparently plays for the peace proposal.

It's time for the hard line.

I'm not going to tell any of them, not just you or anybody else, how I'm going to do this.

I think it's one that I'm going to do it my own way.

My gut reaction is right here now, and I thought it through, and I'm very calm about the whole thing, but I just feel that now we can't get it down.

first down with the goblins, like the sentence I just gave you, I wrote last night in the middle of the night, but it puts it goddamn well, doesn't it?

It puts it much better than they had it in their phrase, the bombing of North Vietnam, and we'll have to continue until there is the reduction of the violence in South Vietnam.

Remember?

You see, Bob, that does not sing.

But you say, we will continue to bomb military targets in North Vietnam?

until the communist invaders quit killing South Vietnamese and Americans in South Vietnam.

Period.

Now that puts it goddamn bloody, sums it up, and it's quotable.

You agree with me?

Sure.

And it's clear.

That's understood.

The violence is reduced.

Well, what the hell does that mean, shit?

Absolutely.

Johnson or anything.

You already met with them, so I guess perhaps this is not necessary.

I just want you to realize the vital importance of your kicking them in the ass and following up, and I mean the Hague bunch, but also using all of our big guns now.

I don't know.

I'm getting something out every day, Bob, and getting the Congress to get resolutions passed and getting a march.

And you can't have ads, and maybe that doesn't make any difference, but having our sons of bitches call that that works on the television and so forth.

I want an all-out, massive offensive.

Point two.

I think I will have you phoning for our, phoning for the purpose of using it, because we're not, we're sure the goddamn other Gallup and Harris won't be that fast.

I think you should pull immediately after the speech tomorrow night.

Now, let me say I'm not interested in the trial piece.

Don't put that in, Bob.

I'm not interested in that at this point.

It's irrelevant.

And I'm not interested in approval, disapproval.

I don't think that's essential at this point.

In other words, that'll go up and down depending on if you're reading on the speech.

But I think what we need to hear the speech, but

Do you approve?

And then load the question so that it isn't too loaded.

Do you favor the bombing of North Vietnam?

You see, it sort of seems like it's like Gallup's question.

And do you favor the president's policy of withdrawing forces, of refusing, of continuing the bombing until they stop the fighting or something like that, of continuing the bombing of North Vietnam until they stop?

Yeah, fine.

The president said, and use that term now, do you agree or disagree?

See my point?

Yeah.

And then you've got a good point.

Now I think this is a good thing to get out.

You can put anything else in if you want, but I keep the poll short and I hit it right after the speech.

If it comes out good, put it out.

If it doesn't come out good, flush it.

Do you understand?

Yeah, I think it's a good idea.

You understand, this is using a poll for our purpose rather than kicking ourselves in the ass all the time by polling, well, we went down two points this week, or we went up two points last week, or we went down four points.

We're too poll-packy around here.

But we're not really, we haven't been that bad.

But there is a tendency to watch for every poll.

What's Gallup going to show this week?

What's Harris going to show this week?

What's Sinlinger going to show this week?

Do you understand?

I think, I think, oh, I know we have, but you know, we have it later, but I think on this one, we can get a good balance.

Since Gallup called, I think we'll do a little better afterwards than before.

I also think you should go, do you approve of the president going to the Moscow for a summit?

Well, we don't know that it will be high.

And no, I would say, but I voted a little the other way.

And the view of the fact will be that the North Vietnamese are, come on in.

My word is that it wasn't a brief one.

Oh, that's all right.

He just didn't want to talk.

Oh, listen, listen, for Christ's sakes.

That's perfectly all right.

3 o'clock, all we care about is the television.

At 3 o'clock, you go out and start with that one.

And if they ask you to be about at noon, well, gentlemen, I wouldn't have to.

I'll be briefing you later in the day on that subject.

I'll cover that in the afternoon briefing.

Okay, fine.

But they know goddamn well I've got to do this.

I'm not going to do it anyway.

That would be a hell of a tough speech.

But also...

and that is to take every goddamn graph and show it to Henry, Christ, you know, everybody, you know, show it to Darwin, and so forth.

He doesn't tell me he does, but he does do this too much.

And you can't do this, this kind of thing has got to be done.

Henry's got to see the final graph, you know.

But you see, by the time you see this, you know, Sapphire brings him over to you to look for him.

Ziegler, he's a great guy, he's a great believer in shopping everything around to be sure that everybody, because he believes that consensus can make a good idea.

If you do sometimes, let me tell you one thing about consensus.

Every time you go over consensus too much, you take some zing out of it, speak in or out of it, take some zing out of it, it comes down, down and down.

Speeches by committees aren't worth a shit.

Well, Henry won on all points, didn't he?

He was aggressive, but I was solid on him.

But I think, I suppose there's something, there's something that we won't decide, you know what I mean?

But I do think this, we won half-time.

He's going to be aggressive, and then he's going to shut up.

Well, and of course he did.

It's damn important that you do it for him if he wants you back, too.

Does he know when?

No.

There's a problem on that, but now I've gotten the rest of it out.

He's got something.

actors coming in for the weekend.

Bring her to Florida.

So either it's going to bring her to Florida or go down with you on Wednesday night and come back up Friday afternoon.

That would be our other plan.

They bring the goddamn actors to Florida.

There's a wonderful place.

Take her all the little Jew places over on the strip.

Really.

The Fontainebleau is better than any goddamn place in Washington.

That's it.

There are people that cheer him when he walks in.

They'll want his autograph.

on the basis that I was sort of the president watching the service a little in public.

Well, I don't know what's happening in service better in public than in New York.

I don't know.

I think we'll just say he's got to go down.

Yeah.

And I think he does have to go down.

I want to go down immediately, actually speaking.

I don't want any porting around.

I'm going to wait for a call.

I don't want to get any airtime.

I'm going to ask that.

I'm not going to do it pretty bad.

That's technically what I'm going to do.

I'm not hard with it.

It's a lot of fun.

I bet it's a hard work, but I want to tell you, I bet it would be better for me.

And I've given a lot of guidance on it.

Well, there's a lot of good, good, good supplements.

You don't need to know a lot of supplements.

Well, there are a lot of technical points that you must be right on.

Yeah, right.

I'm not going to go into much of that.

I don't want to overstate what he said.

I don't care about other than being the best man.

Yeah, I know you'd rather go over here.

No, no, no, no.

I'll go at 11.

I may not be able to.

The only problem with 10 may be the National Basketball Playoffs.

Oh, I don't know.

Don't fight Saturday night.

I don't want to fight that.

Oh, shit.

Go at 9 in the middle of the movie.

Oh, can I do that?

This is big enough.

I like 9 the best myself.

I think that's a more, frankly, just a better sounding time.

Yeah, it is.

And it's not bad for the West Coast.

It's okay.

It's not as good as Jan Good's.

It's okay.

But anything before 9 is no good for the West Coast.

And they might be safe.

This is an apartment house.

We're going to go at 9 o'clock.

And that's what they're up to.

That's right.

We're going to speed up.

Let's see how it goes.

They've done it before.

Well, how do you do it?

It wouldn't bother me a bit because if you've ever watched a movie on television, it's interrupted the commercials so much that an interruption, it isn't as if you were sitting watching a movie in a theater and they interrupted it.

TV movies are interrupted all the time.

Especially on the hour they go through seven commercials on the 9 o'clock.

They may not have the basketball either.

I don't know.

I don't have a schedule, so I've got to find that out today.

Run good in the numbers for 10 o'clock and let them tell us what the problem is.

I think it is.

Interrupt anything for 10 o'clock.

I'd rather do that.

We get the best Q&A and audience.

Overall, the number of people available, at least the largest one, this time of year.

He did do it to find out.

He called Sonnenfeld to ask you a question.

All right.

Whatever I meant, he was clever to interpret it correctly.

He placed it in front of Sonnenfeld, and they said Mr. Sonnenfeld is a campaign to respect history, which is the line they're using.

Um, Roger's got a long history of never taking son of a boat from the end of the day, but he does anything that's saying son of a boat.

It's about similar.

So we would see if son of a boat got to the end, which he obviously didn't.

He'd be writing a query that he'd read, but he wouldn't.

Son of a boat wouldn't go with it to Paris, because he has nothing to do with it to Paris, yeah.

He only ever made a good attempt.

I knew this would be the liberal who would say, the summit, risk the summit, risk the talk, and they say you've been busy, and he's doing a good job of setting it all aside, and now he's doing it out.

Right here.

Overreaction.

Hot pepper.

I hope that can be knocked down.

Nobody has to do that.

What they're using is a dirt.

You can feel it.

It's so strange, which is bad for us.

We don't care if Mr. Henson risks his own reelection.

We need to care if he resists it.

Everything you do risks you, really, because you're more reliable.

That's the problem with this.

Well, you've got Colson and the rest, it's all jammed up, and they're gonna follow up for the rest of the week on the positive news and breaking the network and just putting the shit on the people.

Let's start attacking the media.

I think we've got to start attacking the media.

I think we should watch carefully how they handle the speech and make another terrible so long as they get after their speech, you know what I mean?

An attack on them should be made

They don't do that.

Or if they don't do that, then that's what I would have to do.

Pack the networks if it's working.

Oh, how's that?

Good, no, we better listen on the instant analysis.

We gotta talk about the news and the commentary.

You'll realize tonight, Joe, we'll have a leak out of that goddamn Vietnam story.

I don't know what the hell I'm talking about.

That was a trick.

Not on the network, but I can't go on.

Because tomorrow night we have this fake machine.

I won't.

See, I can't wait to try something new.

There's a lot for them to untangle here.

Well, first, the summit is on.

That would knock the shit out of the Post.

And when I say the Post, Bob, that's about 75% of our fucking critics.

It really is.

That represents the views of these separate, weak fascists who, now, first, there are sworn political enemies, but also... Don't you agree?

It really kicks down, doesn't it?

Oh, I want some vicious calls made to the Post.

You understand?

I want them now to really follow this through.

Hey, Graham should get somebody at that early in the call and say, OK, I think in all fairness, you ought to have an editorial.

You understand?

Break them.

There's no tricks to break them anyway.

The editor of the Post should be called and try to get some congressman or senator or so forth.

Start playing the tough game.

The danger, for instance, is that the Goldwater

We didn't program it right.

The order's going to make a very tough speech in 70 minutes on the floor.

If, as he's walking onto the floor, someone hands him a wiretaper saying, Kissinger spent the weekend in Moscow.

The order is likely to say, oh, shit, fuck it, throw the speech away and walk off.

Goldrider must be told, incidentally, before his speech that we are continuing the bombing relentlessly of North Vietnam.

The President has flatly rejected North Vietnam's demand that we discontinue the bombing.

The President says they sold us that package in 1968.

We're not going to buy it again.

You got the words?

That's in my speech for tomorrow night.

What do you guys hear?

Tell them if you say that.

I don't think we'll bother talking, provided we're still talking.

Agreed.

I think that's right.

I don't know.

Colson and I are very strongly about that.

At least you get the middle types like the only star and others.

I don't have to talk to you about shit, but nevertheless, you've got to get some people to do what they are willing to do.

You can do that by talking.

I'll do it in a second.

I know, but you're still following the dog, aren't you?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Well, it's already in parallel, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Absolutely.

Delay announcing the speech by the office 24 hours.

I know he's in the country in that period of time.

We'll get some bad news.

Maybe that's a good way to go on, though, right?

If he can make a good case, then it is.

There will be bad news, but I don't care.

So I'll be able to put a little better perspective on that.

I don't know what everyone says.

We're losing some guys.

We're winning others.

And it's always a patient one.

But we believe, and it's always been amazing, we continue our hair support.

We'll avoid any comments from Victor.

I'm back.

That's all he said.

He said it.

Wrong.

I'd be worried about the man I picked.

You know what?

What he said about Islam was that it was assumed that whether the Penelope helped strengthen things, it's currently a domestic position.

Why does he look back to that position?

Because of the war.

Why does he look back to that position?

Because of the war.

I wouldn't vote for a date certain right now.

At the right time, you know, you have to wait and wait and take heat.

You can't get by on a hit.

You just wait.

See what I mean?

And also, events overtake you.

You know, maybe events may still overtake you.

On the other hand, you've got your own chain of events.

We've got some things going on, too.

Mr. Kissinger's second trip and also his trip in May 2nd.

In May 2nd, it's only six days off.

Six days.

And if that farts out, then you go on again and say, we've been there, we've been private, they've turned it down, I ordered the bomb in North Vietnam.

And what if the copper was bent?

Then you put it in front of the base.

I'm too sophisticated to have been in there.

Really?

I'm damn dumber than if you are.

Well, they all judge others by themselves.

We're not all on the same people, frankly.

And a lot of people aren't, y'all, but look at all our accomplishments.

They lead that up.

That's why I call it shifts.

Yeah.

I'm out of channel.

Where are my speeches?

It's the life of the people of the world.

Billy Graham.

Yep.

I have another one.

I'm setting up that.

Yeah, David.

I think he would have been discovered.

Or there was a chance.

No, no, he would have been hit.

The fact that they know he's usually seen would have been a great question.

But for us to sit up there and back down, it was the way it was.

Yeah, except that he didn't have anything he needed to do later.

He was done for us then.

He changed for, I went to the ceremony virtually, a week or a couple of times with the captain.

He posted it to graduation, so he had to appeal to graduation class to do that.

And I might have it in September rather than in the office.

over in the east room, I mean in that big dining room with the little refreshments.

Actually, the plan on that was to do a thing that somebody could do for the best for her event or something.

No matter who you are, that's the priority.

have to kind of prepare a very short paragraph about the matter.

I just might include that in my speech.

What do you think?

I wouldn't.

No, you wouldn't.

All right.

I've got somebody else for it.

This is all about others doing it hard, and I think you ought to speak.

You should recognize this.

And I want to make this speech short, too, so.

And that's going to hit us.

That's today's story.

It's going to be gone by tomorrow night.

My police is going to have handled yesterday a withdrawal of about a thousand.

It's going to have a quiet return to the Paris talks.

Second, we're going to continue with the bombing.

And third, fourth, third, and fourth, crazy military situation.

Now, Henry wants to stop there.

I can't stop there.

I've got to go on and say...

I think you've got to keep talking.

I've got to remind them again how I have sought peace.

I'm going to tell them.

Last night, for example, I did something with the mayor.

I have traveled with the kids.

They all did.

It's failed in its efforts to win over the people of South Vietnam.

General Abrams believes that the enemy will fail in its efforts to conquer South Vietnam, though not militarily.

The enemy's last hope is to win in the Congress of the United States and among the people of the United States for victory.

They cannot win among the people of South Vietnam or in a battle for the South Vietnam.

The great question is how will you do that if you can respond in time?

I understand the fear, frustration, and the implacable opposition that this one difficult order has caused among the loyal Americans.

Their case for doing nothing to stop this new communist invasion of South Vietnam has been qualified to go something like this.

Now, have we done enough?

If the South Vietnamese can't defend their country without our help, let's get out.

What the President should do is to order the evacuation of all American forces and let the Congress take over.

After all, I was not the President of the United States, the son of the one African-American in Vietnam.

I am the great man of Vietnam.

What the critics fail to realize is that what is at stake is not just the future of the 17 million people of South Vietnam, but the future of peace in the world, and the future of the United States as a great nation, which will always use its power to keep the peace in the United States.

But as a matter of fact, we did not start this war.

We went to South Vietnam in order to help the people of South Vietnam defend themselves and support the revolution.

The North Vietnamese could not have launched their deployment later without massive aid from the Soviet Union and the tanks and guns from the modern government.

If one country, with the assistance of a major power, estates another and succeeds in conquering, other countries will be encouraged to do exactly the same thing in the face of Europe and other international major powers.

If the Communists win in Vietnam, the risk of war in other parts of the world would be enormously increased.

We aren't trying to conquer North Vietnam or any other Asian country.

We want no territory.

We seek no basis.

We will offer the most generous peace terms, peace with honor for both sides, with self-denial, minority, and non-hate, respectively, that is intended.

But we will not be the elite.

We will not be the weak.

We will never surrender.

I do not say this as a matter of jihadistic national pride.

But we must face up to it.

Because if a foreign support of communist aggression fails in Vietnam, it will be destroyed elsewhere.

If it succeeds there, it will be encouraged elsewhere.

And the risk of war in other places in the world will be enormous and increased.

That is why I say let us bring our men home to Vietnam.

Let us end the war in Vietnam.

But let us end it in a way that the younger brothers and sons of the brave men who fought in Vietnam will not be fighting in some other Vietnam sometime in the future.

I have been reminded of a friend who craves a life in this election, that I was the winner of the election by ordering my heir and labor forces to resist this progression, that I would greatly increase my chance to win the election if I brought peace to Vietnam, whatever the price.

I completely reject this kind of price.

The cost of winning an election is too high, but the price is that America loses.

No man who sits in this office can act in a way that weakens the presidency of the United States.

The United States is the most powerful nation in the free world.

We have made our mistakes in foreign policy.

But through our eternal credit in this century, we have never fired a war.

We have always used our power to defend peace and freedom, never to destroy it.

If the United States leaves Vietnam, we will be humiliated.

The power we have exerted for peace on so many occasions will be irreparable.

Earlier this year, I traveled with the King on an historic journey with peace.

Next month I shall travel to Moscow on what I hope will also be a journey.

In the 18 countries I have visited as President, I have found great respect for the office of President of the United States.

I have reasoned with the Vice President, Dr. Bush, in his report that I will find that same respect for him if he does not come.

I do not know who will be in his office in the years ahead.

That is a decision that you will know and you will make.

But I know that future Presidents, whoever they are, will travel the nations abroad, on journeys as peace as I have.

If the United States will easily have not humiliated the people,

The President of the United States, whoever he is, will not deserve or receive the respect which is essential for the United States to play the great role we are destined to play in helping to build a new structure of peace for the world in the coming years.

You see, I think that kind of rhetoric would be

Also, bragging a little about being brave and fatty.

It's been said, but let's go ahead and say it.

Don't you agree?

Yeah.

And it's said in a low-key way.

Yeah, that's it.

It's not a trustee way or anything.

It's not trustee.

No.

I just say I recognize and I understand it from this point on.

The cost of winning an election is too high, and the price is that America loses.

No man or citizen has sought to snag on a way that weakens the presidency of the United States.

The United States is the most powerful nation in the free world.

We have made our mistakes in foreign policy.

But through our eternal credit in this century, we have never fired a war.

We have always used our power to defend peace and freedom that we've destroyed.

If the United States leaves, no.

If the United States leaves Vietnam, we will be a power leader serving for peace on so many occasions.

Earlier this year, I traveled to Phuket and destroyed China for peace.

Next month, I shall travel to Moscow on what I hope will also be a journey for peace.

In the 18 countries I have lived as President, I have found great respect for the office of President of the United States.

I have reasoned with the President, based on the business report that I have done, and I have said with that mind that I do not cover the U.S.

I do not cover the U.S. office of President of the United States.

That is a decision that you do know that you will make.

But I know that future Presidents, whoever they are, who will travel the nations abroad, won't share me some peace as I have.

In the United States, we have not humiliated the U.S.

President of the United States, whoever he is, who have not deserved or received respect, which is essential for the United States to play the great role we are destined to play in helping to build a new structure of peace in the world.

Thank you.

You see, I take that kind of rhetoric with me in this speech.

And also,

Bragging a little about being brave is bad either.

It's been said, but let's get on with it.

Don't you agree?

Yeah.

And it's said in a low-key way.

Yeah, that's it.

It's not a trustee way or anything.

It's not a trustee way.

No.

I just say I recognize and I understand it.

That's what I'm doing.

Yeah, that'll drive the bad guys right up the wall and the good guys will cheer.

Right on point.

We need to drive them up the wall.

That's right.

Let them be for the surrender.

They want to surrender, sure.

They want to be evaluated.

People that are on our side can trigger a little, including our columnists.

With these moves, you need the people on the hard side solidified more than you need the tender to the people on the other side.

And we're tender to that by going to Moscow, Christ's sake, by going back to the talk.

I'll ask you this, Desmond.

I hope he does well.

I expect the Sapphire to be so fast.

and also has excellent ideas, but I just feel this is a speech where it's got to be all mine.

Do you agree?

Yeah.

It's a good idea.

Good idea.

Worked well.

Yeah, I think Andrews is for this kind of thing where you have a very clear, and I think that if you have what you want to say, that you can, that he can do the polishing and the state work.

What's he called?

Wal-Mart?

Wal-Mart, yeah.

9 or 12 o'clock, in the Ziegler's office, please.

His home.

The last ring of his office.

They're probably harassing him, shooting him.

Is Ziegler still breathing?

Hello, there.

Ron.

Hello, Oscar.

Hello.

Hello, Ron.

Get through.

Yeah.

Why do you treat him with that kind of disrespect?

What are we talking about?

I don't know.

Oh, is Henry Kenny's store ready?

Oh, yeah.

Why don't you and Henry come over and talk about it?

Why don't you take him out and bring him over?

John said he got one question on credibility.

He said, well,

What does this do to your credibility?

I told you what I'll tell us to answer.

I don't think, I understand, I don't think, I don't think so.

The fact that we covered up the fact that it was just years ago in Moscow.

Maybe a little to some people, but I don't think so.

What you've got to say, where secret negotiations will help the cause of peace, they will be secret, gentlemen.

We'll do what is necessary.

That's the way to handle it.

And we can lie, you know.

That's the thing.

You set it up as a cover, and work, and run.

They ought to respect Ron for being, having been smart enough to have said the thing the way he did.

Because he didn't lie.

He said Kissinger would be heard and part of the camp David over the weekend, and he did.

That's right.

He spent the weekend with my David.

Mm-hm.

One thing, Bob, that we have given our people, though, is a common thing to talk all you want about leadership and so forth.

It's far more important to getting out, you know, the Johnson type of people, the rest.

I'm leading, and I'm demanding, and I'm troubling, and the rest.

Believe me, actions of this type, provided we build them up enough, have to get through some leadership in it.

I don't know how that works.

Do you think so or not?

Oh, yeah.

This thing, it seems to me, this group itself, you just can't do it without its work.

Because he was a master in that way, but he pulled himself in the process of pulling himself in the process.

His style hurt him badly too.

Even the congressman tonight can give him a little of this.

You know, the good guys, it's all off the record, and they'll go on, and they may, but the police, they will occur, and they'll say a little, and that isn't too bad either, and I'll say it again the next time.

What do you think?

You know, it's good, and you get it.

There's no reason at all not to.

And it looks, you know, you look at the curtain a little bit, but then don't tell them that's what you're doing.

Just do it, and they'll realize it tomorrow night.

I'm not going to do it.

Okay, bye.

Well, I don't think he means that much, does he?

It's probably not.

It's not a cabin.

It's in there, you know, over .

Pass the message.

I'm going to add Secretary Thornton to the dinner tonight.

He's daylight.

Well, I'll tell you what's the president going to drop.

He's here.

He could go on the stage.

You don't need to lie to us, you lie to the president, you lie to your girlfriend, but not to us.

Listen, here's what happened about what you called wrong for me.

I, of course, was on the phone.

And Ron said in a very irritated way, yeah.

Oh, I thought it was all of it.

He said, oh, pardon me, Mr. President.

That shows you the respect I get from the one that said it.

I think that's a marvelous little big thing to put out, you know, somebody like Skelly.

It's like a friend of mine who's people, a guy drove up in front of his house and ran over his dog and killed him.

The guy was a kid and came out crying.

He said, this is Darryl.

The guy got out of the car and says, oh, I'm sorry.

I thought it was a cat.

Well, I thought, well, I'm sorry.

We did that one wrongly, you know, so I took that as that.

How did he do it?

Well, he read it very slowly, and it seemed to me as if he took more time reading the announcements than I took reading.

Why did he do that?

Oh, just because I like the cheese.

Between April 20th and 24th, and we go back to April 20th and 24th, not then in the case it shows this, but he spoke very slowly.

And then he visited Moscow.

And then I said, what's in?

What's in Moscow?

What's in?

And then he said, Moscow.

And then he said to talk to the general secretary of the CBSU.

Let me explain what that means.

And he really strung it out.

And this was not him.

No, no, this was him.

Oh, yes.

And having my briefing right after, what did they, you looked over those stories, how did they react?

Well, they were silent.

Oh, they were silent.

So I decided, rather than wait for their questions,

I better make the point myself.

What did you say?

I said I want you to know, gentlemen, first of all, that you need to be on the bottom.

As you know, the president has been caught in direct contact with the general secretary of the president.

You don't call him chairman?

No, chairman is my own secretary.

All right.

General secretary, not the long version.

With the general secretary of the president for the last two years.

exchanging views on important international questions and other matters.

In the course of these exchanges, it was very difficult to get in with other communications.

But we could have been, after a full discussion with Secretary of the United Nations, it was decided

Great, great.

That I should go.

I want you to know that I was received with extraordinary courtesy.

The meetings were very, very good.

Very good.

No question, how long did you leave?

Where did you go?

They were so eager to fly, then they said, well, so we did not discuss that.

It would not go to the South Seas, but you can read it out in which sense that we will pass the vote in the national question.

We must decide who in California is going to vote in the national question.

Great.

to that, then they said, how was this meeting decided?

I said, really, it would be good if my departure became apparent through the exchanges between the President and the Chancellor, Secretary, President, that it was useful to have a direct communication.

There was then a long meeting, which was between the President, Secretary, and myself, which was decided.

that I should go and- That's great.

So what I should go- The Senator will run.

But I should go mention twice.

Very much.

It's much flies in the transcript that they ask about the TPCF.

It's not more to that speculation.

And reassurance in the discussions before in this period that we announced that we announced that the best medical .

Also, could I suggest a line that you could use if they ever bring this back to us?

Just say, gentlemen.

The president believes that peace is so important that we must use every possible channel, secret and public, in order to move toward that goal.

And where the interests of peace will be better served by a secret mission, the president will order a secret mission.

What's your next one?

Then they said it was convenient, satisfactory.

Did you watch Elizabeth, for example?

Did you watch Elizabeth?

Actually, they were so stunned.

It was one of these cases.

Was it like China?

Well, no, you weren't there when we did that.

Well, it was, they were, no, in China they all clapped as shitasses.

They didn't clap?

No.

I don't think they can, because with China, it was related to the Senate.

Could you do me one favor?

I want you, among your many other calls today, I want you to call Kay Graham.

I thought your editorial was, you wanted me to tell the truth.

I thought, and the President thought, that your editorial was smart, Mr. President.

No, I don't agree with that.

All right, you say it.

She said, you included the editorial as fascinating because they walked right into this from the moment they saw it.

The President had flown the Moscow summit.

He had cornered, the President had cornered the leadership of Moscow.

Yeah, so I don't know.

And that's all of a sudden.

This is a dangerous thing.

Now, say, this U.S. trip, I think, with the Post, for just this once, really, off to write an editorial in which they said we were wrong.

And you would say that I can just tell you for your own private information, that I couldn't have been received or...

Would you mind talking to her?

No, no, no.

Ream her card.

I don't mind .

Well, boy, I can't stand her.

No, no, she said it's better.

You'd have to put a sack over her and ream her.

I'm the president, but I have not yet been able to do that extravagantly.

But it's good.

Got her other husband, another two-sided husband.

Does he have a second wife?

No, I know her.

She's an awkward woman.

Sloppy.

No, I didn't.

I didn't mean to be vicious about it.

No, no.

She's a mean lady.

But I want you to do this to her.

Why didn't you tell us?

Ha, ha, ha.

But you see, the reason this is good, for example, I'm bringing that up, I told Bob, that editorial post represents the whole eastern establishment line.

It's the Post, it's the Times, it's Time, it's these people, it's the networks and all the rest.

And you see, they didn't ask me any questions.

Where did you meet the...

I don't know, a little up and down.

Well, they'll ask you.

Should I say that?

Yeah.

I don't know.

Should I say it?

I don't know.

I think that's helpful.

I mean, you can, you're practicing all the colors.

Actually, you know, in terms of the federation, they were going to put five on five into a federal government center.

The federal government decided that that would be good enough, so they did it.

Moscow will not deny that Vietnam is a successful nation.

Oh, I can't deny it.

It was too good for the discussion.

I know.

You know, this fellow that was supposed to read for, I know it's Sunday morning, was held till yesterday after the meeting to explain why Breslin was under attack.

And he left exactly two hours after the last meeting.

You, after that, you just... Well, they...

could not leave fast enough.

Really?

I mean, I've been at three things.

Usually at three things they try to keep me up there as long as possible.

Well, a couple of guys started to say they cried.

How about the notifications?

Can you call Tom?

You must have told him a little bit of it.

No, I saw him on the phone and I said, John, what's going on here?

I didn't want him to think that I... What did he say?

He just said...

He liked his thing.

Oh, you know, he said, I'll pass the stroke again.

He wanted to come right over and talk to me, but I couldn't because there were three things I was seeing.

But it's important.

But he was ecstatic.

Was he really?

Oh.

That's pretty good, though.

He's a hell of a hawk.

Yeah, but he saw the invitation.

Does he?

Oh, he's smarter than the other hawks.

We've been in this business for four years.

You've been saying you want to get their attention to the act.

You've got them in the act.

I don't know whether they can deliver it.

We can deliver something.

But if they don't...

If we get...

On May 3rd.

I want that strike ready right now.

I've talked to Zumwalt.

Are they ready?

Zumwalt, Willing, or Clarkson?

We've got a match up there.

Are they eager?

Yeah.

Okay.

We should move on.

I have asked Al to check one thing.

That's a check I don't want to bother you with.

You know, I've got a lot of important news out there.

So I said, let's take a look at the locker range.

And they say those, they would be quite helpful in all this.

They won't be able to do it.

Well, they can get in there, but they can knock the hell out of more stuff than the destroyers.

Oh, yeah.

They can demolish the shoreline.

Well, that's good.

That they can do.

But I've had that looked into the day glass.

They can reach the docks, but they have to force their way into the island first.

Is Zumwalt working on this?

Yeah.

Could it also be done with the number of destroyers we have out there?

Arrested, you know.

My worry is the two things, to just blast the beauty of your operation since the offensive started.

We hadn't blasted one thing ever.

We moved the ship for a plane's truck.

Incidentally, it's a damn piece of shit you lost.

I'm not even lying.

Yeah, but we've done so many other things.

Well, the mines they know will be not the same time.

But, you know, the people who've missed one target and hit a better one.

Oh, yeah.

The only goddamn targets they've been dealing with are the ones they've missed.

Well, there's several power plants, two absolute smithereens I've ever seen in San Juan that covers that whole area.

You know, you were talking about it.

And I said sarcastically, were they aiming for it?

I really was kidding.

And they showed me the picture of what they were aiming for, which was completely undamaged, which was a warehouse.

But with what they missed, they knocked out all the docks the town was, and the power plant.

If we could have planted explosives in that town and blown it up, we couldn't have done better than what they did by accident.

Well, like I told you, they have the discretion to know what I was talking about.

And why is it that you're an admins and not actually to the Congress?

Do you hear about that?

Well, that's a mistake.

That shows how that's true.

If they don't win, if they don't win, it's a big, big trouble.

We estimate that they've lost about 20,000 pounds.

That's about 20% of their force.

That's like we losing 200,000 pounds.

Yeah, but they've been doing it for the years.

How many did you kill in March when you came down to pick me?

No, I was in Laos and things.

We killed about 10 to 15 because they've already lost more than most of us have lost.

And in my view, in military region three, they're going to run out of speed in another two weeks.

They haven't got reinforcements on any side so that they can annoy us.

But, for example, they had two battalions in court.

They had two battalions about in track, and the relief force got through.

The one area where they still have uncommitted division is near where they can kick that one off anytime.

They can't do it.

That's where they face the best algorithms.

Oh, that's what I meant.

We have something there.

I mean, they can attack.

They can kick off and attack.

I don't give it up.

No, no, not kick off.

I'm thinking of areas where they have unpermitted forces.

Now, if that damn 22nd Division really fights on this new defense line, then we're going to chew up another one of their divisions that starts attacking.

When you talk for three hours of it and shoot up, you've got to take a day to shoot up after you know.

As I told you yesterday, it's going to be a close race.

If Saigon doesn't collapse, I know it will.

There's literally no other way this thing can go.

If one of them is going to get knocked down, will the attack on the dark?

Oh, it's going to collapse.

The attack on the North is very psychological, but it's positive psychological.

Also, it's positive makes it harder for them to crank up the loot that they have.

It won't stop this one.

You see, the attack on the North that we have in mind is going to do it with power plants.

Power plants.

uh, whatever it was, the P.O.L., the docks.

Well, they're still about 50% of the P.O.L.

Fine.

And I still think we ought to take the ice off now.

I think... To let brown people, let brown people... No, about 200,000 people.

Well, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

I just want you to think big, Henry, for Christ's sake.

I think we're going to make it.

I think no one ever would think you had said three weeks ago.

that the General Secretary of the Communist Party would listen to the Congress and then send his trusted and most trusted advisors on the way there.

And then also Henry read to him on hires and had to send messages.

Henry didn't know the game he was playing, but Al and I sort of flew together.

So Henry reads them to these sons of bitches.

Isn't that what you did?

Yeah, yesterday at the meeting I said,

He said, how can he say this?

How can he say this?

You know, he's a very explosive guy.

To be effective, you'll beat me if I knew about it.

Yeah, no, no, I don't buy that fact.

I agree that it's important, but I'm not going to let him get away with that.

Of course, not bad.

But he was really outraged at the... Of course, I wish you had read the best line in there, which is from the experience of the law.

Oh, I didn't.

I said that anyone who gets a murder weapon...

I said anyone, anyone who gets a murder weapon...

someone he knows is going to kill with it, is equally responsible for it.

No, I didn't.

Did you?

Oh, yeah.

What he said.

We had, I said we had, we had what must be the most acrimonious session.

It wasn't acrimonious.

Yeah, it's all right.

It wasn't acrimonious, but he was really, the real problem is he didn't quote it.

Huh.

I think he got there by stupidity.

I don't think he got there.

I don't think that he thought they would start such a huge offensive before the time.

Because he thought they would start a sort of typical offensive.

That if they won, it would be embarrassing.

If they lost, it would make a no more defense for them.

But he didn't think, he said, I didn't think, realize until 10 days ago how deadly serious this was.

I mean, he has really a fantastic problem at home because Trump is falling on his face.

Now the summit is falling on his face, or at least it's in danger.

Yeah, you know, we always think here that losing the summit is the worst thing that could happen to us.

It isn't.

Losing the summit might be the worst thing that could happen to him.

Well, do you see my point?

His whole policy has to be based on it.

Here, we are using the summit against him to blackmail him.

And he has had one hell of a time.

You know, he told me at a Politburo meeting before, and he said, can you give me something I can tell them?

I said, no.

I was very...

If I made a mistake, it would be too bad, because the thing we have to keep ahead of them is the prospect of solutions.

Well, your Gorontsov meeting where you say the President was so delighted with the meeting and he appreciates the courtesies that have been extended to you.

How about my sending a message to him, I appreciate the courtesies you extended, but I've got a question for him.

I look forward to meeting him personally, and I believe that

I think that's a cooperation that I'm most grateful for the courtesy to be extended to you and also to those who are advancing our curriculum.

Mr. Mixon and I are looking forward to our meeting.

Put a little of that in.

But a personal message for me, I appreciate the courtesy to be extended.

He's given me a full report.

I regret that we have this one issue and only one that really divides us.

We don't have to.

Do you want a television?

How will you have a television?

I said, I don't know.

Except France, he said, they can't, they've got more than a hundred, so they get paid to the, to the, to the call.

France has only a hundred people.

But I didn't discuss it with them.

Yeah, we have to remember that we're dealing with a great country.

The 100's all right with me.

I just picked them out as if they were good.

I don't want that out of you.

I'm just guessing.

I'll give the press, but I will not give another name.

The 100's good.

Well, that's reported.

I didn't go into it.

Don't handle it as a spy.

Just kick the shit asses in the...

I told you the ones I didn't want to have go if it's necessary, they ain't going.

But everybody that went to the kitchen chapter and watched it, like all eaters, he wrote a book.

He said there was a woman who did a series of arguments with the government.

And he's going to go home.

Yes, sir.

Go home.

And I was thinking of you.

Oh, yes.

The editor.

Also, we've got to take that fellow from the money dealer if he wants to go.

Right.

He's not much.

He had all those other people.

Well, I didn't discuss it with Peter.

But getting back to the point, I just want to see it.

Sure, then.

I'll have a little fun with it.

You'll have a little fun with it.

The whole briefing lasted 10 minutes or so.

Well, I know how, but we should have fun.

Oh, yes.

Oh, yes, very well.

You know, they didn't ask any of the questions.

They didn't know what to do.

Well, I think it was about this afternoon, but right now we're just talking about this afternoon.

You go forward on the announcement of my speech, which we'll get that one, that one going on.

And that we made the decision, I can throw off again, and Rob, that we made the final decision on Monday, after Dr. Durant reported the prayer.

That might be one thing I neglected to do with John, which is that, you know,

if you put out a list of people who've been along because they'll find out that it might be .

All right.

I'll see you later.

One thing I did this morning .

You didn't tell them that you were in Moscow?

Oh, of course not.

I wish he would.

That's a little crass.

What did he tell you?

What did Rush do?

I mean, his judgment's pretty good on what he's saying.

It's just going down like this.

And Connell did too, didn't he?

Oh, not over his head.

Oh, Connell did.

Connell, he will be standing.

He said it was a massive stroke again.

Of course, he likes to keep one jump ahead of the other.

He did not express concern about the fact that

that here we are, meeting with these bloodbastards of a time that I don't think you'll get to meet with.

Well, we did not have a speech as well, because I thought we were going to say we were going to get a bombing.

In your briefing tonight, this afternoon, it's extraordinarily important that you make the point, gentlemen, that the President has flatly rejected the proposition that the United States will go back to talking

will stop bombing in order to go back to the target.

We bought that package.

They sold us that package in 68, and we're not going to buy it again now.

The bombing goes forward.

That will save the hawks, if you just say that much.

But I think the hawks will understand.

I had no impression from Conley at all.

But one thing that you might find attractive, President, I asked the group this morning, what did we do?

if they propose a ceasefire, that is, if they propose a shutdown of everyone, the military... On the ground.

On the ground, that they... Why not?

Why not?

The argument is, Mr. President, that it is... And then screw it, and then break it.

No, no, but the argument is that if there's a ceasefire without they having taken a single provincial capital, it would be a shattering of people.

Well, how about you?

How about you?

So they've got a third, a half, and three provinces.

But they haven't fired men.

We've got 3,000 troops in this.

Oh, now.

When there is regular formation, there is least trouble for us.

What people do is, of these sorts of things, we can't try to pay budget, you know, everything else.

But I was fascinated that Zumwalt... Why was Zumwalt there?

Because Mora was representing the Czech Republic.

Well, Zumwalt, he's an intelligent man.

Helms, Rush... Why was Helms there?

Our study had always shown after we lost it, it's expired in place.

Have you talked to Holmes about it now, sir?

Yes.

Does he know?

But he knew, he said, he knew something was up.

What does he think about it?

He thinks there's a 60-40 chance that we'll break it.

No, but what did he think of the idea that we went?

He thought it was tremendous.

Did he read it?

Oh, he didn't worry.

Not at all.

Why did he thought it was tremendous?

Because we've got the Soviets engaged now because of the lack of solidarity.

It's unbelievable.

The mere fact that they transmitted our message, Mr. President, you have to imagine the Russians were bombing Iran and demanding that Iran knock off something of vital importance to it, and we then not receive a Russian MSME.

And on top of it, transmit the demand that they do this.

This is an unfriendly act.

I mean, we are bombing one of their allies, and they are transmitting an ultimatum for us with a deadline of May 2nd.

What they always said to LBJ, they said two things.

One, they could be on some of the meeting while the bombing was going on.

Two, that they could not transmit messages while the bombing was going on.

And I'm sure they would never have transmitted.

Do you remember what they did with us?

They never transmitted our messages.

Three years ago when we were whining and doubting them and sucking it out.

Yeah.

It's definitely one technical point.

I've got to go to Florida tomorrow and I'm going two times to go.

Yeah, at least for a day.

I think it would be a very bad public image if I'm down there at this time without your book.

And then you can come back.

That will set the whole stage forth.

The second thing I would recommend to some visitors from the West, invite them there.

Well, can you spend the day?

You go down Wednesday night with Liz.

Please.

No, I'm not serious with you.

Does it present an insoluble problem to you?

I don't think one day in the summer we can... Oh, don't present any problems because I can't get back.

You can get back any time you want.

It's just that I don't... Well, I'll be back Friday.

Right.

Yeah.

If you have all day and we can have dinner together Thursday night, Friday night, we'll let that out, too, if we're...

If we're talking to somebody about that, then... Oh, I see.

He gave him a silver chopstick.

He's a nice man.

He practically got down about April.

His girlfriend thought that Henry wouldn't go away.

No, I don't know.

You can see the point there, don't you?

By the war, by the things going on, by the destruction of everything that's going on, it wouldn't have been like the president's down there sitting on his ass, and I've got to have you there for a day.

Go Monday.

Go Wednesday night late.

See, we go down right after the broadcast, and we get down there and spend the day Thursday, and you come back Friday morning.

You come down and stay over Thursday night.

That would be good, right?

Or you can come back late on Friday, Thursday night if you want to.

But I'll do one or the other.

I'll let you know if it's possible that I can stay through the better part of Friday.

Good.

That'll be good.

And I don't think the weekend matters to you, Bob.

You know, you couldn't go, but you could die.

I know.

I think people would not appreciate the fact that I was on a high on the bottom at this point.

And you're bringing it.

And you went into a man who said, there's no question about that.

There's nobody questioning that.

There's really changed enormously in the last six months.

It isn't just that you are, that you've got the patriots.

I think we've now convinced people that you are pan-patriotic.

This is what they think they're doing.

That you can't have everything, and that these guys challenge you.

It's not against the land, it's the way it is.

And now it's Moscow that's going to have to get out of here.

And therefore, if next week we have to go very far, then I agree with you, we have to go very far.

We don't want to give it to them for only two days.

We give them three days, they'll just hit a lot of stuff that they don't need it.

We need something that we can say to the residents of the building by the time we tell them what's going on.

All right.

And also the Chinese.

And actually, if we can keep this thing going through the summit without good ethnic laws, there's a...

If we can have the summit and you have resolved the agreement, plus these principles, plus all the other garbage you're going to get there, and you then come back and level...

You'll have to, if it's that necessary.

But we cannot do it in Vietnam.

Absolutely.

Okay, we've got to be prepared.

All right, great.

And again, be sure to call Kay Graham.

And also, Greg, I don't think he needs to call.

What are you mindful of?

The President is showing great courage, insisting on this, and he's stuck it down the Soviet's face.

Good luck, everyone.

and they know that the bombing is going forward, that's the point that the goal line is going to be to risk each.

Considering that Gallup's bent on arresting, to come out with a majority, even if we're up that much, the United States is still approving Vietnam and the rest of the ship.

That'd be changed, but I think it's a hell of a damn thing.

Well, yeah, because they don't ask the question.

Well, they don't write that answer because they don't know the answer.

If you want to take a second, you probably know this.

Carpenters, which are a very big singing group.

I think it's just two or three of them.

They're the hottest of the popular celebrities that we've got for us.

You don't need to do it.

I'm a little afraid of the present time.

They aren't.

But I think it's better not to.

I guess, sir, I think it's a little too.

But anyway, would you tell Ken that the president wants them to visit his office, open the office to him and give him the papers and so forth and so on.

I think that's as much as we can do on the roadside.

And the other thing, we can call over and see whether the pressure is there or not going to be seen.

We won't be able to see the carpenters, but you might see a Patricia or Julie or Mrs. Henson could see them.

And also be sure that the Oval Office is open for them.

They're taking care of the tablecloth and the seatbelt and the rose garden and all that.

They have to go to the White House and get downstairs.

But if we get one of the family to freedom, that would be great.

Their family is awfully good at this too, you know.

They're very warm.

Just like each of these things.

And the point is, as Henry was saying, it's true here as well as there.

You have a bug.

Boy, a lot of the things you've done are things that one might have thought at the time was a bluff.