Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 338-025
Date: Tuesday, May 9, 1972 at 12:09 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Rockefeller, Nelson A.
Recording device: Old Executive Office Building
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/338-025

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[53:10] I guess I wanted to make a little apology.
[53:12] You know, when I talked to you Sunday, I didn't know about that goddamn letter, and I have raged hell around here.
[53:19] Well, you see, what happened is that we had a forum, and apparently the letters and all that sort of thing were presented, but not certainly for the purpose of publication.
[53:32] And I just raged hell, and I may have told God.
[53:36] It'll never happen, it'll never happen, and I'm just sorry to embarrass you, but I, frankly, maybe it'll help me a little bit, but as you know, I just don't want to, I didn't want to put me in a position of being against you on something.
[53:49] It'd just burn my ass, believe me.
[53:58] Well,
[54:04] Sure, sure.
[54:04] Well, it was one of those things.
[54:06] I was writing my speech at that time, and I just didn't have any idea what was going on.
[54:13] Well, I tell you, you've been a great support of some of this, and we've done the right thing.
[54:19] What did you put a statement out?
[54:22] Oh, good.
[54:22] I'm going to get them at noon, so I'll be treating them all, so...
[54:30] I think we can...
[54:58] But if they cancel the summit, we're going to say, well, don't you think we just say, well, because I think you would agree I couldn't possibly go to Moscow with Russian pants rumbling around through the streets of the UAE.
[55:09] Yeah, that's right.
[55:11] We don't take too much heat from what they call the witnessing liberals in there.
[55:32] Well, I appreciate your, but I must say I was so embarrassed when I came in.
[55:34] See, I didn't know, but as a matter of fact, I got in the next morning and I picked up, I had to see the paper.
[55:40] I picked up the paper and I thought, what in the name of God is this?
[55:51] And I didn't really know what to see.
[55:52] And when you talked to me about it, I didn't know what it was about.
[55:56] Unbelievable.
[56:00] You see, but I, over the weekend, of course, I was writing a speech.
[56:05] I did it myself.
[56:07] It's going to take so much energy.
[56:11] But anyway, you can be sure, if you would just be sure that all of our viewers and my friends know that this was just a damn coup.
[56:26] We're looking.
[56:27] We're looking around.
[56:28] I'm trying to find the culprit.
[56:30] Okay, thank you.
[58:02] Sit with me, please.
[58:04] Sit with me.