Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 356-001
Date: Monday, September 18, 1972 at 5:35 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); White, Theodore H.; Brock, William; Atkins, Oliver F. ("Ollie"); Kenneth C. Rietz; White House photographer; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")
Recording device: Old Executive Office Building
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/356-001

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:08] These are .
[0:25] Oh, you've seen much of this.
[0:31] All right.
[0:38] And India, Cambodia.
[0:52] There's a Greek tourist in the 13th century.
[0:57] And this is where I grew up.
[1:02] And that was Eisenhower, yes.
[1:04] I can't believe you know, because I don't know if I'm going to get back to you.
[1:10] We'll see you.
[1:16] We'll see you at 5 o'clock.
[1:27] Well, I'm sure you're going to be glad.
[1:32] I am.
[1:32] Sit down.
[1:32] I'm here.
[1:34] Paul, I'm in here.
[1:39] Mr. Haldeman.
[1:41] Yes, sir.
[1:43] Let me get this table over here.
[1:49] Underlay a plot.
[1:49] Yes, sir.
[1:50] All right.
[1:52] Before we... All right.
[1:54] You've got your watch.
[1:56] Yeah.
[1:57] That's not going to save anything.
[2:03] Which is that I want?
[2:05] It's not.
[2:06] But a wonderful guy.
[2:08] Thank you.
[2:11] What I would do is I would
[2:37] It's a nice thing to wear sometimes for eating.
[2:45] You can see it's gold and you can wear it for, you know, a tuxedo or something.
[2:52] Bring them with a coffee or tea or iced tea or iced coffee or a Coca-Cola or a Pepsi.
[2:57] I love them.
[3:06] I guess I have a, I just have a hot tea just in case.
[3:24] Any problem?
[3:25] Any problem with the party?
[3:27] No problem.
[3:46] Bill Brock, he's such an honest guy.
[3:56] Rather, to me, rather enlightening than he would have said it.
[4:10] I know that he's a great man.
[4:11] He's a brother of mine.
[4:12] He's a great man.
[4:12] He's a great man.
[4:13] He's a great man.
[4:13] He's a great man.
[4:14] He's a great man.
[4:14] He's a great man.
[4:15] He's a great man.
[4:18] I think the China thing was the one thing that seemed proper at all.
[4:29] No question.
[4:32] Which is going to show you why it's so important for us to keep this happening up and around the center.
[4:40] That's right.
[4:40] It was.
[4:41] It wasn't apparent in the polls.
[4:42] No, but it happened in people's minds.
[4:43] It wasn't a front-level thing.
[4:45] It happened that we sensed them coming back, and then came AA, and then came Russia, and whap, it just started.
[4:53] It's very different this year than before.
[4:56] You know, you want to pick on them.
[5:00] And they've been characterized as, they've tried, they've been very successful in trying to make people think that they've seen you, you know.
[5:07] In fact, that's what they've done in television.
[5:12] That was it.
[5:13] Well, it sure was.
[5:22] There's nothing powdery about it.
[5:29] Well, but you know you've got some hope.
[5:31] You've got some people like that who are kind of sure that this guy in some ways reaches this.
[5:43] Because they all are.
[5:44] They're all treated with violence and reaches too.
[5:46] But that's all right.
[5:46] So you can't become an advocate of racism.
[5:50] You'll have all hell broke loose.
[6:04] If we can get some guns like that, maybe we can.
[6:09] That's what we've got to do, though.
[6:15] We've got to get somebody to say you're responsible.
[6:18] Buy your plan, not get it done.
[6:21] And then expect results.
[6:23] The mistake we made is we said last time we had to do it in the White House, and we can't do it.
[6:28] People won't take it from the White House.
[6:30] You know, I think one of the...
[6:41] I'd like to have a little bit of a
[7:09] Our week is going, but what we're pushing is this drug stuff and permissiveness.
[7:22] So let's see if we can tie something to that.
[7:25] Does that mean that we can bring some drugs?
[7:28] We'll have some come up on Wednesday.
[7:31] I think you've got to spend a little time with them.
[7:36] They can come up.
[7:37] Let them come up and have a swim.
[7:42] or you don't think it's pretty sure before we know it
[8:12] And I just don't want this to slide into that.
[8:15] When I wrote, he was asking for guidance on that.
[8:16] He is, one of the things that worries me is that everybody's saying, you know, we've got the campaign, and November 7th, and then we'll take a vacation and stuff.
[8:26] I can see that this period has been less critical by the way than the period afterwards now.
[8:36] Well, yeah.
[8:38] For a few people, at least, I think you're going to have to really get some...
[8:52] But I think we ought to start thinking about post-election.
[9:02] Exactly.
[9:03] You know, what do we do on the next morning?
[9:07] Maybe that's the time you do.
[9:08] Maybe you have a dramatic announcement.
[9:10] Maybe you call a cabinet meeting.
[9:12] They all resign.
[9:13] You thank them all very much.
[9:15] You give them all cold watches.
[9:18] And that sets the tone.
[9:19] Then everybody else resigns.
[9:25] come out of the, how do you reappoint them?
[9:33] If you want to.
[9:33] You move into different jobs in most cases, which I think you ought to do anyway.
[9:39] I don't think very many ought to stay where they are.
[9:41] I agree.
[9:41] Even in the second level types, where we've got really good people.
[9:46] Well, I mean, the big one is, I don't know about you, but there's going to be exceptions.
[9:52] I don't know.
[9:52] That's what you're on, because it requires some talent.
[9:57] I don't know whether, but I'm not sure.
[10:02] Maybe Schultz, you look at this, I think you want to view the state as an era that you don't want to hold in cap.
[10:11] You want, you've got to stay, whatever, you've got to take the heart of the people that you don't want, get them the hell out.
[10:20] a guy like John Boeke is a nice guy and all that.
[10:28] You've got to get, I think you've got to get in on it.
[10:41] Boeke's got to go.
[10:43] Rodney's got to go.
[10:44] And of course, Laird has to go.
[10:45] Rogers has to go.
[10:46] I think the money is going to go.
[10:47] Don't you?
[10:47] I think so.
[10:47] I think he wants to.
[10:47] I don't think he's got any problem with that.
[10:48] No, Mark?
[10:50] I think they both ought to know.
[11:06] Don't you?
[11:06] Certainly, I think Peterson showed up.
[11:07] I didn't have anything to do with it.
[11:08] I'm sorry.
[11:08] I don't know.
[11:08] I don't know.
[11:14] Everybody you bring in, they've got to be voting back to the opposite of what everybody was voting for before.
[11:22] They're not going to have the free hand to run their own department.
[11:25] Hire everybody they want.
[11:26] They are your agents.
[11:29] They're going to be working with you, with your staff.
[11:33] Out of the places that you run, they're going to be staffed with people.
[11:37] We've got some good people in mind.
[11:39] We've been around here for four years and we know the problems now.
[11:42] We've got to
[11:44] We've got to follow that Harlow theory of getting our guy in those five key spots in every department, every agency.
[11:54] That's where we can use some of Reese's guns.
[11:58] Take some of these 40-year-old, 35-year-old lawyers.
[12:03] We've got our public information type guys and all that.
[12:09] Put them in and make them a people who are playing our game.
[12:18] Your job is to build your department.
[12:28] Your job is to control your department.
[12:32] The main thrust of our program is that if you cut back about 80% of what your department is, if you cut back 40%, if you cut back 30%, it's a different kind of charge, whether you can or you can't.
[12:48] go right out and check on it.
[13:01] There must be ways to do it.
[13:07] There just must be ways to do it.
[13:10] What you do is you change the objectives.
[13:11] I know.
[13:11] That's the thing we've got to get.
[13:12] We've got to get early, really, equipment on this.
[13:13] You also want to remember, Mr. Torrenhall's memory is not as small as that.
[13:15] I mean, he doesn't take his turn to do this.
[13:18] I should have won.
[13:22] I really should have won.
[13:37] Yes.
[13:46] No, I shouldn't have three.
[14:15] It also seems to feel that they are not going to work on this one issue.
[14:37] I think they are, and I've worked on it.
[14:38] I've worked on it.
[14:41] I've worked on it.
[14:41] I've worked on it.
[14:41] I've worked on it.
[14:42] I've worked on it.
[14:50] Okay.
[14:56] Okay.
[15:21] Thank you.