Nixon, Haldeman & Woods on Dictation equipment and 1973 Inauguration

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Pull it for a while.

It takes a while to get back.

Yeah, but I'm starting there.

Now rewind.

Oh wait, you're getting up, sir.

Yeah, that's right.

No, wait.

This way.

I'm going to stop for a second.

I'm going to stop right here.

I can stop.

I can stop, right?

Yeah.

But now if you want to record, you've got to move this back over.

Push the red button.

I can't do it.

I'm just moving this back over.

That's the point.

I want to know how I can use this to go back and forth.

I never go back over it every time.

The only time I ever use the different thing in the gig to listen to it is at the beginning of the gig to be sure the damn thing is on.

That's the only time.

If you want to do that, you've got to go through the process.

All right.

So the process to do that is this.

That's the first way to do that, is that right?

There is a much simpler one.

The better one is simpler, but it's not as affordable as that.

I don't want a portable one.

Don't buy too many of these.

I'll just tell you what's the better one.

The bigger one.

What I'm getting at is that I can't figure out here.

All right, this is on start.

And I can't hear anything.

It wasn't on, so you're playing now.

Turn it off.

Now rewind.

If it's on, is it on start or is it on start?

The other thing is you have to hold this one down all the time.

No, no, you don't need to do this on the side.

I would never pull around and listen.

And then you can't listen.

The one on the side, I know that I record it.

I only want to listen once at the beginning of the hour.

Then from that time on I can do this.

That's why it is complicated.

I think it's, you know, you have that you have that on thing on for quite a while.

It's just.

You're erasing and recording.

But for this, not now, you don't get to take it.

The Red Nose Pest will be down in a little bit.

They're coming.

We're opening the tape.

We're talking about it.

So there's all that to do.

That's true.

They've got some of the other ones.

I would change the other one.

The other one, the same concept you were talking about, the advantage of the other one is it's got all the controls right on the front.

You just push them down and they stay down.

They have no fiddling around with us.

Much easier.

You don't have to worry about this side over so far.

We were running for quite a while.

We were running.

We weren't using it.

Well...

This is Carlson.

Yeah, this is battery powered.

Take it anywhere you want.

This is battery powered.

Yeah.

You know, it all depends on the electricity as well.

Well, I think what we got there is the cheap affordable one and the other.

And if it is, it is affordable.

You've got to carry affordable.

Like I did with the other.

I don't think you can carry something in three.

I carry it because I can throw it in my briefcase.

You don't have to worry about that.

This does not seem to have a little bit of that.

If that shows where it goes, it's not.

You don't need to go back to the beginning but I do

I don't know if I want to dictate an hour.

Sure, but when you put it in, you're going to know that.

That's the advantage of the other machine, though.

It rewinds.

When you push rewind, it keeps pointing up or down.

I like it when they've got one.

They'll know what one you've had.

You just push them.

Push it hard.

Down, straight down.

The only way you can get back to the beginning is to roll it all the way back.

I'd have to hold it over so it's going back to the other one.

I'd have to hold it for 30 minutes.

No, it's going to launch faster than that.

to the right.

Is that a good idea?

Yeah, that's okay, buddy.

And then it won't center over that idea, but the other side.

Let it go forward to the right.

You're in the middle now, so it's going to be a good idea.

And it gets to the right.

It should get to the stage.

Now this should probably work.

I just want to learn a lot, but it doesn't.

I generally prefer to pick one up and carry it.

I prefer that to have another one.

I hear the two they had here.

I think that's the one I like the most.

But if the others get here before we leave, we'll let you see.

Yeah.

See if you want.

I don't want to go hell of a lot of them.

No, no.

We'll come back.

I don't swear to them about twice a year.

They know you only want two.

I do not want them around all of my offices.

No?

No, for the reason that for my memorandum of file, I use, generally use, I try to use these, just a parcel of them, because I can go out and use them.

I wish that they'd take another one.

All right, what about assuming, um, in your Lincoln City, you might want one there.

If you don't want one there, you just...

Well, I would say that one, a permanent one there.

I don't need a portal.

I wouldn't change.

I've taken the lead for my private memorandum, which I will not write in the Oval Office.

Forget that.

Just leave that off machine as it is.

I'm not offering it.

I'm not going to write it here.

If you want to do it in the Oval Office, I'll know a good thing around it.

In about 30 seconds, you can get one for me.

Yeah, well, it's just right off the table.

I just don't know.

perfectly adequate for the purpose of dictating a little memoranda and so forth.

But I'd rather use this kind of machine for the other dictation.

And I don't know how the hell I'm going to get it.

I don't want to push somebody every time I want to dictate something.

But you can keep, we can keep, there certainly should be a portable line.

There can be a, there'll be a, yeah.

And it's a different machine.

I'll just have it in the drawer and pull it out and bleed these other machines.

And you probably don't want that one at all.

Well, I don't think you will.

The other one is much better.

It's easier for you to use.

It's also a better machine.

This is the portable version.

The other is the desktop version.

And this is for a guy who is in the traveling sales and keeps it on the seat of his car and picks it up and talks into it.

Reporters use these.

I would never...

But you are.

And I would not change these.

I wouldn't take all these.

We don't want to buy them.

We don't need them.

They'll get whatever you want.

Now, as I understand...

I'm not dictating it.

And now I'm going to touch it.

What I do is put this on my machine.

And I'm going to touch it.

Now how does that go?

But it will erase the moment I hit it, that's right.

But you'll start with two takes.

Now, if I want to rewind again.

There it is.

But now if you're running around to the beginning.

Yes, if you're on the other side.

Turn it over.

But if you go ahead and play past that beep-beep thing just a little bit, you'll get to what you just said.

Oh, yeah.

Now, however, if I want to dictate, I've got to first start with this and push the red one down.

Perfect.

Now, it's on for dictation.

And now, however, if I want to do what I often normally do, start and stop and start and stop without listening.

Pretty easy.

And then let's put it in right here.

Well, I'm not a listener.

Also, the value of making the white text is you don't have to hold it in your hand.

That's just the other one.

Can you hold it in your hand?

Well, you see, I do hold things in my hand.

That's the point.

That's why I have the little ones as well as the big ones.

I very often like to just sit and hold something in my hand, rather than having a big machine.

Because the machines are always in every room.

That's why this could be very useful.

This could be very useful.

I'd like to have one of the others, and I'd say it's much more easier to operate.

You've got to try both of them.

Well, try both of them.

But I can put your finger on one, and I do very much like to hold.

I mean, here the switches are right with me.

And you're patient as well.

See, it's fine if you carry it with you.

I just do that.

This works fine.

And you're...

Frankly, Rose, I don't think the other ties are necessary.

Well, there's already some spaces with every relationship, and if you'd like one better, maybe you'd like two of them.

At least you're not...

Now, I've already checked with Munson.

All right.

When you grow up, I'm going to tell him once in a great life.

The other day, I think I'm going to try to strike him back.

Scotty, I was the best that I was.

I was wearing a cutaway coat.

That was, uh, that was an argument.

And, uh, I don't know how they ever got out, but I realized what happened.

They were remembering the wedding.

It's the only time I've ever worn it.

I tried to read and ask him about it, and he said, they had to bring it to the rest.

Is it in the book?

and it also says Federal Way Optional, which is apparently what people like to put there, or some people did put Federal Way Optional, because a lot of those guys, you know, have Federal Ways and don't have a Close Close.

So, yeah, that's the way it appears, and they were asking, are you Federal Way or Close Close or Federal Way?

Probably everybody's been canceling Federal Ways.

That's what I'm trying to help a lot of people.

The manual says close the book.

I know a lot of people don't know the book.

Most of us just work with the book.

Well, here, in here, could I bring this to the back of the book?

The golden one and the manual.

Yeah.

Rather than going to .

Maybe I just take two of these.

Because there's so much of light.

I think the two gardens, and then that way, if I get a spot on it, and it burns or something.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Anyway, I've taken that.

I forgot.

I see this is a python that I like.

They're really excellent.

When they asked for Mrs. Berlin, they said it must be someone's face.

Don't be pretty, actually.

And this one, of course, is so ancient that it's probably at least as valuable as that.

More.

More, more, more.

Did I hear it?

Yeah.

Very old, very bad, right?

I don't know, huh?

You'd better shove those in there.

I wouldn't put them off, though.

Yeah.

No, that takes forward.

Oh, okay.

Put it right here.

I'll put it right here.

Okay.

and do you see things put up anywhere that don't stand?

Obviously, yeah.

And do you want the person with the body with the cane on face to face to sit down?

No.

Do you have a story on that?

Because Mike, after that man, I called him and said, you know, I already asked if I could get the original.

And he said, you sure can.

And he called back in about a half an hour and he said, I'm very sorry that it wasn't Trisha or Julie.

He said, Julie.

He said, I'm very sorry that Julie asked for it to give to her father.

So I can't give it to you.

I'll give you a print.

And so, unbeknownst to me, in the midst of all this, my sister Betsy wrote to Betty from California and said, could I have the original that you gave to my mother?

For Christmas.

And Terry wrote back to her and said, uh, that you asked for it, I already asked for it, but I'll give you a little something.

And so he sang a lot of that.

And then he called her, you know, and said, Julie, Julie, sit up.

You got it here.

Betsy got a frame you gave her.

Julie, that's us.

Julie and, uh, and me, apparently, that's what we're talking about today.

That's the band that we're talking about.

That's what we're talking about.

I don't know.

Thank you.

All right.

Yeah.

.

And I'm going to go back to what I was telling you all the time.

I'm going to go back to what I was telling you all the time.

Bye.

Well, I guess it doesn't matter.

If you get the job on the case, you can't rather than having a consistent secretary for a while.

That's what I think.

Well, I'll tell you, there's some people I was looking at who took a chance to get them.

Why don't they go to those type of people?

Some of those are on the number, and that's a way to have them without having to explain to someone else why they aren't there.

I didn't feel like I was going to have to do that.

What are you doing?

I'm a little bit concerned about it.

I know that the case is supposed to be resolved.

Skelly does a better job than Mitterrand.

Our story, I'll say, is wrong than Mitterrand.

I'm just going to let Skelly does not do as good a job as Ron does.

Yeah, we'll tell anybody.

If they're down by us, we're down.

It's all the way over there.

It's probably the hell of a trip.

Nixon, Haldeman & Woods on Dictation equipment and 1973 Inauguration

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on January 12, 1973

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