Conversation 398-007

TapeTape 398StartFriday, January 19, 1973 at 4:40 PMEndFriday, January 19, 1973 at 5:23 PMParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob");  Price, Raymond K., Jr.Recording deviceOld Executive Office Building

On January 19, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Raymond K. Price, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:40 pm to 5:23 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 398-007 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 398-7

Date: January 19, 1973
Time: 4:40 pm - 5:23 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

       President's dictating machine
             -Operation

       President's Inaugural speech

       President's second term
             -Record
             -Ideas
             -1972 election
                    -Effort

       Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo’s schedule
            -Call from the President
            -Meeting with the President

       Second term reorganization
            -William P. Rogers
                  -Tenure as Secretary of State
            -Retirement from government service
                  -Resistance
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            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                 (rev. Jan.-09)

                                                          Conversation No. 398-7 (cont’d)

Transcribing President’s dictations
     -Staff
            -Trustworthiness
     -Rose Mary Woods
     -Marjorie P. Acker
     -Woods
            -Loyalty
            -Speed
     -Haldeman’s secretary
     -Copies

Spiro T. Agnew
      -Henry A. Kissinger
      -Responsibilities
      -Dwight D. Eisenhower
      -Possible travels
      -Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty [SALT] negotiations
            -Soviet Union
            -Possible results
      -Kissinger

Watergate
     -Charles W. Colson
     -Spokesman role
          -Kissinger
          -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
     -Executive privilege defense
          -John D. Ehrlichman
          -Republicans
          -John F. Kennedy
          -Lyndon B. Johnson
          -Staff responsibility
          -Support in Congress
          -Applicability
                -Presidential advisors
                -Kissinger's staff
                       -Relationship with the President
                             -Paper drafting
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            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                 (rev. Jan.-09)

                                                        Conversation No. 398-7 (cont’d)

           -Conversation with staff
     -Colson
     -L. Patrick Gray III [?]

Inaugural events
     -Concert

Nixon Foundation trustees
     -Meeting on Nixon Library
           -Site selection
                  -San Clemente
           -Scott Ebert [?]
           -Whittier College site
           -Clinton Harris
           -Site selection
                  -Meeting with President
                  -Whittier College
                        -Ehrlichman's view
                        -San Clemente
                        -Yorba Linda
                              -Compared to Eisenhower
                                    -Birthplace in Dennison, Texas
                  -Whittier College
                        -Advantages
                              -College consortium
     -William F. (“Billy”) Graham
     -Donald McI. Kendall
     -Hobart D. (“Hobe”) Lewis
     -John N. Mitchell
     -Jack Drown
     -W. Clement Stone
     -H. Ross Perot
     -Hubert Perry
     -Harris
     -Edward C. Nixon
     -Donald F. Nixon
     -Leonard K. Firestone
     -Taft Schreiber
     -Patricia R. Hitt
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                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                          (rev. Jan.-09)

                                                           Conversation No. 398-7 (cont’d)

              -Leonard Garment
              -Leslie T. (“Bob”) Hope
              -Delores (Reade) Hope
              -Mitchell

       Item for President's signature

       Inaugural events
            -Sammy Davis, Jr.
                   -Health
                   -Frank Sinatra
                         -Substitution
                         -Master of ceremonies
            -President's appearance
                   -Concerts
                   -Cast party
                   -President’s Inaugural speech
                   -Press relations

Raymond K. Price, Jr. entered at 5:04 pm.

       President's schedule

Price left at 5:05 pm.

       Inaugural events
            -Appearances by President
                   -Ball
                   -Sinatra
                   -Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra
                   -Ball
                   -Cast party
                   -Concert
            -Weather
            -Parade
                   -Audience reception by President
                         -Television [TV] coverage
                   -Flags
                   -Presidential box
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            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                 (rev. Jan.-09)

                                                       Conversation No. 398-7 (cont’d)

                 -Lighting
                       -TV coverage

President's schedule
      -Stephen B. Bull
      -Meeting with Graham
             -Timing
      -Coming weeks
             -Other meetings
                  -John B. Connally [?]

Vietnam settlement
     -Kissinger's trip
           -Announcement
                 -Timing
                 -Press conference
                 -Prayer breakfast
                 -President’s schedule
                       -Hussein ibn Talal [Hussein, King of Jordan]
                             -Visit
     -Announcement
           -Ehrlichman
           -Ziegler
           -Presentation
                 -Ronald W. Reagan
                 -Teleprompter
                 -Taping
                 -Connally
                 -Charts, pictures

President's first term
      -Accomplishments
             -Credit
             -1972 election
                    -Vote
             -Volunteer armed forces
             -Post Office Department
      -Second term reorganization
             -Roy L. Ash
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                 NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                      (rev. Jan.-09)

                                                        Conversation No. 398-7 (cont’d)

                -Clinton Rossiter
                      -Book

      Rossiter
            -Death
                  -Kissinger
            -Student riots
                  -Vietnam War

      Second-term reorganization
           -Rossiter
           -Value
           -Time required
           -Haldeman's work
           -Bull's work
           -Haldeman's work
                 -Morale
                 -Compared to Sherman Adams and James Hagerty
                 -Ehrlichman
           -Ash
           -George P. Shultz
           -Ehrlichman
           -Outside support
           -Mitchell

*****************************************************************
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]

           -George H.W. Bush
                 -Visits to White House
                       -Camp David
                 -Robert S. Dole
                 -Team player
           -Clarence J. (“Bud”) Brown, Jr.
           -Effect
           -Goldwater
           -Campaign
                                               -13-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                        (rev. Jan.-09)

                                                         Conversation No. 398-7 (cont’d)

[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
*****************************************************************

       President's schedule
             -Price
             -President’s Inaugural speech

Haldeman left at 5:23 pm.

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

Now to rewind, you just press this.
Now push it to rewind.
You push it this way, it runs it.
You put this thing over, then when you push that it runs it fast forward instead of rewind.
but I was a good airman.
Well, we can still limit the draft to the goddamn speech.
Well, they're not really that bad.
They're not that different.
Holy crap.
And I knew it was going to lock on until it did.
Well, the last day was the first time.
Great.
uh...
Oh, yeah, go ahead.
I'll call him on the phone.
I'll call him on the phone.
I'll call him on the phone.
That's right, I didn't have much to run, but I mean, even leaking out, he was not arrested.
He went through the sacrifice and the soldiers and the organization.
I just have a feeling myself that that's what it is.
I hope God will write this book for us.
I don't know when the hell else we could have done it.
I'm afraid we will slip into the second time and then, frankly, why not?
We'll drop the stick into a chair, and eventually we've got to do the wrong thing.
You know, just do this.
And I'll hit, take the rockers from the rockers, because the rockers, really, they've got to do something.
The rockers must live.
And I think the price of rockers is still going to be the same for four years.
I'm not sure.
He had at least one.
He was instead of two, he stayed a couple years in there.
Right.
And then check it out.
I'm sure it's been in the deadline.
You know, I think that's what we thought in the deadline.
I think, yeah, we've done that.
But it sounds like it's a good one.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, and we would, in case we didn't have that pipeline, we would not have had it.
It's a funny thing about these people.
They all talk very boldly about retiring, but they don't call the rest of them and come on the job tour.
Most people don't want to leave.
They sure don't seem to.
We've got a hundred of them running the squad right now.
I think we're going to find, you know, both of them, you know, I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I wonder if basically the best one to go to is your own secretary.
I just can't be sure.
There are some things, for example, I just got to have absolutely trustworthy hands.
I can't do it through roads.
I said it was a park.
It was a park.
And so that, to me, the most
the most, uh, the most logical one of the letters, uh, he, due to the fact that she's totally loyal, and I don't think that that, that, that's what his confidence is, that she's confident enough to do so, and that he's better than us.
Well, she's fast.
She, she is absolutely flawless.
And again, that doesn't matter what the purpose of this is.
But even to me, it doesn't matter what the purpose of this is.
I just had to dash it off, handed the copy, and given you the tape.
I mean, and I put on the tapes.
I guess we'll do it that way in the future.
But you haven't helped by the end, have you?
Yeah, you can't rely on us.
It's, uh, I don't think there's any paper on the novel that will help me on that.
I wouldn't think so.
Well, she does, she does, she does, and gives me the, uh, the, uh,
yeah she doesn't even have copies and i tell her they don't go anywhere original okay
In a normal circumstance, that's where it's going to be.
And it just like cuts down, it cuts down the traffic.
And it's just a question for the weather.
I asked every of the students who were there, and I said, well, I'm not going to have time.
I'm going to play this game.
I'm going to play this game.
I'm going to play this game.
I'm going to play this game.
I watched the advance of the Russian Guard Council.
My God, that was pretty good.
As Henry says, a lot of people around here have come to talk to me about this.
I've been discussing it with guys, and it would be good for them to have the idea to do something good.
This is actually getting me the credit just to say that at all.
This is, I think, public sensitivity.
What do you think?
Do you have a question?
I don't know.
I guess I'm just going to say this is exactly what it is.
It's got to be natural.
It's got to be the right time and the right place to go.
Well, God, you don't think Roger's going to do this?
We've got a chance.
This guy's got no chance at all.
Anyway, I've got to ask you to go to your position.
And I'm separated from him a little bit.
I'm separated from him, and also he's got to be...
He's got to be a guy who's going to believe me.
It's like, you can't wipe out completely, you know, go here, for example, at least, you know, he's probably going to put his mind, I guess, in my mind, I don't know, he's got that tension, you see, and it's like, you see it.
I didn't really see why I was stressing so much on the question of the answer.
I thought it was over.
I thought it was over.
I thought it was over.
I was planning to leave.
I really wasn't planning to leave the place at that time.
But I went ahead and ran again.
I didn't know what to do.
Let me speak in terms of the game plans and so forth.
You're going to be probably close to being planning on a whole piece of airsoft.
Do you have in mind to generate?
I'm going to go ahead with the idea, but that's not the same thing.
We have Henry coming in and out now.
I read the spokesman's advice on Tuesday afternoon.
Along those same lines, that's actually pretty good.
I heard a lot of these, the wealth of the people, the rich and the poor, the second privilege.
There was a lot of that in the past.
I may talk for example about wars.
I've heard worse.
They're talking, ironically, about their purpose.
And they're talking about truth and justice.
So we're in a dangerous position.
But my wife is on the same crew as far as we are on the coast.
So it's very much the plan.
So the point that I'm making is that somebody should be in charge of that thing.
After those, we got no support behind all the people that sat on it, for them to understand that.
So I don't know what to do, I don't know what's going to happen to them.
I don't know if they're really going.
I don't know if they're really going.
I don't know if they're really going.
disagrees with everybody he meets, argues that the president should have a group of key advisors,
Onward, there is no question that he knows that he will handle them on the basis that they would never be involved.
He's objecting to all the aimless people in the lower levels of the camp.
He justifies a lot.
He said he don't have any direct relationship with the president.
That's wrong, because that's how you take that kiss and you're satisfied.
Sure, there's a lot of guys that have no direct relationship.
You've never seen that they're drafting papers and dealing with communications.
They're in the same... two in the same boat.
You also will put the dock right away.
This is something that I'm not sure about.
I'm not sure.
Well, if you're writing to me, that's going to be helpful.
I think those all will come in today, so if that's done, then we'll call it a day.
If that's done, then we'll call it a day.
If that's done, then we'll call it a day.
I like, I like to use hard print as a future.
Sometimes with my decision, I agree with it.
Also, it's good for them.
It's good for them to participate too.
I think you've got it more that far with the staff, with the staff, and the, um, the last one, the last one, is, um, one of the two, but, um, his job is, um, um, um,
... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ...
i was at bear school last night people seem to like those things so i fixed it with my neck uh
So the customer that we spent a good chunk of today is your foundation trustees, which are brothers and sisters.
They're all fantastic.
We have a trustee meeting in next to this.
Great job of making it a strong presentation on site selection for the library, but for the same point, site selection is a good question.
All right.
He feels very strongly.
He's got to be there.
I mean, there is some problems with the way they're both, you know, still playing good.
The elephant bear has led Harris today.
He just said, all we need is just a little hint from the person as to where he wants it.
That's all we care.
What we've got to do is let him come back and put in that he's talked over with you.
See, the line we take in the mid statement is if you don't want to tell him where you want him to go, then sure, analyze it.
Well, actually, the part is...
We can get away with something.
I don't go along with everything.
I mean, all that asshole jackass stuff.
Put some books up there.
Put some stuff up there.
Spread it around a little.
You can have some later.
You can have some later on, as far as I'm concerned.
Gerber Linda works out fine.
That's a huge, just like Geisinger's.
First place is Dennis and that's his head.
At that point you have a picture of his.
Then I don't think he's traveled around taking pictures of all of them.
What do you hear?
You've got to tell me something.
Hold on.
Well, we're coming out of the first decision.
It's the site thing.
Then you get that done.
Then you work out if anyone's here.
There aren't any.
No, they've been there.
depending on what you're supposed to do at the college and tie it to something there.
And let that be sort of the lead in this college consortium that we're talking about.
And that's good.
So everybody, they're all
Yeah, John Rachel and Jack Brown, a bunch of people, Munch Stone, Ross Perot, Homer Perry, Glenn Harris.
Quite a bag of your older brothers.
When it fires up, it's not strong, it's not active.
When it burns, the focus wasn't there, it just wasn't there.
But it's quite a lot, and it's not good, which is definitely why.
Sammy Davis turns out to be a, he is a, I can't think of a dramatic thing, but they've persuaded Frank Sinatra to come out and retry.
And take this closely, Sinatra had agreed to perform a Sinatra ceremony, isn't it?
Yeah.
Yeah.
chairman of the entertainer but he wasn't going to entertain except for the last year of summer when he's now practicing his medley with Sammy Davis which is not the second time the second is the fact that he was in the draft because of the last year so uh but I'll hear it if he doesn't that's the plan as of now they may not put anybody in but I think the last I heard was a lot of those that
What should happen if I understand the process?
I should probably go down this way.
I don't need to at all.
I have mixed meaning in the story.
That seems like a good idea.
You'll probably be able to want to, and it's probably a good thing for you just because it gets you out of the sort of in control and into the action a little bit.
Yeah, it's quite funny, yeah.
Well, if you're doing, for example, one, you have to go over it with the other two.
Well, I bet you do get into it.
Some of the parts of the other one will be over at the cash party.
So that's where you can drop by that.
I guess you can, without thinking, you can just go in.
So it will get the attention at this time on how great it was to play.
Sorry, you couldn't see the whole show, but you're sure it's worth it.
It's worth it for the staff.
Do you have a business here?
I think I do.
Your doctor will address us when he gets to be here with you.
I do go down and just press there and everything and try to become a particular fan.
They don't need to.
I mean, the honorary thing there is a big one.
I don't get to do those roles and all that stuff.
to just wait right here great i won't be long but you're gonna serve but no i'll i i think it's good to talk about it because i think very well i don't feel actually good and then i very very well because basically i'll be doing one hell of a lot of maintenance the next month you know that's really good
But it's the same for people.
Well, for example, would Frank Sinatra be there the next night or not?
I don't know.
I don't know if he'd be cast for it.
I would guess that he might not, but I'm not sure.
It's, it's probably a good thing to show your appreciation of the orchestra.
I mean, it's been a fuss about it, you know, all that, so it's...
I don't know if the last person watching is there or not.
I don't know if that's what you just thought, Audrey, but if it's still going, you have to check, check that out and be sure it's...
but it's been making pretty far along in the state where it's better for you not to do it.
I don't know how much.
Now maybe you could just move along and not protest quite as much.
You could do that very easily.
You could do that very easily.
Just go down to the stage and pass it along.
Back on the knee and then around the belly portion.
Well, I didn't think that's a problem.
Even that is a little awkward, in that what they do is play an encore, and they have to say something, so I should have done that, or something.
Play another one, and it would take me three minutes.
And then, you know, when you come out on stage, I guess you have to take a microphone and just give it a little...
It's easier there in your boxers than it is being on a flat-axle.
But he has to live, so I think Steve would be right there.
It was supposed to be warm, mostly weird, but no rain.
So the rain today was going to be raining down, but it was supposed to end tonight.
And no rain tomorrow.
Scattered clouds, and it's going to be nice for the parade.
And they're set at the parade.
I hear it goes for a lot of people, a lot of people want to do it, not to do it, you don't want to do it.
But then, I'm happy to talk to them.
Just that the majority type people, you know, sort of follow that cross-section of people.
In fact, he'll be on TV all the time.
He'll bring them up, provided they have the time to talk to him.
We've got a problem with flags.
We've got a problem with flags.
We've got a problem with flags.
We've got a problem with flags.
We've got a problem with flags.
We've got a problem with flags.
We've got a problem with flags.
That's right.
And after a whole lot of people are off, I didn't believe it.
I don't think it's right.
If I feel it, I can just tell people that I don't think it's right.
You can hear Fox that there's a buzzer that will buzz to get a seat.
Also, there's a little light planet there that will tell you when you're on television and the cool camera and the lights on and you're on.
The camera's on you.
Oh, uh, Steve and Tony and, uh, I believe Brianna wanted to talk to me.
and i close this up for next week and you know i mean i don't know what his position is i don't know i don't think there's anything to do with it
I think that's the main thing.
I think that's the main thing.
I think that's the main thing.
I think that's the main thing.
I don't know, on the screen they already moved on to the last section, but they're not seeing all of the next group of professionals.
Yes, there's next group, next group of kids.
And if there's a follow-up to it, I wouldn't be able to pull them out first and see the president.
You know, even then it's going to be pretty tough as an agency.
I was very, very heavy.
I would prefer not to, there was not a good time to have a case of that sort.
So that's what happened.
I guess there are lots of people who have those problems with my husband.
He fell in for us.
He wouldn't be so fresh.
You know, you would say to tell him you wanted to check in, but I didn't.
But I really feel like it would be well and good for him.
We've got to get past this next week.
We've got to get past something fresh.
Back the next two weeks, Bob and I, I've got to see some of them.
I've got to have an evening of eight weeks.
Incidentally, the announcement of Kissinger's trip is on the 31st.
Thank you very much.
I don't know how that's related to what's going on.
The 30 persons a day you were thinking about as a press conference.
That's what I had.
Announcing this is your strip.
I mean, if you can do the same thing there before that.
Right.
Right.
Yeah.
That's what we were talking about.
If you had kind of, like you said, worked on that basis, you'd announce the strip as the starting press conference.
Good.
All right, we've got that in mind.
I just didn't know.
I wasn't on hold.
I didn't know.
I didn't know.
I didn't know.
I didn't know.
I didn't know.
I didn't know.
I haven't told anybody.
I'm just doing it on our own.
He doesn't know.
I made all the announcements.
I don't know whether I was the first one.
I've got to be clear.
I had told you that the same might have been that day.
I said, don't do anything.
But the same isn't that day.
It's not full of policies.
So then the call I received was Monday the 6th.
When do we get off it?
Is there any time after that or is the prayer writers going to have something like that?
The prayer writers have done the first the same day as he did the rest.
I understand it's the 6th.
How about after that time?
After that, you're in pretty good shape.
And it's also the linear recess for the church, right?
Of course, we've all shown that it's a good time to be here when the time is right.
And also we don't have to re-allocate the place.
We will plan to make do.
That's the point.
We'll take our charges out and have them agreed on how we want to solve the problems.
Want to?
The only problem, I did see that as I was talking to John about getting out of speech, so I don't want to be so, I just don't want to go out of color or anything like that.
The last one on this, too.
I would consider probably the idea of what John suggested, doing that .
Well, what he thinks is a good idea.
I mean, obviously, then use a teleprompter.
I've heard it as well.
But it's basically, let's just do it the easy way.
What he suggests is not that you do it that way, but that you use it in speech straight.
as you would, but it's written with the idea that they would then cut in visuals.
In other words, you would not do a lot to take much credit.
The idea is like how he speaks.
Right.
Where he takes right ahead, and then after he had done, he did the whole speech straight through.
Right.
Then they went back and cut in the visuals, the charts, and then the pictures, and doing those things, and they just didn't, you know, put that picture on instead of the picture you go to all the time, but it was taken for a change.
All right.
I can do a speech from the telecom, like everybody else, you know.
The telecom didn't do it, the telecom didn't do it.
You know, let's try it with the telecom, right?
At other institutions, it can, you know, you can go or not.
You don't like it, you go back there, you're not going to another, you're going to church, and that's it.
It was that hard, you know, how do you agree on that, you know, the day before.
You have to do it the day before, so they have to spend any time on it.
All right.
And they have the charts set.
And I think we'll go into that.
That's great.
Well, all in all, it doesn't apply to something like that.
It really has.
We don't get the credit for what it's been.
But over the long haul, there's got to be more resources involved.
Well, there is when you look in the book.
But also, it's a great question.
And for that, in fact, if you look at such a jackass, that's a great one.
The volunteer, we all ever thought that was going to come out.
And we're a post office, but I'm sure a jackass like that is done.
I'm sure that a couple of years before, that's really true.
Uh, at the reorganization of this government, we've not been able to get this event on the food machine.
Uh, with Ash here, the executive officer of the state, the governor who runs that, and so on and so forth, he's gonna chain cut it down, that's the whole reason, that's the whole reason for us to do this book.
You know, Rosser committed suicide.
Now, a doctor, a doctor had a desire to say he was a fine man.
But Rosser committed suicide because he was, because he was a student.
Right after the story of the murder, right after the story of the murder, he killed himself.
Probably not only against the economy, but
Well, there's no question.
There's, there's, there's a lot of it in myself.
I've got to try to get those, for example, .
It doesn't take much time, but it takes a little time, but it takes a little time.
It's ridiculous that I, to bring you to an administration like this is going to take quite a little time.
That's ridiculous.
I just sure
But all the main jobs you've got to do is manage the zombies, which should be on the schedule.
But the main job is to at least put yourself in my position.
The battles are flowing and all that sort of stuff.
And in terms of keeping people's morale up and charging them up and fighting and so forth and so on.
That's really what the...
And it's very almost impossible to do that when you're on the field.
But you do that, it's more healthy.
Yes, of course you will.
I don't think you can call that out of Schultz.
Schultz is more of a product of the company.
In that context, he's a good man.
Great man.
But in terms of that, you've got Ash, you've got John, you've got people on the outside, you've got Charles, you've got Billy, you've got Bill, so you've got a lot of people.
Right.
Right.
Right.
That's right.
Right now
People started getting to experience a lot of life like the ocean.
And it was a lot of fun.
It was a lot of fun, right?
Absolutely.
And they had a lot of fun with it, too.
Look at it as a campaign.
It's a campaign.
Well, it really is.
It's a campaign.
Yeah.
It is.
It's a campaign.
It's a campaign.