On January 23, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and William P. White met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:55 am to 9:03 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 404-001 of the White House Tapes.
Transcript (AI-Generated)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 Do not cite this transcript as authoritative.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.
at all.
Bill, I knew how close you were to President Johnson, and I wanted to know that we all, of course, feel the deepest sympathy at this point for not only his family, but for his close friends.
I thought you might be interested in other, too, but of course, I know.
I talked to him about it.
The day after we were doing the research, the last night, about what we were going to do.
I said, I don't know.
I said, I don't know.
I said, I don't know.
I said, I don't know.
Here.
But on this occasion, as well, this is right after I...
So it all comes out.
I said, well, I didn't want to do this, but I don't believe it.
And I think it's in my right to know your place in this profession.
The interesting thing is that, obviously, development may occur very soon.
Sometimes it may occur very soon.
But it's not without it.
He was unable to live to see that what I told him on January 2nd will come true.
So I thought you'd know that little bit of history.
And he said that, he also said, he said, that's all right.
Well, I said, I should look at the same people and tell you where.
So we had a good time.
Well, let me tell you, after all that,
about how much I said to him, because throughout the career, I couldn't have said anything without telling him.
That's really nice.
Absolutely.
He had very good reason to tell me.
I couldn't tell him.
I didn't say it.
But I told him that he was extremely proud of me.
Anyway, he's up there.
He's looking at it.
And I just want to acknowledge some of those people.
And it's mostly his own party just viciously coming up.
I hope.
The press, we all understand.
The press, we understand.
That's the job of the press.
The press, the job is for people.
It's all of us here.
And frankly, most of the readers that we know are just...
But they'd agree with it.
But to find it in his own party, people that he made, people that he made, who didn't go down to that ranch and see them before and after the Democratic convention, that cut it really quick.
It cut it really quick.
Yet people didn't come see them.
Yeah.
Now, it would have changed over a period of time.
Well, you take Herbert Hooper.
Herbert Hooper, of course, went down
Johnson.
It hasn't happened that way.
I think it would have after this was over over a period of time.
But there are some people, believe me, Bill, there are some people in this party that should be damned ashamed of what they have done.
What do you think?
You understand?
For them to do it to me, I understand that.
For all of them to do it to him when he made them.
And, you know, everyone else, I understand.
I have to read everything that I have to read.
Anyway, it'll come out, and I appreciate your good call, but I'll appreciate it when they're not, because I know you got it.
I know you call them live to see it.