Nixon, BeLieu & Timmons on Undersecretary of the Army and Military leadership

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Well, I guess we're not going to say goodbye.

We're just saying we'll see you next year.

That's the motto here.

It's a warm picture that we understand very well.

We can't thank you for all the trials and tribulations you've been through.

We can sit down and shoot another one.

I think it's very important, Kent, that you're going to the Army.

You've read this series.

Of course, you're going to turn around the Army down in the post.

And everybody's sitting, but while a lot of it is

worse than they deserve, the Army has a problem.

It has a problem with management.

It has a problem on both the military and the other side.

And it also has a hell of a problem, therefore, with the Congress.

So I would like to think that when you get over there, that it's, you know, what a terrible time we have as you worked on various bills that we had down here in the Congress, looking at it from the very defendant's side and the other side on Sunday.

you know, to get these damn agencies to come along.

Now, in moving you over, we thought, here, what we're really doing is getting a call over there who will continue to remember that when we've got a vote that involves defense, that, you know, you just consider yourself part of this team, you can count on us and see what we can do.

Because we just can't, we're not going to be able to get along.

We're going to have some damn close folks in.

So Clark and Bill, we heard what he said.

Just don't go over there and run around and run around and vote three-star, four-star, three-star, four-star.

I've already fired the A's and A's before this morning and afternoon.

And you'll be supporting tomorrow.

Yes, at 10 o'clock.

I'd be remiss if I didn't invite you, because I know you can't accept it.

No, I can't.

Yes, in Mal's office.

But, well, I tell you, I'll be there in a stir.

Thank you for this vote of confidence.

I don't know.

I work for you.

I work for Larry, of course.

I may pick up things.

It'd be easier now, in some respects, than when I represent one of the people who talk to me.

They'll know who I am.

And, uh, it's interesting to me that, you know, you can sit out there and do a hell of a lot of listening.

I don't know.

talking on the field.

Ken's the only guy I know that gets along with Margaret Smith.

I was pleased when Margaret really came through on this whole thing.

She didn't speak.

You know, it's a fine speech he made.

He waited on the line, and that man fell off.

And just keep working on it.

We need it.

We need that job.

And the Army is, though, the defense establishment should go right on to here if we don't start standing up for it.

Well, I'm your man over there, sir.

And I've got a problem that makes a man humble to think it's a trust to a child like this.

But we'll do it.

Sure.

You have a much nicer office there.

Well, yes, sir.

We're going to move it.

It's on the second floor.

It's one deck.

I've got to stop that.

It's one floor down from the secretaries.

But you were adjacent to it.

Yes, sir.

I was almost 18 years in the Army, 15 on active duty.

I would still be in the uniform if I hadn't got shot up when I started looking along the way.

I know these gentlemen, most of them.

Fred Wyen in Korea was my assistant.

He was.

Yes, sir.

I brought him in.

He's tough.

He's fine.

He was a good man, Mr. President.

He was head of Congressional Relations for the Army, as I recall, Ken.

Yes, he was the last year to mobilize in the first regime and about the first year, if I remember correctly.

And there were three top liaison officers, George Kelly from the Air Force, Jack McCain was thought of.

And I said Fred probably shaded most of them, at least two of his own.

Russell Gibb identified him as his rare.

He worked for Cabot Lodge in Paris, as you know, sir.

He had a reserved, in other words, he came from a reserved background.

His father was a policeman from Berkeley, California.

I'm the president's favorite.

I don't do other people a disservice, but it's a good one.

It may be the type of Jew I look at for Westmoreland's success.

I'm sure that one of them is that.

West did move up in June of next year, and I've been holding Savage Dennis' cork in his bottom because he thinks he should have left and almost gave a speech in the floor and stopped him.

Trying to get the movies less and more and more credibility.

It's too bad, but you can't throw it out.

It looks like it was a reflection of Vietnam and everything else.

She just got caught in the vice and I think wore off.

Not the spirit, huh?

Well, he's trying to protect his...

repression on a dead man, and he's scared to death.

But our history says in Carter VI, they only realize all that matters is how it comes out.

That's right.

Yeah.

So that wouldn't help.

Sure.

So we'll be needing Pippin when you will, somewhere around here.

Yeah.

Well, we want a Dan Pippin.

We want a goer.

We want a guy that's also a fighter.

It might be good to reach down a little bit.

I want you to look.

Let me say, you do the strong barrel, and I don't.

I know the secretary, of course, is one of Mel's close friends, and I know him.

He's a good man.

But you watch closely.

You've got a really top goer.

I mean, you need a guy with the balls and more.

More is about balls.

That's the reason Mr. Chief's name.

He's got balls.

And the Army needs a guy with balls.

So does the Air Force.

The Army and the Air Force both need stronger men.

I don't say that.

I like Ryan, but I like Westmoreland.

But you're right.

The fact that they need more balls in the Army, and that's not the reason this thing is going better.

It's that the Mars got a lot of balls.

Some of them all stuck to it.

You know, it's just a couple.

It's a matter of so far that Mars is one of my kind of followers.

But, uh...

He saw that.

That's a strong man, that bar.

I knew he was a captain when I was in the Navy, Mr. President.

And we moved him out of town.

They almost broke his pit book back to where we moved him out of town so he wouldn't be under the gun.

Mr. President...

I've got some other general officer, three-star general, Ray Pears, who's got plenty of balls.

Hey, here's something for the command.

Ray Pears.

P-E-R-A-P-E-R.

Yes, sir.

You know, I've seen what you look like.

A tough-looking woman.

You made an iron face.

Yeah, I was not satisfied.

I smoked a cigar.

You and I wrote times together, Cheyenne, Wyoming, 1940.

He was my commanding officer, Mr. President, in World War II, and he's the funnest man I've ever met.

Where's he from?

He's Southern California.

He's a graduate of UCLA.

And he was in ROTC at UCLA.

Graduated about 37 or 38 years ago.

He just went to Korea to be deputy there today.

Remember, don't just take the man.

It automatically should come up.

That's what it's good for.

The Army needs a smart man.

That's why you first have to push for Abrams.

No, it's not going there.

He said, he said it's not going there.

Well, we got a couple tickets for you that even though the old company, these are the special ones.

We only give them, they cost a lot of money, so we don't give them to anybody else.

But that's for your son, the regular ones.

And then here's a little contract for your wife.

That's all you get.

And you're finished.

You're finished with a rich son.

Keep that damn rigor.

I tried to call my rigor to tell me about the boat.

I didn't get a chance to come, but that's good.

That's the only reason I'm leaving.

Yeah.

I called Gregor, and he was up in the yard or something.

I said, Chicago, sir, I was here helping your representative at the Citizenship Day.

And I was right there.

I said, Governor, well, they told you around sometime.

I said, OK. Great job.

Great job.

And I was most grateful to you for your attendance and for us, all of you, for what we did in that Senate.

I suppose, I suppose that in a country that's not a popular thing, we had a need for the draft.

I don't believe it.

It's a movement for a volunteer army, and that concept isn't given.

I thought we had to get the draft passed.

They're unable to win the vote, so it's still their responsibility coming back to see if we get the draft passed.

All right.

Thank you for joining us.

Thank you.

Nixon, BeLieu & Timmons on Undersecretary of the Army and Military leadership

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on September 21, 1971

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