Nixon, Stennis & Butterfield on Vietnam War and Press Relations

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It's time.

I want to bring the man down.

Are you good?

Yeah, I think you're good.

— 1 min 10 s with no transcribed speech —

All right.

All good, man.

All good.

All right.

I could do that for us last night.

Right over their heads.

He said he did a very great job.

He's also very successful.

He went over the heads of the press and TV and got right to people.

He loved the way he handled the Rodgers question.

He thought the cheap shot phrase was exactly right.

Again, he repeated it.

He did a marvelous job of zinging the press and TV commentators.

They did it with a smile.

It was tremendous.

It was particularly effective in some instances because you were able to say to your questioner, as you know.

But he thought your whole manner was right.

And I told you last night, I watched it with Loya and Bill Stover, and they all thought it was great.

Loya did it?

All right.

And I think I did.

I don't know if I talked with Larry when I talked with you.

No, no, no.

Larry called before.

He was over at the block.

Oh, yeah, he had left.

And he said he thought things went very, very well.

And he said, I was over here at Red Line, and we all thought it was great.

Tell the president I thought it was a damn good job.

And I had told you about talking to Rocky, and Rocky called me.

Yeah, Rocky called me, you know.

And then, yeah.

I talked to Rocky.

Yeah.

And then, I really think he's the guy you ought to have a call.

What did he say?

He said, Senator Dennis.

No, I didn't mean it.

I didn't mean it.

It's just that he loves her.

He would die and keep us getting on vacation.

Other than on vacation or meeting us sometimes.

And he isn't the kind of guy you'd ever call unless he's really convinced.

I'm dead.

I saw him.

When you get ready, you might put a little note in him that goes past mine.

I was so hungry.

You can imagine.

I'm very hungry.

I'm just...

I'm already...

I...

I had actually prepared to travel four o'clock in order to be able to answer the 16, 16 or so, the 16 or so that were actually .

But as I'm happy to get a call back, I was told to be knocking for a player.

I was told I'm working outside of town.

It's appreciated.

And the fact of the matter, when you go out on the court, this would be interesting, and play out on the court as well.

And I wonder if you would,

So, just wanted you to know that Rose told me you called last night, and I'm most grateful.

Well, well, you know, these things, you know, I often say around here, you know, I'm wearing this big stamp.

I say, you know, some of our Republicans, you know, and we just have a few more like John Stanton sitting around here.

We'd do better.

I'll tell you, we appreciate it.

We've got to stand up to them.

We must not fail now.

We're not going to fail.

And you know the fact I see some Harris or Gallup poll or so forth, they show that the majority of the country wants us to get out right now, that Laos is a failure and so forth.

Well, that is what we're elected to do, to follow the polls.

If so, they've been elected then.

Don't you agree?

Yeah.

Where are you?

Hey.

It isn't going to collapse.

We just had more in here today, more there.

And all reports now, we've been in three weeks, you know, and it's already a success in that respect.

For three weeks, they've torn up these supplies.

They'll stay in another three weeks at least.

And if they stay in that long, that means that, by golly, we bought that much more time.

And so we just stick to our guns.

Yeah.

Well, yes, that's awfully nice, and I agree.

I agree.

Thank you.

He said, take it down.

Everybody, leave it up, you know.

Somebody's got to leave it up.

He said, you just eat wine.

He said, we're fine.

He said, beer.

I guess you might be able to encourage it a little bit.

Oh, yes, yes, because it was, it really was explained.

Beautifully.

And it refuted all the...

I haven't given it a smack, I think, but everyone said that, you know, the less of it, the anyway.

I think it's great.

It may just only refute it for our own friends, but even them, it's good for them.

But there are a lot of people out there who are...

Not even for just our own trend.

I think there are a lot of people who genuinely are puzzled by the whole thing.

They don't understand.

No.

They don't understand why.

Why going into another country saying it's your own country?

Well, you just like it coming down those trails.

I heard the all-new station this morning, I was in there.

saying, using that, how you, you explained that they're getting to these channels.

Now that's, you know, I'm a big fan of that.

Yes.

See, those are things that the average Turkish can understand.

See, that's what they, that's what they really need to hear is something like that.

I don't know.

It was, it was very, I thought, excellent stuff.

We've got people like us that write things.

And I don't know if they all remember

There you go.

You have a copy of Jane Henry by hand.

This is the copy that he does not want.

It just brings on for my private personal personal file.

I don't want it to go to anybody else.

We're not together.

You know, I sent that personal confidential to the ambassador with my name on the outside, y'all.

Yeah, and that's good.

So I sent him on the rise.

I said, this is it.

He had responded to a personal letter.

I mentioned it to him.

He had no...

He had no interest in any of our substances.

I think he was not an MP.

He was sent.

He was delivered by the ambassador.

I want him to have it for his personal file.

I'll tell you what to do with it.

View it in person and view it with Scotty Clay in here.

That's how I want it.

Okay.

I'll distribute it to you in your office.

The President wants you to be aware of the fact that he has written to the Prime Minister in person.

The Prime Minister is in person and giving him a long report on his character.

The Congress is in solidation.

Oh, he asked me if, uh... Picture.

Yes, since you're thinking about a picture, whether, because you have to come back Sunday for church annual, whether this Sunday would be a time to go back to...

He wants to do it.

He'd like to have 15 months.

If he knows how to do it.

For me, for me alone?

All right.

Do you want to do it this Sunday, then?

Sure.

After lunch.

I do, I do.

That was a great family picture.

Yeah.

It was a great picture, but we need another one because now time is a-wastin' and it's a-passin' all of a sudden.

So he grows up, or she grows up.

Actually, yeah.

And see her grow up.

Yeah.

That's nice.

Yeah.

They both look so pretty in that television.

Do they?

You and Pat, it really was very good.

You came off particularly well because you were so gracious and pleasant, mild, warm, very good.

I think it was a show to the country, a good thing, you know, the dinner and everything.

Yeah.

You see if, uh... See if...

Nixon, Stennis & Butterfield on Vietnam War and Press Relations

AI Summary

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NARA Description

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Transcript (AI-generated)

Also recorded on March 5, 1971

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Nixon, Stennis & Butterfield on Vietnam War and Press Relations

AI Summary

Audio

NARA Description

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Transcript (AI-generated)

Also recorded on March 5, 1971

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Cite this conversation