Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 468-007
Date: Tuesday, March 16, 1971 at 10:02 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Ziegler, Ronald L.; Butterfield, Alexander P.; Nixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan); [Unknown person(s)]
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/468-007
National Archives Catalog: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/417176189 (NAID 417176189)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:08] specific.
[0:15] I want to make sure that he can't get in .
[0:34] That's okay, we can shift it.
[0:35] Earl, this is Dean Schultz.
[0:51] I've been seeing you for a few minutes today.
[0:52] Can you check my travel plans?
[0:53] I talked to Oldham yesterday.
[0:53] I'll run it this way.
[0:54] Joe, that's a cognitive exam.
[0:55] It's important to agree on that.
[1:05] On the trip with Donald, he will be asked about that this morning.
[1:23] And he calls Secretary Conway to see if he didn't see it, or if he can't make a report next morning.
[1:26] Yes, Senator.
[1:27] Check that out.
[1:27] Check Conway and see if he can come forward if he can't come forward.
[1:30] I feel that he will be pressed on that in the standing room.
[1:35] Apparently, Senator Laird said this morning
[1:36] that the level would continue at the present level, and the taxes will be applied at the level of the $50,000 by the end of next year.
[1:55] Talking to Henry, it's his view, and I'm going to encourage him to use that to tell the Secretary, that the Secretary should say nothing.
[1:58] He should just indicate that the President has indicated that an opportunity will be made.
[2:01] Nothing more.
[2:02] And it will be, as far as the levels, the President has already indicated that it will be an opportunity.
[2:09] Right.
[2:18] Right.
[2:25] Right.
[2:28] Right.
[2:33] Right.
[2:48] It's important.
[2:57] I mean, it's important, but it isn't urgent.
[2:59] You can call me in five when Dole, when he's down, when he'll let Dole get his thing out to the captain.
[3:09] He's already called.
[3:10] I'd rather have Conley since he's here in the cabin.
[3:14] Stay here.
[3:14] I can't do this.
[3:16] Dole, I'll go here to the captain.
[3:24] This is, uh, Secretary Cotter.
[3:31] Can't stay here for a fortified meeting.
[3:33] His meeting on the airline is at 4.30 p.m. Rolls-Royce, Madison.
[3:45] You have an hour.
[3:46] We rushed.
[3:54] Either that or I'll have to do it.
[4:11] That's all that's really needed, but I don't mind reading.
[4:16] He's got to be here at 430.
[4:18] He's got to go over there and he's got to prepare for the meeting.
[4:21] Yeah, I'm going to crush him.
[4:21] I agree with you.
[4:22] You've got to see Bill.
[4:22] Wait.
[4:22] No, I'll be able to see him when I bring him to bed.
[4:23] The first time he asked, it had been finished.
[4:25] I don't think he's getting it in yet.
[4:54] Or we should go to the 30th, 430, and skip that 5 o'clock meeting later on, and then Chelsea will get you for a minute after the building and then we'll put off that meeting.
[5:53] He completely agreed with the thought of his not going to Lexington and going to the OBJ.
[6:12] He said, in fact, you ought to know, and he did not want anyone else to notice, that Lyndon Johnson is not at all well.
[6:15] He's very concerned that he's not going to live to May 22nd.
[6:38] That's the thing he's really trying to hang on for.
[6:39] He's talking with Billy about protecting his funeral home after the war.
[6:41] And his last prayer for the Americans was a relief.
[6:42] He's completely gone.
[6:42] He's got a few words to repeat.
[6:43] He's got a few words to repeat.
[6:44] He's got a few words to repeat.
[6:46] That's right.
[7:01] I don't think it goes pretty good.
[7:04] Oh, I know.
[7:05] Let's just learn how to work a check, you know, because I don't want to have it.
[10:16] That was nine points yesterday.
[10:34] Yeah.
[10:34] That's good.
[10:45] I think your meetings now are, this is a very good time to make a meeting with your staff.
[11:04] You can follow up on a common thing, follow up directly on the issue with your other hand.
[11:06] I think we have an appearance of this.
[11:07] This is kind of interesting.
[11:09] It feels like, in terms of the image thing, that
[11:11] But nothing really has come true.
[11:17] It's not really his point.
[11:21] We have a mirror with nothing on it.
[11:24] That's, yeah.
[11:25] And so that means that we really haven't succeeded in getting anything true.
[11:28] Of course, it's a rather abysmal figure if that's the case.
[11:30] If he feels that way, I mean, who's not a friend?
[11:34] That's the question I'm asking.
[11:34] What does that have to do with anything?
[11:41] It's a pragmatic approach.
[11:54] And we've been quite good at it.
[11:55] We're just doing well.
[11:55] Even though we do better.
[11:56] And we've done it on a lot of fields.
[11:57] And I think we have a domestic delivery.
[11:57] Everything we've done has been a little certain.
[12:07] I've never heard from Cambodia than just fighting it out there and talking about it on your honesty track.
[12:17] Oh, we must, I must admit that there was a, we have to, we can also be under attack, but it helps to be under attack.
[12:24] Part of our problem now, in this period, is that we're really not under attack.
[12:32] We're just under, we're under erosion.
[12:35] And we can escalate it to under attack.
[12:37] And it might, it would probably work for the short term.
[12:47] That's the other side.
[12:49] Sure.
[12:49] You'd have to do it.
[12:53] If you did, we could go to a really tough challenge on laws for support.
[12:58] It's not the time to do it.
[13:00] But you know, you know what I mean?
[13:01] That's the thing.
[13:02] No, we don't need that.
[13:10] No, we're going to play along.
[13:12] And we've now done everything.
[13:21] And from now on, starting in April, going on through the summer, we're just going to have people.
[13:26] And then, as we go on then, we can bust them a few times.
[13:28] We've got a hell of a lot.
[13:29] We've got a lot to talk about.
[13:30] Well, I mean, so presumably you've taken your lump sum to 8,000 and all that.
[13:40] Well, of course so.
[13:46] I think we have.
[13:47] I think actually it's bound to be moving up on an uneven pace.
[13:50] And there's Stuart Alsop's thesis this week.
[13:53] It's very unusual that you've moved way out on two limbs and invited your critics to saw both of them on.
[13:59] Which is the water ending, and I'm definitely not a local thing.
[14:05] That's the point.
[14:06] But he says that he puts it in good context.
[14:12] He says that undoubtedly you know more than the basis of that knowledge.
[14:30] any progress we've been expecting all this time.
[14:51] This is now March the 16th.
[14:51] The last 60 days to get the staff turned around so they understand some of these things.
[14:55] I think Colson has always understood.
[14:56] There's been questions beyond that.
[14:57] I think we've got it in with a lot of others.
[14:58] We do it all in the client office, etc.
[15:03] We still need the rum cell that Ernest produced.
[15:10] That's a dead loser.
[15:15] Well, I think you know, we all know it.
[15:18] Yeah.
[15:18] He doesn't, he doesn't, he doesn't do it well.
[15:25] It's a strange reactionary.
[15:26] So I'm glad that we'll get into that.
[15:27] Yeah, I agree.
[15:37] Yeah.
[15:59] Don't worry about all that rum stuff.
[16:09] Let's draw a bar and screw it around and say it's got to have a big staff and all that crap.
[16:16] You remember, even though we owe him, right now we're trying to dismantle that office.
[16:18] He's going to go over there as the trade representative and not just like it was.
[16:25] I want to be sure to see my wife, and I should see Metro at least once a week, and my father-in-law.
[16:36] Like, for example, I see how they're hurrying in shows every day, and sometimes there isn't enough room for them.
[16:38] See, if I knew more of the course of Henry to get there at this point, Henry's getting a lot better.
[16:41] You know what I mean?
[16:47] You know, let's go with John.
[16:50] I don't get that.
[16:52] You know what I mean?
[16:56] My point is, let's not bother.
[16:58] Let's be here with the cabinet guys that I really ought to see get in.
[17:00] All right?
[17:00] I want to catch her automatically and then I'll work him in.
[17:02] Damn right.
[17:02] I didn't sort of wait for you to tie it down.
[17:03] I was fine.
[17:04] I simply got to see.
[17:04] And even if there's no reason, John Mitchell is worth seeing once a week.
[17:06] I go over to politics and get him a look.
[17:07] All right?
[17:07] And I've got to see Conley for other reasons.
[17:08] I've got to keep him.
[17:09] All right?
[17:09] and the ensemble gets started at Burns, see?
[17:15] So we can just probably try a weekly session, that's right, and check half an hour.
[17:33] And, I don't know who else you could... Clang, you need to see that.
[17:34] Okay?
[17:35] And hurry up, you can tell us whenever they want.
[17:36] And of course, you can do it whenever you want.
[17:37] That's about it.
[18:47] The controversy with the press, with our enemies and so forth, should occur.
[19:02] I think the press meeting should go on right now, and I must say, a close cooperation against the city office, the networks, the pollsters and the rest.
[19:07] But as far as my point, my man, also for that matter, that should come about after we've finished ours.
[19:10] You know, it'll be a bit better on the strategy level to get from here down to what we need.
[19:12] We did, but we didn't get both of them.
[19:17] Well, we came on harder than we came out there.
[19:22] We came set up with guns, and around the third, we kicked and we were weaker.
[19:27] We had to.
[19:27] We had to then, you know, reverse the situation.
[19:29] That's all right.
[19:30] That was the point there.
[19:30] There was no other way.
[19:31] There was nothing.
[19:31] But now, we know there's some things coming that are better.
[19:39] Yeah.
[21:49] this business of what they call a confidence factor that we were speaking about, is a pretty much related to it.
[22:20] Lots of Irish people in there.
[22:29] Right.
[22:29] Everybody claims to be going around the damn world.