Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 482-021
Date: Monday, April 19, 1971 at 3:52 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Bull, Stephen B.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/482-021

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] I'm sorry, as soon as the senator gets there, I think he'll come right in.
[0:07] Where is he?
[0:09] Is he here now?
[0:09] I don't know.
[0:10] Well, yeah.
[0:10] We'll give you another question.
[0:11] All right.
[0:11] A little bit of time.
[0:12] Yeah.
[0:13] All right.
[0:17] He said, yeah, he's got to, you know.
[0:20] Well, I told him, first of all, yeah, he was all set to do something.
[0:25] I said, your second thought was it would probably be better to have Sullivan take the lead on it rather than us going into Bill's level.
[0:31] And Bill said, well, first of all, it's absolutely clear his basic charge is false.
[0:37] Part of what he's hitting, they have some validity, and I'm trying to get that straightened out now, and Sullivan is up with McCoskey now, McCoskey.
[0:50] Sullivan will attack him, will take him on at the Kennedy hearings.
[0:55] He's going to go up, because they're going to go into this Thursday night at the Kennedy hearings.
[1:03] That's one thing.
[1:04] Bill's ready to move as soon as they know what they're doing.
[1:07] He's afraid they're going to get caught with the facts screwed up.
[1:09] Because the problem is, from the time that Sullivan left, there was an interim before Gottlieb got there.
[1:18] At that time, they're not sure what the Air Force did do.
[1:21] You may have something to play with in that area.
[1:25] I got it.
[1:26] I'm trying to get that script going.
[1:29] Well, I may not.
[1:29] But that's all right.
[1:31] Bill was all set, though.
[1:32] And then he said, as soon as that's, we could kind of get the facts straight.
[1:36] He said, I'll have a press conference.
[1:37] And then I'll ask him.
[1:38] He was about to ask me if I was a press conference.
[1:39] And then I'll get it.
[1:41] He knows that he's on background.
[1:44] Oh, yeah.
[1:45] No question.
[1:47] Does he know about the terrible way that got him when he was out there?
[1:52] Yeah.
[1:53] Good.
[1:54] There's another question on that.
[1:56] The other thing he called about was he was concerned about the Viro quarter ship.
[2:02] He said, first of all, Viro drinks.
[2:05] Viro has a serious drinking and screwing problem, and he thinks there's something wrong with it.
[2:10] that he's, you know, something's gone wrong with the guy.
[2:13] Secondly, he knows nothing about Vietnam.
[2:15] Thirdly, he personally would be an impossible guy for Rogers to deal with.
[2:19] And fourth, the move has already basically been done.
[2:23] Porter already knows they're coming to move in.
[2:28] And they're set to do it right after they create a lot of us.
[2:32] But talk to him about it.
[2:34] If he's a drinker, you can't do much about it.
[2:36] I know he drinks, but what I know about the screwing, who's he screwing?
[2:39] Somebody out there?
[2:41] It's about barrels, of course, but I mean, is it somebody's department?
[2:44] No.
[2:45] Well, hell, they all, that is, all these State Department people are trying to run around some worse-than-usual problems.
[2:54] Okay.
[2:56] So, uh, I, uh, I told Schultz about, uh, I go to this fellow a lot of times, and I said, and really said, we've got to do something.
[3:04] I'm trying to shape them up around here a little.
[3:07] You know, we're going to be in a position next year where we're going to have
[3:11] In the woodwork.
[3:13] I don't want any in the White House.
[3:14] That's your job.
[3:16] I told George I didn't want any in ODM.
[3:18] But I don't, as much as we can, I don't want any in the agencies who are there disloyal, leaking all over the place, pissing on us.
[3:26] And we have got to make an example of somebody.
[3:28] And now.
[3:29] Now, this is a good one to make an example of.
[3:33] Well, I know they'll probably mind if you're Republican with 18 kids.
[3:35] That's too goddamn bad.
[3:38] But I think he's probably a career guy, and his ass just goes out for incompetence.
[3:42] Correct me if I'm wrong.
[3:44] But I tell you, who is the man we trust?
[3:47] Malik.
[3:49] Can Malik find a few other people that we can...
[3:52] I want to make examples of them publicly, you know?
[3:57] I didn't really be having a hell of a time, even on that.
[4:01] And I trust that the government brings that in here.
[4:03] It says that you couldn't be a client.
[4:06] It's a little political.
[4:08] It's the IT&T case.
[4:09] Client used to want to be killed for the bailout of McLaren.
[4:11] And I started McLaren.
[4:12] It had a resignation.
[4:14] I couldn't check it.
[4:15] or he lays off the case.
[4:16] And that's how I mean that.
[4:18] That wouldn't be bad at all if he even thought about it once.
[4:20] But Clarence would have said, well, we would.
[4:21] We'd raise out a lot of the...
[4:23] But listen, the people that are forward to antitrust prosecutions are never going to be for us.
[4:28] That is the point that we've got.
[4:30] I'm not going to stand for it.
[4:33] I'm just not going to stand for it.
[4:35] God damn it.
[4:35] I've given orders over there.
[4:36] Mitchell's not like that.
[4:38] Mitchell, you know, like every attorney general's defendants, the lawyers.
[4:42] God damn him.
[4:43] We have got just...
[4:46] Are you concerned about the loyalty of the people?
[4:52] Aren't you concerned about it?
[4:53] I am goddamn concerned.
[4:55] Yep.
[4:55] They always say, it's what brought home to me, goddamn, I'm not going to have any more of those, to the extent that we can find them.
[5:00] But you've got to make some examples for people.
[5:02] We could have hired that son of a bitch before.
[5:05] Fired him, you know.
[5:06] I didn't know he knew he was, that was a problem.
[5:09] He was lying pretty cool.
[5:11] Right.
[5:11] Well, he was insured.
[5:13] But as you probably know, of course, from the others like that that are around the wheel, I want, I want, I want, I want George Bush to look over that whole goddamn staff at the United Nations.
[5:26] And all the appointees, I want, get a list of my guests by 5 o'clock this afternoon.
[5:33] How many people at the United Nations are appointees by the President?
[5:41] Rather than that, get me a study, and I don't want to, I don't take a week, give me 24 hours.
[5:47] We've really got to get that problem solved.
[5:50] Now, George won't want to get rid of this and that and the other one, but I do.
[5:53] Let's clean house.
[5:55] I want to clean house of the United Nations.
[5:57] I want every son of a bitch that supported Yost.
[6:01] I want to know who they are.
[6:03] You understand what I'm talking about?
[6:05] Why didn't somebody think of this before?
[6:07] You know that Yost has got to go on a trip.
[6:10] He's charging a charge on them.
[6:12] I wouldn't be surprised.
[6:22] Thank you, part of the people who sniffer up and suck, you know, people that they think they do.
[6:28] By God, let's find out.
[6:29] I want Yost's closest associates out of there.
[6:32] Out of there.
[6:33] Is that clear?
[6:35] Out of there and fast.
[6:36] God damn fast.
[6:37] That's the way to handle the Yost thing.
[6:40] Now, don't let Rogers put you off on this.
[6:44] If I go over, maybe we'll be put off on it.
[6:46] But I've got Yosemite.
[6:47] We've got to go to Jersey.
[6:48] That incident at Pineville.
[6:48] If Georgians want to go to Powellville, right at the highest level, we ought to go.
[6:52] But we have got to clean out that goddamn staff up there.
[6:57] By that, there must be somebody to do it.
[7:00] Various levels.
[7:01] I want to know, who are the State Department people who were close to Charles Yosemite at the United Nations?
[7:09] And while they're around, a lot of other things, while they're working around, they're not thinking of this.
[7:14] That's the way it goes, these people.
[7:16] You've got to get out of the hole in the next hour.
[7:20] I resign.
[7:20] He resigns.
[7:21] I order.
[7:23] It's tough.
[7:25] John didn't want to do it.
[7:26] I hate to tell it, but look, quite a few clients, he says, that's the Attorney General.
[7:32] John, I understand, I've already said it.
[7:34] He is burned.
[7:35] It has something to do with his company.
[7:37] Fine.
[7:37] I have nothing to do with it.
[7:38] But when John Ray calls Klein, he's Klein, he's ought to do it.
[7:43] That's what I'm getting at.
[7:45] You're having a fire around and me having to call.
[7:48] That's wrong, sir.
[7:50] Don't you agree with me?
[7:51] Because otherwise, all the presidents have to take to get into this case.
[7:54] I didn't.
[7:55] But I did.
[7:55] But I'm doing it for the matter because we're not going to have this firing around.
[8:00] I want Klein to know that the president should be kept away from these cases.
[8:06] Why should I get involved?
[8:11] That's what you got your staff for.
[8:13] The staff member doesn't do it unless they don't care about the use of this report, unless I'm for it.
[8:22] He's here for something.
[8:24] We've got him on something that he held a recent, which means when he came in, he was just bubbling over.
[8:30] He just thinks... About China?
[8:31] No, not China.
[8:33] Really, just about things in general.
[8:37] All right, if that's it, what do you think about China?
[8:39] I'd erase China.
[8:41] And he said, oh, he just chortled at me.
[8:44] He said, I just got completely confused.
[8:46] He said, they're very hard.
[8:47] They just don't know what to do.
[8:49] What do you think about demonstrations?
[8:51] He doesn't think it's going to amount to much.
[8:52] He said he saw the Veterans March coming across Marlington.
[8:55] He said it was a different little group of people.
[8:58] He said one contingent was the Gold Star Mothers and the Lady B.
[9:01] He couldn't have been over 40 years old.
[9:03] He said, I thought he'd go up there and say, honey, if you're a Gold Star Mother, you should have started.
[9:14] I don't know.
[9:23] I don't know.
[9:28] I don't know.
[9:29] I don't know.
[9:31] I don't know.
[9:33] I don't know.
[9:35] I don't know.
[9:37] I don't know.
[9:39] I don't know.
[9:42] I don't know.
[9:43] He's making some speeches.
[9:46] We're pushing everything.
[9:47] He raised points at the time.
[9:48] He thinks the time wasn't right for a while, but he thinks it is now that once in a while you ought to get a hoot like he had talked about in the chat, you know, at 5 o'clock that time.
[10:01] And he'll have a few ideas into us on that.
[10:05] Well, it's a good part just to have a reason to have to come down here officially.
[10:11] Well, he was a good friend.
[10:20] And the economy is going to keep it going.
[10:24] Now, maybe we'll get one.
[10:28] All right.
[10:28] All right.
[10:29] We'll just get it to work.
[10:34] I think Bill wants to do it.
[10:39] I don't think we should.
[10:40] And that's it.
[10:41] And then change it afterwards.
[10:43] But the whole thing should go on.
[10:45] All right, who was it?
[10:50] One that's completely resigned on that one.
[10:51] One that's sort of ungracious, and I don't see anybody who would keep him.
[10:53] Well, we should set up a federal order, and they'd all submit their resignations immediately after the election.
[11:00] All right.
[11:00] Where are you?
[11:01] Where are you?
[11:03] Corporal George, I said.
[11:04] He's sending a man right now.
[11:06] He hasn't done anything about this guy.
[11:08] God damn it, I wanted somebody fired.
[11:11] Did you get that point?
[11:12] I said, fire him.
[11:15] I said, today?
[11:18] He said, we fired him.
[11:20] I said, I wanted to publicize that he was fired.
[11:26] Fire him.
[11:26] Demolish him.
[11:27] Whatever you can do.
[11:28] Is that the same sentence?
[11:31] I tell you what, everybody around here in the OMB and the cabinet just do not have time.
[11:38] Nobody gets his ass kicked out.
[11:41] Don't you agree?
[11:44] This is the point.
[11:46] The company says, the company says that one of us leaders aren't ruthless enough.
[11:50] I know you're right.
[11:51] You agree?
[11:52] Yeah.
[11:54] I don't know about you.
[11:55] I really, I do, because I think where we had cautioned that we couldn't do it, and we've gone ahead and done it anyway, and there's one that kind of tickles.
[12:05] Is that a good example?
[12:06] No, sure, but it goes down that whole list.
[12:08] And then the tickle, and the doctor adventures, and the whole...
[12:13] You know, a science guy, Wong, or whatever his name was, that they returned and they said we had to take and kill us at the science community?
[12:20] Bullshit.
[12:20] And Totem.
[12:21] And Totem.
[12:23] Ruined us.
[12:24] If we'd let Antotem go, you know, right down the line.
[12:30] It hurts.
[12:30] It's barely as much as getting that guy in and trying to live with it.
[12:34] Do bridge.
[12:35] And cut.
[12:37] And I'm out of here soon.
[12:39] Shit.
[12:40] Well, look around, look around, believe me.
[12:42] I'm thrilled now.
[12:43] I just think in the cabin, too, we could... We couldn't lift the bridge in the air.
[12:51] You really think that we have to keep open?
[12:58] I kind of do, yeah.
[13:00] Why?
[13:00] Well, attack him.
[13:00] Okay?
[13:01] He goes out himself.
[13:07] He does so.
[13:10] His problem is, he's just a...
[13:11] He has a...
[13:11] He's just...
[13:12] Well, you know, it was a great event.
[13:16] Well, it just was a song.
[13:18] We've got to, uh, we've got to, um, even as I stand in justice for Christ's sake, Mitchell, of all people, won't do anything about McLaren.
[13:27] No, he sure won't.
[13:28] Remember, McLaren has given us a kick in the ass.
[13:29] Who doesn't know?
[13:30] I'm not for it.