Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 499-002
Date: Wednesday, May 12, 1971 at 5:28 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); White House operator; Arends, Leslie C.; Bull, Stephen B.; Bow, Frank T.; Connally, John B.; Ehrlichman, John D.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/499-002

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:02] Well, I did talk to Jerry.
[0:22] Yeah, really.
[0:23] Jerry Ford just turned out to be strong under the house.
[0:26] There's no question.
[0:27] Here's what happened.
[0:27] Here's what happened here.
[0:28] He lost to the other panel.
[0:31] You know what I mean?
[0:32] And bitching and this, like the Scots and the Greglins and the rest, you know.
[0:36] He told you he was going to do it.
[0:46] Right.
[0:46] So we got along very, very well.
[0:49] Huh.
[0:49] Well, then, this is a hell of a good day in the house.
[0:53] I'm kidding.
[0:53] You're welcome.
[0:54] I heard you.
[0:55] I heard you.
[0:55] Frank Bowe of Ohio.
[0:57] Congressman.
[0:58] Edward Boland, B-O-L-A-N-D, of Massachusetts.
[1:05] B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B-O-L-A-N-D, B
[1:28] Picking stuff up.
[1:35] Now we get in and fight this goddamned Scali, who's just kind of fucked up in being with him.
[1:46] Did Henry find the kick?
[1:46] Yes.
[1:46] Yes.
[1:46] The eye pushed Henry, and he's going back down to the other meeting.
[1:48] Scali, of course, just loves the fight.
[1:49] Yeah.
[1:50] Which way does he like?
[1:50] Which one is he in?
[1:51] The man's field of men.
[1:52] What does he say about it?
[1:53] Oh, he thinks he should fight him.
[1:53] Damn right.
[1:54] A lot of what Henry has told you, Scali's been cranking up since it turns out.
[1:56] Scali's pushing him on the most grouped together in
[1:58] and Henry's ecstatic in doing it, of course.
[2:08] She's got to know how to do it.
[2:12] And the idea of, I call everybody and ask them to join me in the letter, I can do that.
[2:18] We're going to have, somebody else should do it.
[2:19] We'll find a way to join us.
[2:20] He likes to see the momentum of it.
[2:21] One thing we ought to be sure to do is keep him cranky.
[2:25] He ought to sit in that meeting tomorrow afternoon with the three women.
[2:28] the kind of thing where it's just a wrench.
[2:33] That's the way to pay it off.
[2:35] Because he'll love that.
[2:36] It'll give him the tone on how to fight it.
[2:40] After the project he wanted you to take the responsibility, he's pretty serious.
[2:46] He says, I'll accept that.
[2:48] I'll accept it.
[2:49] He said he would then check, though, to see what they were already doing.
[2:53] The first thing is to
[2:54] President, I want you to sit down individually with the people that you feel should be doing more briefing and find out what they really are doing.
[3:02] And then determine for yourself, after you know what they're doing, why we aren't getting the results that you think we ought to be getting.
[3:18] Yeah.
[3:19] Hello.
[3:20] Well, I do want to close with...
[3:23] I just want to tell you how pleased I was, and I've been trying to reach you earlier, but you were running around.
[3:29] Do you remember when you've been out burning trees?
[3:34] Well, that was a wonderful job, a wonderful job.
[3:37] Yeah, it's great now, you know, just good, good conferees, because we'll force that son of a, you know, we lose it there.
[3:45] You can't receive completely, can you?
[3:47] No, sir, never.
[3:50] Okay.
[3:51] How do our guys feel now that they won?
[3:53] Do they feel good?
[4:05] Is that water?
[4:10] Good.
[4:11] That's great.
[4:12] That's great.
[4:15] Well, well, I appreciate it, Les.
[4:18] Bye.
[4:19] Bye.
[4:19] Bye.
[4:19] Bye.
[4:24] Hello?
[4:42] Hello?
[4:45] Hello?
[4:46] I'm just thinking you and I can get on an SST and go over to China one day.
[4:51] That's right.
[4:52] But anyway, that's a great job, and I just want to thank you and all your team.
[4:59] And incidentally, Frank, for God's sake, if we get a strong enough bunch of countries, the Senate can't back you down completely, can it?
[5:13] How many countries will you have?
[5:18] Yeah.
[5:18] Yeah.
[5:21] Well, of course, the countries have to take the House position, and you're not about to recede.
[5:33] And if we could just get... Well, you really played it, and I appreciate it, and I'll take a good rest.
[5:40] Bye.
[5:41] Yeah, sure.
[5:42] Sure you can.
[5:43] Sure.
[5:46] in this foreign policy speech of not just this very rehashing of the world as to where the country's going to be and our vision of the future.
[6:02] Well, now that is goddamn good.
[6:03] It's what I've been trying to get out of it for.
[6:09] To be perfectly frank with you, it was what I was trying to get out for the state of the union.
[6:21] I would have preferred that to revenue sharing.
[6:25] See what I mean?
[6:26] I would have preferred that to revenue sharing.
[6:28] I would have preferred it to government reorganization.
[6:29] Those are both interesting things, but that's revenue sharing and government reorganization basically, Bob, is the work of a mechanic.
[6:35] We call it the American Revolution, all that sort of thing, but it's the work of a mechanic.
[6:37] It really is.
[6:37] It just is tinkering with the goddamn machinery.
[6:39] This Senate is sure to sell the answer for the State of the Union in 72 as contrasted to a mechanical program.
[6:53] Congressman Mills, please, of Arkansas.
[6:59] Well, you see my point.
[7:01] He sees more clearly than, yeah, and he thinks like a politician more than any of the other people do, you know.
[7:10] They, more than Price, more than Buchanan, more than Sasse.
[7:16] Well, and with Stennis, just reading.
[7:22] Right.
[7:23] Yeah, the 12, 12, 14, perhaps.
[7:26] Well, this is my...
[7:28] I'm going to see whether he can come.
[7:32] I think I'm going to invite him.
[7:34] He's in Georgia, of course.
[7:38] This guy.