Conversation 504-008

Transcript (AI-Generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

But we've done a lot there.

We're open two hours.

It's just like state business now.

And that's great.

But it does show you the problem that you've got.

I wish with you that the symbolic history of the Jews will all be hidden.

Yeah, that's all right.

I've got to do a lot of others.

I had a curious call that I want you to know about.

I don't know if you've heard of it.

You just missed it.

Newsroom.

That's right, there was Sam Rothberg, who that is, in Hollywood.

He was, I agreed to, they had to go out and raise five million dollars for us in the campaign.

Now, I said, well, I said, oh God, because the police don't know, because they're going to talk to, they're going to talk to somebody, Mitchell and others.

I will not, I cannot get in a position where the Jews have any influence on me, you know.

I know what they're up to.

I mean, I don't want the five bucks and I don't, if we battle, we just can't pay that price.

See what I mean?

And one, we said this, but it's got to be handled very discreetly.

Any Jewish contributions have got to be without any strangles.

Because I think we're going to have to squeeze these bastards.

With regard to our stay in Blaringhouse, I think it would be a very nice thing if you would give Rogers a call.

I thought about the matter and so forth, and I couldn't go ahead with it.

I mean, I had my instructions, and I stayed in state guest houses that I've been in an enormous amount of good, cost us very little.

And that's the way we've been taking it back.

And it's not even that I like it.

It's the most I've stayed in.

Did he not send for that dinner?

Let him stay at the warehouse tonight.

He stays at the state guest.

Don't you really think we should do that?

Or maybe not too much money, but I can't get that money at all.

Oh yes it is, it's a half a food.

Oh yeah, but they, the sales, they don't, well, but you had all that food, uh, food, what is it, really, uh, what are you, $100 for you to make an armistice out of a franchise or something?

Yeah, because it effectively is setting up the troops on the long haul, sir, you know?

And it's really money that you're, you're spending anyway, it isn't.

Uh, but also, if you would, I think, uh,

Who is in charge of basically these arrival things on that military?

Is that Hughes?

Or is it Moore?

How about Hughes?

Roger, pretty much himself.

Now, there's this military district, the Washington unit that runs it.

Yeah.

I was going to say, they do an absolutely brilliant job.

I think I want to write a note so they can get some of their own there.

Is that who they want to go to?

Yeah.

All the services have participated.

Just one of the state arrivals.

I could write it to, which may be a copy of the military district.

This is something that, you know, you see those arrivals and leaving this routine, but Jesus Christ, that's a hell of a lot of work.

And also, getting those people in the law, it's the only way for us to handle it.

You couldn't wear out through this miserable city.

Should somebody throw a goddamn sack at you.

Or somebody come out and accept a few dicks.

You realize that?

Oh, the impression of America.

Even when I drive out buckets, I'm scourged.

Yeah.

No, I'm just... Couldn't be a better way to do it.

You get your... Everything's taken care of this week.

An enthusiastic reception.

It's impressive.

It looks good.

It's under total control.

You have no... Just go ahead with it.

Almost.

It's about as long as it takes to add to the crowd anyway.

I know it was still a good crowd, but I put people all over the goddamn place.

Some of them, of course, they can see.

We always stand out in the shot to get that.

He wanted to stay to visit each other.

We're not doing that for symbols, are we?

We're not helping anyone.

Just give them an entrance at the, in the evening, you know, if you have trusses below.

But you, you know what I mean?

And that's certainly important.

We'll limit these now.

We're just gonna parse them out, just at the very, very, you know, minimum, because as far as our, as far as our public impression is concerned, it's hard to work it in.

You know what I mean?

It just knocks two hours out of the morning.

Well, two hours out of the morning and it's a signature that it knocks out three hours out of the evening, which is worse.

But the important thing is you have to spend a little time getting ready.

Yes.

So it's three hours in the morning.

I don't spend more than an hour in the evening anymore because I know the goddamn thing is going on.

Yeah.

But we're really good at these.

I think we're doing extremely well.

By seeing people and vision and

sure except for this thing.

I don't want to do this except for this.

I don't want to get into the habit of doing anything.

Like I said, I don't want to get attacked if it's doing this crap.

But there's a very special friend sometimes who comes who hasn't ever been here.

And they are unfortunate.

I'll dictate a note that if you ask Don what we thought of the May crew and so forth.

Little things like that go a long way with people.

I do think we've probably done the right thing on that, pushing that press conference for the next week.

Because you have many people that are, I do think they sort of take off.

But they don't take off physically, but I think they take off mentally.

And everybody's gone.

Congressmen are gone.

You have a lot of other people.

It wouldn't have had much impact on Congress.

Which they always listen.

That's also very important.

Well, it's sort of one of the purposes anyways, because the Congress and the bureaucracy, and the bureaucrats, a lot of the government will be gone because it's money's in government office.

Oh, that's encouraging.

Peter, I wanted to know what, you know, you said you wanted to give this economic presentation to the bipartisan members' leadership.

And the question is whether you want to attend

You would indicate that you did.

Yeah.

Or, and you also mentioned hosting a reception afterwards or something like that.

Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday next week.

Or first Tuesday.

First Tuesday should be blocked off.

Of course.

Wednesday of next week, why don't we just have that?

Rather than having Tuesday run, we just have something on Wednesday evening.

And put them all down, say, for 5 o'clock.

Or 4 o'clock, or something like that.

4 o'clock, and let them brief, and then you have a reception afterwards?

You don't want to sit in the middle of it?

No, I shouldn't censure it again.

But I will say that I would like to, that I have the briefing.

And I'd like for all of them to hear it and ask some questions, and then we would...

I have a little exception after this.

The East Room is too big, Bob.

Now that means, where the hell do you have the ooze then?

What's East Room?

What this would be, how many people?

I don't know.

We were talking about top leadership.

Oh, no, no, just eight people.

No, we're talking about 40 or 50 at least or 100 maybe.

But the ranking members of committees and a few other, maybe the total membership of some committees.

This is a chance to do something.

All right.

and all leadership on each side.

I can give a term, I mean, if there are roles for this council, it's for roles that are here.

And I can give the kind of reason.

She'll remember the place she heard it said.

That's the one.

It's not that simple.

Yeah.

You're not going to have any special, you know, same deal with Jewish.

Let's do the breakfast anytime soon, or let's do the Albert breakfast.

But I've been to, to, to view on Vietnam for background only with Bob Ellison of the LA Times, who has been doing this superb, I know, on Vietnam, but I can't do it.

I just, no sir, I won't do it.

But you get in trouble on that.

Oh, God, that would be murderous.

Murderous.

Well, that would be good.

Now that could use the...

Even so, it won't work.

It won't work.

Everybody's going to lose their hair.

It'll spike back.

Those will not work.

I don't know how the hell he could do it.

Is he here?

No, I don't think so.

He's an agent.

Well, I don't think he's here.

He's doing this good stuff, but it doesn't... You know, you're not going to make it any better by talking to him.

And he's not going to get worse by your not talking to him.

I don't like this coming in.

I'm not prepared right now.

I'm going to have to do something for a trauma doctor before he retires.

I'd agree to do that.

I don't want to give a background.

I've got to do something for Bill White.

There are all sorts of people like that.

Every time you feel that they need to start something.

I'm very disturbed about not putting the unions under any trust laws.

He wants to come down and talk to you about it.

He says, Dick told me the last time I was down there to come and talk to him, and that's what I want to do.

And it says he's completely over the hill.

You'll gain nothing from a meeting with him.

I wouldn't do it.

But if he felt you had to...

I don't think he should.

I don't think he should, really.

He is over the hill.

He's over 80 years old now.

He just can't work.

He doesn't have money to work if it's not on one of his meetings.

Yeah.

Are you interested in being with the Vice President at all at any time?

Before he goes to Korea, yes.

You know now that we thought we should have a chat.

I remember I thought it would be a good occasion to meet about a week before he goes to Korea.

There should be inlets on that, too.

That's not what we want.

I want to have Henry just mention the question.

We have a...

And I would normally just do this, but because it's Jess and Dr. Ziegler here to present you with the final report of the White House conference.

Sure.

On children, which it wraps up.

I'm supposed to run the man down there.

I'll thank you for your work.

He's re-asked, I raised the point of this, having a dinner for this, giving his army to you.

And, uh,

We went over how much of it repeats.

Eight of the 32 have been here.

Some of the others have been in and out of business council.

Pete's point is that

These are people that he has recruited for the specific purpose of being .

He suggested that what they would do is have a top-level Washington briefing first.

All right, give them the briefing, and then let me give a dinner, and then after we'll sit around and chat about it.

That's a great idea, but I don't want to sit and eat with them and talk to them.

It would just be 32 of them, plus two.

We'd have all of them in the White House, and they'd get black-tied for 7.30.

Yeah.

No, they're public and regular.

What it is, is the standard of mind.

The house conservatives.

We had them.

Well, we had some, but we haven't... See, they're not all in the curtain bell thing.

All right.

And it goes to, you know, to the way over right, which is the virtues.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

I had one of those bully rag sessions again, you know, like we did before.

It was a useless meeting.

There are others who have not been included in the prior meetings with the House of Loyalists and the Curtinville Task Force.

It's the rest of the Divine Group, including Divine.

Yeah, that's what it is.

That's what it is.

It's Divine, Archer, Belcher, Gray, Berg, Camp, Clawson, Collins, Crane, Gerlinski.

Well, we can figure out those in some ways as to how it's to evolve.

I don't want to .

I don't think they want me to .

I'm hurting myself over a lot of things, and it's not good for me to do that.

Okay, well, that second house session didn't work that way.

Remember, the Senate session was bad.

Oh, that's right.

The second house session was all right.

Let's get them charged up so that some of them say some positive things.

And then also we've got to think of what we do in another Senate session now.

I don't want to mix those senators up.

I will not see them all as candidates.

That's the one thing I'll do.

I'm not going to see all the candidates because they're a mixed bag anyway.

See as to what you want to do about it.

Thank you, Senator.

All right.

Now, Laird has invited you to come to his charter and marching thing next Wednesday, which I sure don't think you should know.

I can't go very strong on that.

I just want to go out and have a dinner or something.

I have a charter of marching.

I mean, you should have told her that I'm going to have to do this all the time.

I'll do it.

No, sir, I'm not going to get into their business.

You get on the hook with putting your apron on and all that.

I might even invite them to some kind of campaign or something.

This is going to be a real trouble.

When you receive the Danish ambassador for a farewell call, Arndt,

Because of his strong pro-U.S. triad, right?

It's fine.

Whatever.

Excuse me.

Inspector, it's a short and sure role.

I'm trying to change the location.

I'm sure.

I'm sure that's not... No, he's not.

Oh, I see.

I just don't want to...

I'm not going to get involved against Rizzo.

Rizzo.

Just so this discussion is penciled in.

That's fine.

That's what it would be.

He's...

Good.

Normally I wouldn't do politics, but I still need to turn it down.

And they're not talking about one order.

Thank you.

See, Bob, I want Rizzo to win.

I don't think that I have a Republican mayor in there.

I don't want to do something to the Democrats at all.

As a matter of fact, the other Republicans are going to win.

That's basic.

Despite all they're talking about, the Jews, they're splitting off from Rizzo.

But we'd be a lot longer at this kind of disaster anyway.

Oh, yeah, Morris.

But I don't think he'd be...

I don't know, I don't know.

The Democrats use a goddamn split to pull it over.

One race.

Now, we've got the National Merit Scholars, and again, I think we should have the Vice President do them.

Yeah, we did them last year.

And that's high school kids, high school seniors.

No, sir, I won't do them this year.

The Vice President will do them.

Well, we're going to leave them.

He did them in 69.

He did them last year.

I'm going to be leaving them this year.

That's right.

The only argument would be our interest in high school students, but I don't think it's the National American Scholars.

I mean, you know, our concern about the 80-year-old.

Yeah, but I don't think that's the way to do it.

There are other ways.

Or you like an emergency receiver.

Like a house.

Now Mitchell's intrigued by a suggestion from, let me put it this way to you, I think white efforts to identify with you are not going to help you at all.

We're going to say that it's sending us another bitch.

And it's going to hurt the old folks.

Because, you know, here's the question.

This isn't a blatant effort.

It's just a pretty kind of like, well, it's a natural reward.

It's natural to give them awards.

But what I meant is, I'm almost naked on the youth thing.

There's not much you can do except to be for the things that they're for.

And that's my whole concern.

I mean, is this right or not?

Having other people around and identifying them.

I don't know.

Maybe being on television.

Is it a suggestion?

that you considered appearing before, I guess, addressing, after being addressed, the New Hampshire General Court, which is their legislature, which meets only every two years, and they're in session.

Everybody in the gym needed to say a verse of that when she entered.

That's exactly right.

And I'm not going to do it.

I just, you know, I'm not going to do it.

That's not a suggestion.

Well, I don't know exactly where.

I can't figure it out.

The way I want to do it, I'm sure.

I've got to go.

I should go there sometime.

But that's the reason I want you to check out the situation on that place in Maine.

If I find out it's a place I want to visit, I'll go visit it.

See?

Yeah.

and I could drive back through a part of New Hampshire or something.

It's something like that.

I don't want to go to the rest of the legislature in New Hampshire.

I wouldn't think so.

I've done the legislature.

It just doesn't go around because they're a super Republican legislature, but that ain't us.

The only thing, we went through trying to find some things in New Hampshire.

The only thing that makes any real sense is there's a

It's being expanded with a federal grant.

Oh, that's good.

And that ties to Kansas and Manchester.

That's what I've got to plan for you.

I'm afraid it's a dark one.

But the thing to do is we have to wait until after school's done.

Do they have a summer session?

I think maybe you can get it right between the sessions.

Their commencement is June 13th.

They do have a summer session.

It ends August 21st, but we might be able to get it in between.

I wouldn't go when they had even a summer session class.

I'm not sure this is on the campus, but I think it is.

I'd rather just go to a place where, go to Manchester.

I feel I've got to go to New Hampshire once, mainly not because of the primary, because I said I'd be back as president sometime.

I need to go.

I'm not going to go because everybody's going to be jumping off without worry.

I know the memory I had when she got to me.

I've got to visit all the primary states.

The hell with that.

I'm not going to do it.

I'm not going to go to Oregon and Wisconsin and Nebraska and the rest.

I'm not going to do it.

I think it's wrong.

We've got to think of much bigger dreams.

I'm not at all sure we should just not even go to the pension.

What about the idea of going to the pension?

located completely off the way, why not go to visit Jack Dryden's asylum?

And then maybe take a boat down or a helicopter back to a town in New Hampshire, you know, and get the plane there.

Then have the people at the airport or have a reception there.

Or the people of New Hampshire heard I was coming and they wanted to have a reception for me.

Come in now.

And then I guess, and I say, well, fine, I'm glad to receive.

In other words, that might be an idea, see?

But maybe the driver's island is too far away from all of them.

Hill is the other thing.

I'm going up to the resort area in New Hampshire for a weekend on the basis that that's one of their big industries, is the summer resorts.

And that would be a way to get in.

You just come up, and that would publicize the resort there so that New Hampshire people would like that.

And from the coffee hotel, it goes to New Hampshire.

I go to Maine.

Right at this point.

Yeah, real twists.

Sure.

Yeah, I did.

Let's work back on that and see what we get.

Does Mrs. Nixon hit you on this Chad Sport Pennsylvania Museum location?

Yeah.

You guys got it?

What do you mean by that?

The poet?

The wild man?

I understand.

I have doubts about that.

I think we've done enough for him.

Maybe it's worse if she wants to go up and do it.

I agree she could do that on her own.

I really think she could do it on her own.

I don't know.

All right.

I think also it makes a better story.

Well, I don't think you should go back and do it again.

Well, I've been to Pennsylvania also, and I've been to Arlington once.

And you've done what?

And I think you've made the mistake of going to the White House.

That's correct.

So I think that should totally be better for her.

She doesn't have to play there.

Do you want to consider doing the AMA this year?

Oh, no.

That doesn't work.

There's 40,000 doctors in the United States.

You've got your cancer...

Plus a catcher there.

There for that.

There against everything else before us.

And we're working on that.

I don't know why the hell we didn't talk to him about this.

Well, we've got him going with us.

We're working with him back now and let him decide.

What I'm going to do is a speech on Elson.

June 21st to 22nd.

That's the part of that September that you can count on him.

No, no, no.

What is it?

I don't know.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Because you, yeah.

What I was thinking about was this.

What I was suggesting is to get the hell out of here.

You know, we've got to get away.

We've got to take off on the 18th.

And then spend that same door that day.

And then you leave right after that.

And then spend the 19th, the 20th.

And the 21st and that next week.

Spend that in the 24th.

But you let me go to Cal in the 32th.

When he sets it up for the 28th.

Well, I can spend that week in California and do the... And you see, we don't have to do that.

And then we can do the excited meeting and the goals meetings, both of them that week.

You know what I mean?

The problem is being ready.

They're not ready for that.

I see.

Won't they be ready the 26th?

They will be ready the 26th.

Why don't you do it the 26th?

25 and 26, they can be ready at 26, they can be ready at 25, and they can push it, and then I can take off and go out there at 27.

Assuming they do it, that he picks the 28.

He picks the 28.

Which two picks do you offer?

The 28 has the first choice, and the 25 has the second.

Okay.

Well, if he picks the 25, why don't you go out there and then come back and do the couple of other things when we return?

Well, the other...

Looking at down the week after that leads into the 4th of July weekend.

The thing we're trying to work out now that we are going to suggest for the 100 America Day business is doing something in a subtle, middle America city that has a 4th of July thing.

The old kind.

Champaign, Illinois, for instance, has a very big 4th of July thing.

And also a university.

Yeah, but it's July 4th.

I don't think you're going to have much university background.

We're looking at places like in Iowa and Illinois and like that where you have an old-fashioned 4th of July.

And where you just come in and are part of the old-fashioned 4th of July.

We were even thinking about doing two.

One where you review a parade or something.

And then the other where you do their ceremony with the fireworks in the evening.

With the idea that the evening before, on 4th of July Eve, you do your little inspirational What America Needs to Me type talk.

Can I have you back?

We want to be in California that time.

Well, we can be in California.

It'd be alright to be in California and do this on the way back to Washington.

Yeah.

Well, you can stay there.

We shouldn't really go to California tonight.

We've got to stay there.

in order to get it, because those are going to fall, knock back, knock a hell of a hole in it by going out the midway.

I don't see any problem.

I would keep you out there two weeks, but I don't see any problem.

No, it already is in two weeks.

As far as the headquarters is concerned, if the headquarters is going to get out of here, that's right, they'll be gone, they'll be gone in the first, they'll start pulling down around the 20th, at least in the area that we brought down.

I don't think it makes sense to go out there on strategy.

Well, anyway, I don't, on the AMA, that comes back to that as to whether or not we ought to get mentioned down on that period of time.

Well, I mean, because the other thing is that we can do the AMA on Monday and then go on to California on Tuesday.

Yeah, sure.

If you want to do the AMA.

Well, just to be on the air, I'm going to do this.

You don't want to do it in an election year.

I just want to know.

And you'll get a hell of a reception from a large bunch of people.

Raise it with me later.

We can't have that.

I'll hold that.

Well, I've given you a memo.

You don't want to discuss two issues with me.

One is this.

to suggest that we, yes, we have an NEC meeting scheduled on it for June, and still I don't think it's all that eager to stand either, that then be submitted to the Europeans, and in NATO,

Well, I told him, look, I just want you to know, every drop in your eyes now is at the presidential level, so you better be careful what you read.

All right, fine.

So, now, Bill,

of forces as a proposal, I would feel that you could tell him that that might be the first proposal we'll make after the study is concluded.

But we really aren't all that sure yet.

I'm interested now in discussing, because Larry played it well.

He played it very closely, I guess.

Larry played it well.

That's right.

Okay.

Now, on the Chinese issue, we really, well, it really is a close decision because on the one hand, if we stick to our present position, we are certain to be defeated now, almost certain to be defeated.

Probably.

If we go to the new position, we may antagonize both China.

We're almost certain to antagonize both China.

that they could never agree to any formula that meant the laws of security.

They said it to Murphy, but now they've said it officially.

Oh, yes, but you've never had it officially.

If you do that, on the other hand, the two China's illusion means that they'll lose their security council seat as soon as the

He has to tell something to the British when he's over there.

Now, actually I recommend it to you, which is wrong, which I've changed my mind on to say you want to defer a decision.

I think perhaps the best way

China idea, but defer a final decision to see what the response would be.

If we find we're going to lose on the true China one too, then we have no advantage in it.

This would give you four to six weeks.

It wouldn't lock you into the position, but it would authorize them to find... Well, if he comes, if he goes to say what the final of their position is, Henry...

The question is, is he going, and it depends on his attitude, is he going to say we advocated or is it on a strict metronomy?

That's the point.

Well, he could at this point take it strictly, say it's hard for us.

What was it we go to depends on what consensus it commands.

And therefore, I'm trying to gain us six weeks until we've seen the Chinese.

The real problem you have

You know, the more I think about this, the more I, you know, it's a tough son of a bitch.

He didn't have a whole lot of money.

And Bill will totally disagree with this because he does not understand politics in this respect.

He reads these papers too much.

Don't get the impression.

that are throwing chant on the board, piling on the board, and putting our arms around communist China's political popular in the United States.

It is not.

I know.

I'm not at all surprised.

I know.

It is a devastating issue for us.

And also, it is a difficulty for us in the world, even if all I saw, worried about, and be worried about, is when he's pushing them to fight the Chinese.

He says, here, we've been trying to hold the line against these people, and here they are.

They're going to be in all these embassies around, and they're trying to get in here, and they're stirring up our anger.

Because of my own, and I just don't know yet on the other end, I realize this, in our so-called peace posture, which is a bunch of craziness for a moment,

When we take his heart and a little view on that, people are going to say, ah, there we are.

Oh, the policy and so forth.

And it's true.

And secondly, it rolled.

And people said, well, the United States lost opportunity.

All these other assholes in the Senate for us to jump on the other side.

But you could take the position, Mr. President, that we have proved that we want China in the community of nations.

But it hasn't really given any clear demonstration yet.

I would not suffer any pain

I think I slightly favor sticking with the existing policy.

For the reasons you gave, I don't see enough advantage in a two-China policy.

You see, Mr. President, one advantage of permitting charges to begin noncommittal consultation is this.

If he would find out that he can't get a majority for true China, if he can't get a majority for that, then you are on great grounds for sticking with the existing policy.

Then you would take the position that you just reached, that if the choice is between having only communist China or only Taiwan, they stick with the existing policy.

Sure, Tom, listen here.

I have a feeling, too, you see, that I would ask, maybe like you mentioned, my side of the draw sucks.

Let's remember we don't want to be in the position, having thought as we are, this battle to...

to avoid a communist takeover in a miserable part of Southeast Asia and suffer all the pain and agony that we have here?

Are we going to be the ones that are going to be responsible for the communist's insidious influence and respectability?

throughout Asia and Africa and the Middle East and are we at the same time fighting to get an almost mortal blow of discouragement to our friends?

Take Kishi.

Kishi feels very strongly in Japan.

He and, you know, and that represents a hell of a lot of Japanese, Koreans that are on the side of Taiwan.

And frankly, because we've asked him to,

The Philippines even.

Because if you go to Peking, all of this will happen anyway.

I know, I know, but that's a year later.

I mean, we're talking about a later time.

I know it's a year later.

What we've got to think about is, and I agree with Rodney, let's try to buy some time.

And I think maybe your idea of having a consultant, let's be noncommittal at this point.

Let's find out where the hell we stand.

But when he consults on them, you're making clear that we, that it should be on the basis that we, that we have to stand firmly for their right to the Security Council's city.

How about consulting that way?

That can't be done, Mr. President.

There's no technical way of doing it.

Because the minute there are two Chinas, it becomes a credentials issue.

And then?

And on which we have no veto.

We have no veto, I understand.

Could we get a majority?

No.

The majority would be forgiving me, Steve.

No question.

On the issue of which country is China, we can probably argue that that is vetoable.

But on the issue of which of two Chinese representations is entitled to the Chinese seat, that would be, we've had that analyzed.

In the security council, that's determined.

Yes.

Not in the assembly.

No.

I said, well, of course.

And of course the Security Council would know without any questions.

Exactly.

That's the dilemma.

And that they didn't make clear to us in March.

George Bush had it analyzed.

I had the legal advisor of the State Department analyze it.

Bill, don't you understand?

Let's get this, Mr.

The main thing is that on his end, I am a mutual balance force director.

I think we're we've got to do

Go very good.

We bought all the time.

Now let's go goddamn slowly on this thing.

I think the 10% idea is that it's all politics now.

It's a good idea at a proper time.

The point is, right now, the time is going to be offered.

I would do it right.

The other thought is that we should have an NSC meeting on it.

Why don't you say you want an M.S.C.?

You've got to get good past that.

That's the best I know.

Good.

Now, two Chinese names.

We're just trying to consult, trying to consult quietly.

Is that possible?

It is with the British, that's for sure.

Who else?

Who else can we consult with?

Australians...

Now, the other side of the coin is here we are.

Here we are at an opportunity to screw the Soviet.

That's what you're thinking of, too, isn't it?

On the China problem.

That is the bigger issue.

Does the Soviet want China in the U.N.?

Does the Soviet want them in the U.N.?

Well, I just sent you a memo to Friedman.

They said if China is in the U.N., they'll cause them a hell of a lot more trouble than us.

They said, we can't change our policy now.

That's what he said.

Was his attitude, John, courteous of you?

Oh, extremely.

So you think that this crap over there is just the usual?

I mean, you're going to get around to a bunch of thugs and burglars.

Oh, they're just a bunch of gangsters.

They cannot fail to take petty advantage of you.

That's their problem.

They made their own revolution.

On the Chinese thing, too, the real question is the broader question.

The other thing is the historic change in the relationship between China and the world.

And God damn it, I just don't know.

Now, if there's something to be said, though, Lee, who is Chinese, very much, he said, it may be that Mao's death

could have a more massive effect than the death of Ho Chi Minh or Stalin or anything like that.

Oh, yes.

China did not marry a so easy but communist country as Russia was.

Or, would you agree?

Oh, not nearly.

And they brought

Every other communist country has had a firm communist party apparatus.

They have destroyed it.

They are so dependent on the army and their communist party.

Well, then what is your feeling?

Well, my feeling, Mr. President, is this.

You have to consider that the present policy may have the practical consequence of screwing Taiwan more than a new policy.

Because the present policy will surely lose us.

Yeah?

You mean ours?

The only, the chief... Yeah, but...

How would changing our policy help Taiwan?

Well, if by changing our policy we could get a majority for two times, and that would then almost certainly communist China would not claim that seat.

Then we would keep Taiwan in for a few more years.

We would still lose in two or three years.

Well, if they wouldn't claim the seat, that would be great.

That's right.

That would build arguments.

Yeah, on the other hand... Well, and it also gets us into massive problems with Peking at this point.

I think they'd rather have us stick to our present policy.

See, we may be in the curious position where both Taiwan and Peking...

Uh, I waited a while over here, but if you want to tell us, you might as well.

Yes, sir.

Did you send this to Patrick?

Yes, I did.

Big time, big time.

I understand.

I don't get it.

The Vice President is sore as hell at you.

So send me an email.

Okay.

I'll be there in five minutes.

You'll get paid to follow your policy.

You can just crawl back and say it's not five minutes.

I'll be there in two hours.

Huh?

You're wearing a 72-inch coat.