Conversation 512-027

TapeTape 512StartFriday, June 4, 1971 at 4:47 PMEndFriday, June 4, 1971 at 5:59 PMTape start time04:14:48Tape end time05:19:23ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Kissinger, Henry A.;  Agnew, Spiro T. (Vice President);  Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob");  White House operator;  Ferguson, HomerRecording deviceOval Office

On June 4, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and Homer Ferguson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:47 pm to 5:59 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 512-027 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 512-27

Date: June 4, 1971
Time: 4:47 pm - 5:59 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Henry A. Kissinger

     Dr. Edwin H. Land

     Dr. James R. Schlesinger

     President’s foreign policy
          -Presentation to President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board [PFIAB]

           -Yuli M. Vorontsov
                 -Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
                 -Meeting with General Alexander M. Haig, Jr., June 4
                      -Visa request by White House Fellow
           -Nelson A. Rockefeller
                 -Conversation with President
Vice President Spiro T. Agnew entered at 4:51 pm

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
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2014-027. Segment exempt per Executive Order 13526, 3.3(b)(1) on 06/25/2019. Archivist:
MAS]
[National Security]
[512-027-w002]
[Duration: 1m 55s]

     INTELLIGENCE

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Kissinger left at 4:52 pm

     President’s previous meeting with PFIAB

H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman entered at an unknown time after 4:52 pm

Agnew’s schedule
    -Korea
    -Kissinger
    -Taiwan
    -People’s Republic of China [PRC]
          -US relations
    -Taiwan
    -PRC                                                      Con. No. 512-27 (cont.)
          -US relations
                -Trade
                     -Grain
                     -Strategic Materials
                -Travel
                     -Democrats
    -Taiwan
    -PRC
    -Japan
    -Thailand
    -Taiwan
          -Agnew’s forthcoming meeting with Kissinger, June 4
          -United Nations
    -Kissinger
          -President’s schedule
                -Tulsa
    -Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia
    -Australia
    -Size of delegation
          -Hugh Scott, Gale W. McGee
    -Europe
          -Judy and Kim Agnew
          -Spain, Portugal
    -Iran
          -Israel
          -Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi
    -Egypt
          -William P. Rogers’ schedule
    -Greece
          -Maurice H. Stans
    -Romania
    -Yugoslavia
    -Bulgaria
          -Greek-American community

          -Greece
          -Spain, Portugal
          -Morocco
          -Saudi Arabia
          -Israel
                -United Arab Republic [UAR]
                -Jordan
          -Saudi Arabia                                              Con. No. 512-27 (cont.)
                -Prince Faisal ibn-Saud

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[National Security]
[512-027-w004]
[Duration: 9s]

     Spiro T. Agnew’s schedule
          -Saudi Arabia
                -Pressure Jews

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     Spiro T. Agnew’s schedule
          -Greece
          -Kissinger
                -President
          -South Carolina legislature
                -Revenue sharing
          -Greece
                -Kissinger
                -Possible effect

     New York Times article
         -PRC
         -Stans’ visit to Greece

[The President talked with Kissinger at an unknown time between 4:52 pm and 5:12 pm]

[Conversation No. 512-29A]

     Agnew’s schedule
         -Foreign trip
         -Kissinger
               -President
         -Greece
               -New York Times                                      Con. No. 512-27 (cont.)
         -Foreign trip
               -Morocco
               -Saudi Arabia
               -UAR
               -Saudi Arabia
                     -Prince Faisal’s conversation with President

[End of telephone conversation]

                -Saudi Arabia
                -Iran
                      -Relations with the US

     State gift from Saudi Arabia

     Unknown man with blue eyes

     US foreign policy

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[National Security]
[512-027-w014]
[Duration: 9s]

     US foreign policy
          -Relations with Arabs compared to Jews

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     US foreign policy
          -Jewish vote
               -Bernard J. (“Bunny”) Lasker
               -Taft Schreiber

     President’s schedule
          -Agnew, Kissinger
                -Arthur J. Sohmer                                    Con. No. 512-27 (cont.)

Agnew left at 5:12 pm

     Agnew
         -Activities
         -Schedule
              -PRC
                        -Stans, David M. Kennedy

[The President talked with Kissinger at an unknown time between 5:12 pm and 5:14 pm]

[Conversation No. 512-29B]

     Kissinger’s schedule
          -Agnew, President

[End of telephone conversation]

     Agnew
         -Possible visit to Greece
              -Political effect

[The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 5:12 pm and
5:14 pm]

[Conversation No. 512-27C]

[See Conversation No. 4-35]

[End of telephone conversation]

Kissinger entered at 5:15 pm

     Agnew

          -Previous meeting with President
               -Greece
               -K. Agnew
               -Iran
               -PRC
               -Taiwan
                     -Chiang Kai-shek
                                                                       Con. No. 512-27 (cont.)
[The President talked with Ferguson between 5:14 pm and 5:17 pm]

[Conversation No. 512-27D]

[See Conversation No. 4-36]

     Agnew
         -Schedule

[The above portion of the office conversation took place simultaneously with Conversation No.
512-27D]

[End of telephone conversation]

     Ferguson
          -John N. Mitchell
          -Judge [Forename unknown] Cobbs

     Agnew
         -Foreign trip
              -Greece, Taiwan, PRC
              -Conversation with President regarding PRC
              -United Nations [UN]
              -Greece
              -Possible statement regarding Greece
              -Timing
              -Greece
              -Korea
              -South Vietnam
              -Thailand
              -India, Pakistan
              -Malaysia
              -Singapore
              -Indonesia

               -South Vietnam
                     -President’s forthcoming meeting General Nguyen Van Thieu
               -Iran
               -Saudi Arabia
               -Morocco
               -Portugal
               -Spain
               -Kissinger’s schedule                                 Con. No. 512-27 (cont.)
                     -Thailand
               -Countries
               -Kissinger
               -Asia, Europe, Africa
               -Greece
                     -Possible reaction of President’s opponents
               -Africa
               -Press corps

    President’s foreign policy
         -Vietnam
         -Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
          -PRC
          -Vietnam negotiations
                -Scheduling
                -Lieutenant General Vernon A. Walters
                -North Vietnamese contacts with PRC
          -Mao Tse-tung’s possible reception of President
                -Implications
                -Motives
                -PRC communique
          -President’s previous meeting with PFIAB
                -Dr. Franklin D. Murphy
                -PRC, Soviet Union

    Intellectuals
          -Effect of education

    The President’s personal qualities of leadership
         -Raymond K. Price, Jr.’s opinion

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[Previous PRMPA Privacy (D) reviewed under PRMPA regulations 06/25/2019. Segment
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[Privacy]
[512-027-w015]
[Duration: 32s]

     The President’s personal qualities of leadership
          -Ronald W. Reagan                                      Con. No. 512-27 (cont.)
               -The President’s opinion
               -Qualities needed for leadership
               -Henry A. Kissinger’s opinion

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     Spiro T. Agnew

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cleared for release.]
[Privacy]
[512-027-w016]
[Duration: 3s]

     Spiro T. Agnew
          -Compared to Ronald W. Reagan

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     Spiro T. Agnew
          -Foreign trip
                -PRC

     US-PRC relations
         -President’s possible trip
               -Genghis Khan
         -President’s possible trip to Soviet Union
         -President’s possible trip
               -Timing

          -President’s possible trip to Soviet Union
          -Announcement of SALT
          -Agnew
                -Schedule
                     -President’s 1959 visit to Soviet Union

     Unknown member of Congress
         -Lecture to Council on Foreign Relations
              -Vietnam
              -Motive
         -Murder of Ngo Dinh Diem
         -Lectures
              -Distribution

     President’s foreign policy
          -PRC, Soviet Union
          -Vietnam War
          -General Charles A. J. M. de Gaulle
          -Mao
          -Successes

     Reconnaissance camera
         -Dr. Land
               -Forthcoming call from Kissinger

     Domestic intelligence
         -Huston Plan
         -J. Edgar Hoover
               -Successor
         -Richard M. Helms
         -Walters

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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 11
[National Security (B) withdrawal reviewed under MDR guidelines case number LPRN-T-MDR-
2014-027. Segment exempt per Executive Order 13526, 50x1 on 10/24/2019. Archivist:DR]
[National Security]
[512-027-w011]
[Duration: 58s]

     INTELLIGENCE

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 11

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     State Department
           -Robert D. Murphy’s views
           -President’s letter to Eisaku Sato
                 -Textiles
                 -U. Alexis Johnson’s reaction
           -Kennedy’s views
           -Removal of ambassadors
                 -Kenneth B. Keating
                      -Activities
                 -Gerard C. Smith
                 -Keating
           -[David] Kenneth Rush
           -Paul H. Nitze
                 -Possible role with administration
                 -J. William Fulbright’s views
                 -Possible ambassadorship
           -Economic intelligence
                 -Results
           -Kissinger’s visit to Europe
                 -Donald H. Rumsfeld, Robert H. Finch
                 -Walter H. Annenberg

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[National Security]
[512-027-w013]
[Duration: 1m 23s]

     Henry A. Kissinger’s schedule
          -Pakistani

                -Money
                -Message from the President
                -Need for US
                     -Bankruptcy
                -Drinking
                -Blackmail

     Personal secretary for the President [of Pakistan] [?]         Con. No. 512-27 (cont.)
                -Gifts from the President
                      -Wife

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Kissinger left at 5:47 pm

     Agnew
         -Performance in office

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[Personal Returnable]
[512-027-w017]
[Duration: 1m 42s]

     Spiro T. Agnew
          -Possible replacement
                -John B. Connally
                      -Preference and ability
               -Ronald W. Reagan
                      -Possibility
          -Compared with Ronald W. Reagan
               -Intelligence
               -Ability as a candidate
          -The President’s relationship with Dwight D. Eisenhower
               -Conservative credentials
                -Compared to Spiro T. Agnew
                      -Attitudes towards the press

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     Spiro T. Agnew
          -Attacks by liberals, press
          -Attitude
          -Popular opinion
                                                                       Con. No. 512-27 (cont.)
     President’s schedule
          -Water project
                -Upcoming trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma

     Chief Justice

     Presidential airplane
           -Name
           -Designation

     President’s schedule
          -Demonstrators
          -Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] graduation
                -Egil (“Bud”) Krogh, Jr.’s conversation with Hoover
          -Tulsa
          -Haldeman’s schedule
                -Son’s graduation
          -Background material

Haldeman left at 5:59 pm

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.

about land in Mississippi.
I think Mr. President, you have to do it.
I know that this budget and everything was on that, but Schlesinger doesn't understand the big play in this thing.
Now land, land is, it's the, there isn't any question
But as I said, as the world opens up, it becomes more interesting.
I thought, Mr. President, it was a superb, if I may say so, presentation.
Well, it was subtle.
And two months from now, they'll even know how subtle it really was.
I hope they saw the point.
Oh, the Russians are really slobbering at the mouth.
Vorontsov, the deputy of Dubrinin, saw hay today on some technical point of visas for White House fellows.
But one of the White House fellows had flown 135 combat missions over North Vietnam, and they said, look, we've got to deny him the visa, but we don't want to do that.
So why don't you withdraw his request?
So we did it, and they said, look, you and we are going to do great things together the rest of this year.
I don't want them to happen.
I don't know if they will, but if they do happen, I don't want you to feel that I didn't tell you to do it.
It's all right.
Just remember that I'm too important for you.
Some things might be going on.
And he, of course... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
All right.
Just hold on.
Oh, God damn it.
Thank you so much.
We just had a meeting with the intelligence team on Sunday.
I just wanted to see you a minute.
I had an idea.
I don't know whether it's worth anything or whether it's not, but I thought that I'd ask you about it.
I thought I'd ask you about it.
You know, when it goes to this... Korea?
Korea.
Yeah.
There's some feeling, although I haven't discussed any itinerary with Henry, there's some feeling that we ought to stay away from Taiwan.
because of the situation.
I don't know what the decision is on that, but the thought came to me that it might be a, and I don't know how the mainland Chinese would think of this, but it might, looking back, recollecting your visits to the Soviet Union, it might not be a bad thing if we could do it, if I could go to PRC.
And Taiwan.
Well,
The problem, I don't think they will be, I'm afraid we will not be, we will not move far enough to see if you are in our own talks with them.
I had in mind, though, I had very much in mind the possibility of something going on with the Chinese.
We don't want to be in a position of going too fast because of the fact that we do.
We're going to push that away, and also we're going to scare a whole lot of other people and get a lot of people that are disturbed.
I'm inclined to think, I'm inclined to think some other stops would be useful.
I think the, on the Tidewatering.
You can't go to Tidewatering at this point because all they would be sent on you.
And you don't want to say anything right now.
Something may, something may come.
I can tell you that something could come of the Chinese thing in terms of the
within two or three months.
It will not be within two or three weeks, though.
You see, we're going to make an understated amount of trade in June 2010.
We're going to work grain for the day and then, so we can get some of our farmers to go happy.
All soft goods, all soft goods, nothing heavy, nothing strategic.
But in terms of the travel thing,
They haven't accepted as many of the Democratic candidates as they have so far.
As far as we're concerned, we want to take a look at it, I think, a little further down after we made the trade thing.
Let's see what happens on that.
Well, it's unfortunate.
I thought it would be as invasive for two reasons.
First of all, on my other two trips, I've stopped at Taiwan.
The failure to stop at Taiwan is a very tough thing for them, I would think.
And I just thought this would be a way to overcome it, if it could be just a formal stop at both places.
Well, the difficulty is that the China thing is not ready for a stop.
We don't want to be too anxious.
Let me ask you, what other places did you have in mind that you'd like to go to?
Well, over there, what I wanted to do, I told Henry that, frankly, what I read of Japan every day, it looks like it would be just a
That's a tremendous demonstration.
We don't need that right now.
So I thought on the Asian part of it, I'd want to go back to some of the places I've been.
Maybe.
Thailand.
Maybe.
Did you talk to anybody about Taiwan?
Well, I think I have an appointment with Henry tomorrow morning to discuss that.
But this just occurred to me, this idea, and I'm sorry it didn't work.
We will not, incidentally, have made a decision about the U.N. thing by that time.
So you have no problem with that.
That will not be made until later.
What time are you staying?
I'm going to Tulsa tomorrow.
Are you staying hungry tomorrow?
8 o'clock.
Oh, good.
3 o'clock in the morning.
Breakfast or something?
Yes.
Oh, fine.
Well, I'll be over here after you see him, when you and he come in, and then let's talk further about it.
Yes.
Are you going to meet him here at this point, or...?
Oh, he's coming over to my office for breakfast.
Good.
I'll be over here.
I'll be over here, and when we get off the truck, we can, just as we finish breakfast, we can come over here, and I was talking about the best friends I actually have.
Raise the subject with him.
Okay.
And the whole subject of the thing, because I hadn't thought over any countries with him.
I didn't try to have him close.
Thailand, Malaysia, possibly Indonesia.
You've been to Australia?
Yes, sir.
Oh, yes.
That was a first trip.
One thing I'd like to do, I'd like to make this a working trip and hit those countries I've hit.
The delegation, incidentally, he told me it was all right to go ahead and firm up the ideas of a small delegation and discuss that with you.
Sure, sure.
I think Scott wants to go, and McGee, I thought Scott and McGee from the Senate, you know, do it that way.
But on the way back, what I wanted to do, I wanted to, while my daughter's out of school, it's a great chance for her, she's, I want to send Judy and Kim over to Europe and then
Maybe do Spain and Portugal on the way back or something of that sort, if that's all right, or two European countries on the way back.
Pick them up and bring them home.
Well, the other possibility is that I was thinking of...
I was thinking of a partnership with Iran.
On the other hand, we're going to have to do it in Israel.
No, we're not going to.
We're not going to.
Iran is the one country we can go to.
We're not going to Israel.
if he gets on the edge, and they, the shots, and we could hit Iran.
I'm not particularly eager to go.
I'd rather go to Egypt, but nevertheless, Iran is one of the
The great thing about this appeal would be, the only problem we have there is that I think they're just getting unsure to go for it.
After what they did to the Stans and, uh, uh... Is that any, uh, what, what your Eastern European accuracy do not?
Well, when you discuss it in the morning, you're racing, you're racing, but if you can't do Romanian, I've done that.
Or you could Slovakian, but...
I don't agree.
Your absolute, your absolute sense were...
No demonstrations in any of those countries, actually, I'm sure.
And if we could really go to any of them, I think it would be good.
Now, one of them has never been to Bulgaria.
Nobody's been to Bulgaria.
They've always been enemies of Greece.
That would get me in deep trouble, wouldn't it?
They have in the past, but I mean, nobody cares.
The trouble is that the President's been with them.
Greek situation with my antecedents there and the Greek-American community here, and I was catching the hell for not going to Greece anyway.
But I had no sense.
I just think myself, I think I ought to go to Greece.
I think it's abnormal not to go to Greece for me.
And I know there's... You mean you would go at the end of your trip?
Yes.
Pick my family up there, send them over, let them
spend a few days here and there.
But I couldn't let them go unless I stopped.
No, no, no.
By all means, I said, go to Europe.
You didn't do that.
Spain, Portugal, good.
Another, I mean, I think one actor, not black, but... How about, we've got to refuel somewhere.
I'm wondering about Saudi Arabia.
That's sort of on the way.
Saudi Arabia would be good.
That would be interesting, too.
I've never been there, but I'm sure it would be.
That sounds like a good race.
See, I don't know whether there's other things like it.
Sabu should be good.
Damn, I wish you could go to Egypt.
I'd like to work.
But you don't think, do you think Greece would be too?
No, not, I, it raises problems.
Discuss it, though.
Let's discuss it.
When you finish, I'll be over here in a little while.
I had a meeting in South Carolina.
The legislature.
They're one of the people.
They're going to pass a resolution supporting revenue sharing.
Good.
Well, I'll tell Henry then.
Henry had indicated to me that, because I'd raised a Greek question.
He said, well, you know, he said he didn't think that you would think that was wise to go to Greece.
Well, we said what we were concerned about, frankly, was the impact.
the fact that you might give your detractors an unnecessary ammunition.
I don't know, maybe it doesn't make all that much difference.
I don't give a tinker's antelope.
I don't give a tinker's antelope to people that are against the Greek government anyway.
I got never stopped to think of what the Times did.
They wrote a eulogy.
about the red Chinese slight move, and they criticize Maury's stance to beat hell in Greece.
In one case, they're talking about a country that gives ten divisions to NATO.
In the other case, they're talking about a country that gives ten divisions to Hanoi.
I don't know how their minds work.
They're rather strange.
But they seem to compartmentalize all their opinions so that none affects the other.
But I was...
I was...
Anyway, Vice President and I are just talking here about his trip, and he's going to have breakfast with you at 8 o'clock, when you finish, whatever it is, you know, when you finish talking preliminary.
I'd like that you come on, you and he come in, and I'll be in my office here a little bit.
Yeah, aren't you seeing him tomorrow?
Yeah, I go to Tulsa Bar, but I'll be back, I believe, at 9.30.
So you come over and you finish.
And I'd like you to consider, I'd like you to talk over more.
I'm not so sure that, frankly, it's all that much of a problem.
But just talk it over.
That's at least, you know.
And it's why not the, when I think of the diversionary tactics, I mean, you know, what are you going to have in the dark times?
All right.
You talk to him, very frankly, about the whole thing, and I'll try to decide what to comment, but you know what I mean?
Don't.
Because he's got strong feelings about it.
I just told him that we're talking now.
You and he talk it over and talk about the other places that he almost stopped.
Okay.
And what about Morocco?
I think Morocco would be good.
It's a fascinating part to do.
And we also talked about Saudi Arabia.
I think we did that.
And I said, look, you don't have to have this.
I think you ought to have a, and I'm not sure that you ought to do this, I think you ought to go to your right hand.
That's a hell of a country.
I mean, they're great friends of ours.
You've never been there?
No.
Well, it's a place to see, and also, it's a good fuel stop.
Yes sir, I'll be here.
That's for my son, as it was stated yesterday.
All right, let's just take off any parts of the blade and bend off any other thing.
All right, let's take, particularly that one, the blue eyes.
Oh, he's very fluent.
Very light blue eyes.
Oh, there are.
John, you're very interesting.
I just wish there was a way we could get 100 million Arabs on our side, but the two million Israelis would be on the other side.
I think you're right.
I think the Arabs are coming around very strongly.
If you hang the first president, it's given them anything.
It's treated them right in the butt.
That's right.
They've been all around.
There is a damn thing in Egypt.
We have individual Jewish parents, like my name is Lasker, you've got a few, and I've got Pat Shriver in California.
But as far as the Jewish vote in this circuit, it's 80% the other way.
80%.
Huh?
No doubt about it.
Hey, I've got an idea.
Why don't you, so that we can do it.
Why don't you and Henry join me for breakfast?
We just want to talk to you over the phone.
Over here.
Thank you.
We can do it.
That would be good.
It was the first one, so.
Yes, sir.
You tell him, sir.
Yeah, we'll set it up.
All right.
Do you want to bring anybody with you?
No, well, it might help if I brought Mark Sommer, whoever you want.
Yes, sure.
We'll bring Mark with you, and we can sit and talk about it in an easy way.
All right, thank you.
Thank you, sir.
So they know what I'm gonna do in a nice way, at least.
I was gonna talk to Henry about something like that, instead of coming in for you and... Well, I suppose he figured he's got a life role, so he's...
He doesn't really know how, he just doesn't know how complex things are.
That's right.
Like on the China thing, he's like, go to China, we'll come...
That's right.
Everybody in this joint wants to get his left hand to get into town.
Or his hands want to go.
David Kennedy wants to go.
They all think if I don't ask, I've got no chance.
So they ask.
So they ask.
It's an old kick, though, obviously.
Yeah, well, somebody put them in a team as a club.
Yeah, have you got a man?
I've changed.
I'm going to have you go with him to breakfast with me at 8.30 instead to save the time.
Are you free to come over?
I want to talk five minutes before we get into breakfast.
I have to leave.
Fine.
Thank you so much.
I don't know what to say.
Thanks so much.
Take care.
I don't understand foreign policies.
He said it was terrible.
He said it was terrible for all the liberals in this country.
Like for Christ's sake, there's not much difference.
And again, careful what he says.
You sure don't want him to go to Greece and praise the government and go get carried away with it.
Well, he's got to say something complimentary.
There's no Greece in this country.
Now, if you're going to see his point, he's on his own.
The judge, Homer Ferguson, please.
It is.
I think that it turns off now.
We'll go second.
Yeah.
For you.
With your respect for this, we're just sticking it and sitting it and then doing it.
Do you guess?
Craig.
It's Mr. Craig.
No.
Are you kidding?
Thank you, now.
Think big, Andy.
The Vice President had to see the President this afternoon for five minutes on a very important idea that he had.
I'm not sure.
wants to take his daughter to... No, Christ.
Go on, to where?
For food to Greece, and then... No.
If he's going to Greece, where else would he want to go?
Tehran.
Henry, sir, I say, can I put your mentor's sights up?
You're a man with a little mind, Henry, and with a little mind.
Of course, of course.
Why the hell would he come in and ask to go to Iran?
And I said that it just wasn't quite ready yet, that we couldn't carry on.
He had it set up pretty well.
He said he ought to, but he couldn't really overfly change.
He'd go in and never force.
He thought that he ought to do it in China at the same time.
It was maybe a good idea to go to both places.
Hello.
Yes, sir.
Hello.
Yes, all right.
Yes, sir.
All right.
That's all right.
It's all right.
Oh, well, thank you very much.
Well, thank you.
Well, yes, Matthew, well, that's yours.
Yes.
Right, right.
Right, right, I got it.
And I put him back in the parking lot too.
Yeah.
Uh-huh, uh-huh.
I wish you would.
Give John a call, John Mitchell.
Just say that you and I were chatting, and I asked you to call him, Bob.
And when he comes in, I won't see him.
I'm going out to Tulsa in the morning, but I won't see him.
Just give Mitchell a call.
You know, you didn't bother me.
That's all right.
All right.
Sure.
Well, I appreciate it.
I, uh, will.
I'm glad you're still full of beans.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't blame you.
You know, when people get to the point they don't have anything left, they have no period.
We've got something left.
Yeah.
Yeah, I get it.
That's right.
Right.
Good.
Good.
Bye.
Bye.
Good.
Okay.
Bye.
Bye.
Okay.
The idea that anyone would want to go to Greece, Taiwan, and Communist China on the same trip.
I had an answer, and I said, really, we weren't ready yet, and everybody wanted to go, and we had to move more slowly here.
and that we wouldn't have made the decision on regard to the U.N. at that time, and I get it all from the place of accident.
The other point is, where the hell else he goes, and I just don't know.
Now... You see, my worry, Mr. President, about Greece is, he is sure as hell going to say something that is going to be in every European newspaper.
They're going to play it to a fairly well.
There isn't anything in us, in it for us, if we could get... Why don't you put it to him in the morning this way, that you have considered that it would be very much, it might very well be in our interest in October.
Can we say that?
Sure.
Probably not, but at any rate, if we have the summit behind us, the China announcement behind us, we can afford having him run anywhere.
Why don't you just say that you're right now with trying to fight on the Greece, and he's stubborn as hell about it.
Well, he's raised it about 25 times.
I think he ought to go to Korea.
I think he ought to go to Vietnam.
Well, I'll be there in Vietnam at this time.
Thailand?
Yeah, he can go to Thailand.
I think he ought to run.
Frankly, I tell him he don't want to fight a little war.
He should be out of Asia.
As much as possible, because we'd like to get people watching other parts of the world.
He can't go to India or Pakistan.
He can't go to India or Pakistan, so all he can go to is...
He might go to Malaysia.
He can go to Malaysia.
Malaysia, Singapore.
He can go to Malaysia, Singapore.
Indonesia, if he wants to.
He's not going to take it.
No, he wouldn't take it.
I thought he should go to Indonesia.
He can do any of that.
Remember, you're keeping him over there in Asia.
Well, I'm sorry.
He said, not in places you're going to be.
I think it's good that he's around there at that time.
Takes the eyes off of you.
Indonesia's good.
Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand.
He wants to go.
And then I was scared of Vietnam because I tell him we just don't want to get in a war.
You can also tell him there's a meeting with you coming up.
Just that you want to tell him.
He's pretty discreet.
Then I think he ought to go to Iran.
I see no reason for him not to be free.
That's fine.
We're, you know, sort of tentatively thinking of that 200th anniversary, but this won't.
That doesn't make any difference.
Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Portugal, Spain.
How's that?
I think on the whole...
What I would like to consider is myself going to Bangkok.
Just to make it look as if I'm on a junket.
Well, Nelson, I think you'd rather not go there.
Yeah.
Tony, you ought to skip some of the countries.
Oh, he can skip Bangkok.
I think what he can do is not go to countries...
except for korea and he's not before then that will explain he's not going to china taiwan get my point right say that he shouldn't go should go to bangkok either he shouldn't go to taiwan either oh christ no wonder we have to try to please see he says he has to because he always does he says he always says oh we know but he says he said i realized
But anyway, no, no, no, here's my point.
If he's going to be in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and go to countries he hasn't been to before, to Iran, in fact, you could even give him a little word choice.
You could call him a little, well, before breakfast at least, and this, well, well, just raise it to breakfast.
Oh, you said at 8.30, why don't you eat at 8 with him and then go on over for breakfast at 8.30 at the restaurant?
I'll meet him at 8.00.
I'll tell him, look, I don't want to embarrass you in front of the president and get into a debate with you.
Here is what I think.
I'm not sure he's all that eager to run around Asia.
I think perhaps the basic...
I think if we could put it on the basis that he... Well, but Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore is all right.
That's all right.
And just tell him to go to countries in Asia, except for Korea, that he has not visited before.
That should be the rule.
Right?
Right.
And sailing in Pakistan.
And then if you go over to Iran, then go to Saudi Arabia.
Morocco, if you would like.
It would be good.
And then on up to...
He wants to go to Spain and Portugal.
Now, on Greece, his state of the other pole, that's all right.
What are you going to say?
I'll just tell him that for reasons which I don't want to go into now, this is a very inopportune moment.
He trusts me.
He doesn't think...
I think there is one chance in five that your opponents could blow it up.
And at just that moment when you are seeing two which they are fastening on,
I'm gonna fasten on, and just at that moment when, when I'm on that trip, it just, it's, it's not worth it at that moment.
And this is particularly if the Greek government will play it up and he'll turn it into an emotional orgy.
John, that's the thing, too, that I think it'd be delightful for you to go to this environment, but go back there and do it in the fall.
Then he can go to Africa and to fall and... Go to fall and go to Greece.
He's got to encourage the people to put their hands in their necks.
Every time we send somebody, they've got to report it.
I don't want to report it.
But you know he's going to have a press corps with him.
There's just no way he can go into Greece without...
We're not at the precise moment when we... By the end of the summer, we will know whether we have broken Vietnam.
Or salt.
Or salt.
Or China.
Or China.
I don't know where we're going to do that.
I don't know which is which.
But it'd be nice if we could make them all work together.
What?
What China we've got and that we can... Yeah, we can get one more.
Yeah.
Those Vietnamese have now confirmed June 26th.
It's done.
They told Walter, but they've never done before.
They said they hadn't got authority yet, but they want to tell him unofficially that it was all right.
And then today they told him officially.
So this is the official?
Yes.
You got it okay?
Yeah.
Well, that'd be interesting to see what word they get from Peking.
Yeah, I agree.
If you are right, they will ask Peking.
They're bound there.
Oh, I can't see the Chinese, huh?
I don't know.
Maybe the Chinese will say, keep your chin in the American.
No.
Mr. President, what Mao is giving up by receiving you is his claim
of being the pure revolutionary.
There's no way he can explain that to the Bushmen in Africa, where he was the anti-white, leading anti-communist.
Now, why is he doing it?
One, because of the reason Harold Lee gave, the domestic pressures, and the other one is his fear of the Russians.
If you have to be any good to him for either one of these things, you have to be as close to his equivalent as possible, at the strongest,
Most powerful man in the West is coming to see the inheritor of the kingdom of heaven.
I mean, this is the way it's got to be.
If you are defeated, if you are on the road and you are only going to be in office another eight more months, you are no good to him.
He's paying a hell of a lot for nothing.
What would he get out of it then from his...
From his point of view.
Well, another way that he might be questioning, that he might be, frankly, machiavellian enough just to be stringing us along with the idea of getting us over there and embarrassing us and all that sort of thing, could be another way of doing it.
Mr.
Clips to Paddy.
And I'm not sure that's going to hurt you.
If he tries to hurt me.
But I don't think that's the way, I mean, if you read that communique, Wormley, Chairman Mao, he communicated it with great pleasure to Chairman Mao.
Wormley looks forward to...
I agree, it's a strange business.
You know, one thing was a good thing to tell that bunch in there, particularly Frank Murphy and others, and to
put that whole China-Russia thing on the basis of self-interest.
I said this is not euphoric, and it isn't because of any sentimentalism or anything like that.
Their interests are different from ours, and they're doing it for their own selfish reasons.
We're doing it for our selfish reasons, and that's the only way we're going to get along, and there's just no illusions about it.
They're a bunch of, I might say, I mean, the intellectuals are so goddamn soft.
The more they're educated, the softer they get.
What the hell is, why does education do that to people?
Is it always done that to people?
You know, analysis in Greek means to dissolve.
Analysis just gives you the complexities of problems, and all problems that come in here are closed.
So if you don't have moral courage and inward strength,
And values, you don't know how to handle these things.
You know, Ray Price has been a fascinating person.
He's always writing talks and speeches and so forth.
Well, it's very complex, isn't it, the other thing?
Problems are, we all know that.
That's why Reagan's, you know, up and down, black and white stuff is wrong.
You have to understand the complexity, but a great leader has to be able to resolve them into a fairly simple solution.
Simple solutions that make them sound simple and give some degree of... Reagan doesn't understand the complexity.
You know what?
I don't think I can do this either.
He's the same kind of person.
I once thought he did, but I don't know.
He knows what the hell will come in.
He's very much that same kind of mind as Ray's.
And he's also very self-willed.
I mean, I've talked to him now about his trip for three weeks.
He really...
has never asked what's good for the country.
He plans this trip on what's interesting for him.
His staff probably sits there and they talk and they have a drink and they decide, well, wouldn't it be great if I took a trip to Greece?
Or wouldn't it be great if I took a trip to China, you see?
Well, they mustn't do it that way, not them.
I think we've got a pretty good excuse.
Oh, yeah, well, China, he couldn't.
If you told him, go ahead, go to China, he wouldn't even know how to start.
We wouldn't know how to get him in.
I mean, whom would he go to?
He knows better.
No, he does.
It just intrigues the hell out of him.
That's why the impact of that visit is just going to be something like Genghis Khan coming into town, because it's changing.
The magic, you know, it's changing all that.
It's going to have much more drama than the Russians.
Oh, yeah.
By the Russians.
Really.
Oh, yeah.
You see, that's why we've got to keep them, if it's at all possible, to keep their bar on other political visitors until you get there.
Yes, I hope so.
Well, you can't put that together.
We have to do something, too.
We have a precedent.
We have a certainty.
You think some sort of an understanding.
That is the case now.
The bar is on.
Yes, but I don't know whether they can, whether, I'm sure that it will not happen
until I've been there, but whether we can hold them for in effect a year.
Or particularly if we go forward with the Russian thing.
I don't know.
Yeah, but if we don't go forward with the Russian thing, Mr. President, then, and if your plan is then to go this year after you've been there, then the reason, one of the attractions to me... That they're not the other side.
Yeah, of you're not going till April or March or whichever,
I think April, you've got better weather.
It puts a certain restraint on them until you've been there.
I would tell them, if you agree about the Russian visit, I don't think they should read about it in the newspaper.
I think one of the advantages is to play very often.
Tell them that.
It was interesting also that in his message to you, they'd thank you for informing them about Saul, that the Russians never send them a communication.
I see.
It cost us nothing.
We'd send them the public announcements, which they had already monitored on our radio.
I was a chief, but...
It was chosen for me that I could show such little understanding.
He kind of persisted, you know, he was obviously on a tough wicket, but he knew that, well, I guess he didn't know, but he just discovered his home.
He kind of said, gee, well, I thought it would be a good idea to go to the PR.
Yeah.
Went back on his Taiwan thing, and he did it.
Well, it's totally illogical.
Well, you know, even
leaving everything else aside, it ought to be clear that he is not the man who ought to be the first senior visitor to go there.
I mean, it's not the right role for the vice president to be the pathfinder into a new country.
It should be either you then or somebody who can negotiate, but not... Yeah.
Yeah, but let's see.
All he's thinking of is...
He may be thinking in the background, I don't do Russian, right?
Yeah, I don't think they'd be the first guy to go to China.
That's what everybody thinks.
Yeah, but in 1959 we had an ambassador.
They had met the Russians a hundred times.
We knew at that time that we were probably going to be in exchange.
And you had been vice president for six years?
Eight years.
Eight years.
Seven years.
Seven years.
It was an entirely different situation.
And also it was a potential candidate.
He's a whore.
He's a whore.
He's given some lectures at the Council of Foreign Relations.
in effect that you should set a deadline and get it packed by a congressional resolution.
That's nice.
And, uh...
So the Congress could share...
Exactly.
Congress must share the part of the... Now, this bastard who got into this mess, who was here as assistant when Diem was murdered, uh...
Yes, uh... Well, he, uh...
Uh...
But he's a little insecure now.
He doesn't know.
And then he sent his lectures, which are supposed to be confidential, to a lot of columnists.
And now he's worried that they'll print it.
I said, why did you send them?
Because he's... Well, let me say this.
With regard to those people, it goes like this.
They can, as far as I'm concerned, we're just alone in the field now.
And if, of course, if we bring off two-thirds of what we're doing now... We've got to get to them.
establishment, because you have done this, done that.
I mean...
Even though we don't bring on Vietnam.
Yes.
Here you are.
Vietnam will be brought off in a miserable way.
Well, Vietnam will be brought off anyway, but here you are, the respirator.
The man who went into Laos and Cambodia, against whom hundreds of thousands of kids are marching in the streets.
And yet, the Gaul respected you,
In terms of achievements, this sounds self-serving, but who has had a three-year period like this?
If you had said on January 20th that you would get 400,000 troops out of Vietnam in two years,
the weight of a visit to Peking, a visit to Moscow, an assault agreement, you'd have all of that done at the end of your third year.
They would have said, that's insanity.
And you've had to do it, really, with practically no help.
And no public support.
Help!
Christ, we need any help.
Incidentally, in addition to that, they...
That camera, he's absolutely right about it.
You know, he's a, he's a total fascist of the changes in Atlanta.
Yes.
But, and in a note, I want you to call him.
Let's get a little credit for that.
I want him, I don't want, I don't want this to be done too good.
I just want him to know that the President is very, very struck by that, and how much it costs, you know what I mean?
Call him in the morning.
So that he knows who he is.
The second thing I do view on this domestic intelligence, they're absolutely right.
Now, I've got to break Rupert's back on that, and I can't break his back on whether he leaves.
Now, if he leaves in January, and that's just, we don't know when he will, but if he does, then we'll have a man named Rupert.
And by God, we're going to have that domestic intelligence.
But the other thing is, I cannot put Helms in charge at all.
I don't have that confidence in him.
So as far as his plan is concerned, I'd like to have a guy I could put in charge of if I could ever follow the charges.
And frankly, if I had that damn general over here, what's his name?
Walters.
I'd put him in charge of it.
I'd trust him.
Well, I think we ought to make him deputy.
Make him deputy right away.
That's what I want you to do.
No.
Uh, I don't know that that's the best plan.
Murphy, I mean, Bob Murphy put his finger on the problem at State.
Those bastards over there, since after World War II, when there's a dollar gap, we're all told, Jesus, we've got to get the Europeans to open the world, and particularly America, for the world's products, so that we can close the dollar gap.
And they just can't change their minds around the other way, where they've got to open the world for America's products.
Their basic problem, Mr. President, is they have a compulsive desire to be liked by their constituents, who happen to be foreigners.
So when you sent that tough letter on textiles to Sato, even as tough a guy as Alec was practically in tears, he said, well, I'll do it.
But you recognize, of course, Sato will have resigned by this time tomorrow afternoon.
Well, hell, Sato has been in politics 40 years.
He won't resign.
He's as tough as ever.
He's tough as ever.
Why should he resign?
And they just find it emotionally well.
David Kennedy, who God knows is not the toughest man in the world,
He's almost incoherent about these fellows, man.
I know.
Terrible.
We're having a hell of a time just getting our ambassador to us.
And sadly, I think it's good to pull an ambassador out of the country after two, three years.
They had to do goddamn in Britain.
Keating was much better two years ago than he is now.
Keating is just...
They have taken him over the rocks.
Keating's been there, sir.
Oh.
He is over here laughing for the most extreme form of Indian treasure in Pakistan.
Well, she turned off the clock and everything.
Instead of showing contempt, he was embarrassed.
Goddamn, he is being a damn fool.
I think we should get him out of there.
He's one that we can't do it right away.
First next year.
Really.
He's too old anyway.
He's 70 years old.
Where did you get the hell out?
We don't know of any of this.
No, we've never been there.
Russia's been good.
I know.
Of the oldest establishment, the one man who has been good, who's worked for us, is Netzer.
Is he all right?
Yeah.
He's been very good on the gun delegation.
Does he want to be the best?
I think he'd consider it.
He'd be good with it.
He's cold enough, and icy enough.
He's cold, and I actually personally dislike him, but... Oh, most people do.
But that's...
But he might be...
So he's not a particular friend of mine.
Paul Bright doesn't like him.
Paul Bright dislikes him.
But he'd be terrific on this... How about... Why couldn't he do Germany?
He could do Germany very well.
Maybe Russia somehow.
I think if Russia goes, we should put an end to it quickly.
It's fascinating when these guys come up with the message of the economic intelligence.
Of course we should have the economic intelligence.
It's what the State Department should be providing us with prices.
What the hell do they do with it?
What are all those messages they're on about how many political parties there are in each one?
They have a State Department Foreign Service officer entering in Italy.
For each one of those goddamn little... For each crack?
Now, what in the hell?
Take us to these guys under these mongoloids.
Well, I went over and the Trump felt it's been...
I was astonished, I must say, about Annenberg.
I can't understand it.
What the hell is the matter with him?
He treated him miserably.
Yeah, I believe that's what I'm saying.
I don't know what...
I don't know what this is all about.
I can't understand it.
It's amazing.
Could you think how your personal close seeker is?
I've got that Pakistani in there.
Give him the message.
I'll give him the message you approved this morning.
He's got a messenger standing by to bring it down.
I hope he doesn't get caught.
They need us.
They need us badly.
They need us badly.
They need us badly.
Guys fall down, get drunk, all get compromised, get killed, get blackmailed, you know.
This is the prison of the Secretary of the President.
Oh, wait a minute.
There's white.
So that he'd been a long journey.
Yeah, really, about that, yeah.
Hey, because it's really been a discussion, 100%.
I didn't want to always say everything, but goddamn, it's a hell of a response.
So, you know, Bob, you can't do this job, you know, it's over the store.
I think you, uh...
I don't know how we handle it, but I can see now that there's a real problem here.
There it is.
You can sure afford to make a shift in the middle of it.
It certainly did.
Maybe I'll pull this.
I don't know about that.
I think it was
It's really a question of whether, just to continue to build Connelly, it's very important to build him.
He's the only one that can do the job.
I just can't fool ourselves about that.
I mean, we could talk about, and let's face it, if you put, the only other one that you could put on the ticket would be Reagan.
And, I mean, on that side of that, I thought you'd have more concern about Reagan here than that.
God, yes, wouldn't you?
Yes, sir.
Frankly, he was smart as I could be.
He's not.
Let me give you a better candidate.
He's a big candidate.
But he might drag you.
He might scare a lot of people.
Who knows?
I see.
I see building up, though.
I must say, I must see building up.
I used to talk about my being an avid drag driver.
I did make a difference.
Nobody was going to drag me down.
But on the other hand...
I added a lot to Eisenhower.
He did not have conservative credentials, and I added them.
And actually, it doesn't add up to me.
So I've got political credentials in the U.S. to act by them.
The U.S. is straight political.
It's part of the type of republic.
And also, I was not about the evolved problems I was supposed to have.
I was not about the press, the media, the liberals.
I had that in me.
a very, very considerable amount of respect among them.
You know what I mean?
They had concerns.
They never, they never even take me on like they did Agnew.
Did you notice?
That was the point.
Never would.
Back around, you know, and said, this man's only one heartbeat in the presidency.
It was all very flimsy.
Well, we don't like him, we don't know why, but with Agnew, he just, you and two goddamn many things were shooting at Agnew.
They don't like him and they didn't know why.
He gives it to an angel to shoot at him.
I think that's the problem.
He's an upbeat guy.
It's just like sitting here today.
You kind of feel like, you know, he might just shake you by the shoulders and say, you know, kind of cheer up.
He doesn't, he doesn't come in much of it.
He doesn't.
And he doesn't, he's, it's just his nature.
He's low key.
He isn't downbeat.
He's just, he's just, it's almost as though he doesn't have any, he doesn't invite him.
What is the reason that they, you know, he gets a hell of a resumption of the race he goes to?
It's because of what he says, he gets those singing lines, and then they look to here, and there was a part of us.
It's a waterway, a water project.
I'm sure, I think that, I don't know why he agreed to do it, but I guess this is why he didn't want to get here for years.
It is a damn good idea.
Five years.
Is that the time to change the name of the airplane?
We call it the Spirit of 76.
I had a reason to do that for other reasons.
I said, I don't want Air Force One to be called Air Force One when people go to the Soviet Union.
We don't want to be the Air Force.
We want to be the Spirit of 76.
Air Force One is the wrong designation for the plane anyway, because any plane you're in is Air Force One.
When you fly 970, it's Air Force One.
That's a technical designation on the radio.
I think I don't know if she can go there.
I figured because of the possibility of a big demonstration.
Is that right?
I don't give them that much time, too much advance notice.
Most of the day is getting the kids back into town or something like that.
It's an ideal time because it's right in between the end of school and the start of school.
Maybe they're out for four weeks there.
Maybe on Monday.
You told him I was coming.
He would much prefer you come to the graduation, since that's much more important than this thing.
This is just a little...
But then I don't have to receive him here.
Oh, good.
Did you tell him it was overdoing it to do it around here?
There was no...
He didn't have any argument at all.
I mean, he just...
It wasn't...
He was afraid I'd be a sickly wicket, but it wasn't at all.
It was pretty.
I thought it was fine.
It wasn't much other than the graduation.
It's much more important occasion to the Bureau.
The graduation in the East Room.
We'd have it at the FBI this time.
I think you should.
It'd be good to go over there and try to get a picture.
You mentioned we have the 25 minute speech or something.
We're supposed to give one minute of reading.
Oh, okay.
Talked on forever.
Ball tonight.
Now, is the dedication in the town or out of the place?
We don't go in the town.
Good, I'm glad.
Just drop in and helicopter to the thing, is that right?
Yeah, that's right.
Okay.
I'm not going back.
How about going to, how about getting the, the material, I suppose I'll send it over to you.
I'm sorry, I don't need it.
I'm going to, over to you.
They should send it, you can just send it if you will.
That's right.
How do you say that in Scots?
Spanish?
No, it is Spanish.