Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 524-001
Date: Thursday, June 17, 1971 at 7:55 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Bull, Stephen B.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/524-001

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:18] I'd like to get the floor to think of why don't you have
[1:19] He's got some hard stuff.
[1:36] He's supposed to see Henry I.
[1:37] He's supposed to see Henry I.
[1:43] He's supposed to see Henry I.
[1:43] He's supposed to see Henry I.
[1:53] I'm not sure it's going to take as much time as it looks like.
[2:16] I'm not sure if it will run out.
[2:18] There's all that much we want to do.
[2:23] Well, they're all going to stay there for a certain amount of time.
[2:36] So we're positioned pretty well.
[2:37] There's the one point that I think Ziegler could do this, but I'm not going to make any others today.
[2:40] And Rogers has not made it either.
[2:43] The point has not come true that this, I just want to say this is mostly an off-bar high.
[2:47] This involves the previous, the Johnson-Kennedy administration.
[2:48] I haven't seen that one place.
[2:50] It doesn't get through.
[2:51] It says the war administration.
[2:52] Don't you agree with me?
[2:53] I read this stuff today, and there's some written arrest over there, and I read also, and you can't, it's all blurred.
[3:01] This isn't as if we were trying to do it.
[3:03] There are no documents from this administration at all.
[3:04] Could somebody get out that one, please, paragraph today?
[3:08] I've told that now 17 times, and nobody's done it.
[3:10] And Ron says it.
[3:12] I know, and he says it in two subtleties.
[3:14] He says it in two subtleties.
[3:15] He's got to just say, let's understand, this is no problem, and it involves it.
[3:20] And the other point is,
[3:22] He's got to get that information from defense and from state with regard to Korea and World War II.
[3:32] He's not asking, no, he hasn't got it yet.
[3:37] He says they have not received declassified all three.
[3:40] How many documents are there that are not declassified and how many in World War II?
[3:42] That is the point we see, Bob, that classification involves the relations with foreign governments, the relations with sources.
[3:47] In other words, it closes up the source close enough, but it's related to foreign governments are jeopardized.
[4:05] It also involves relations with advisors.
[4:06] And so that's that.
[4:07] If that could get out, I think that, I think the main point is, does not involve us.
[4:10] We don't give a damn about it.
[4:13] We have nothing.
[4:14] Get every speaker in the House just to hit that line today.
[4:16] That's what the fight is all about.
[4:29] We don't care what the times does.
[4:38] I think the main thing that I see with our position is lack of focus.
[4:43] are not, just don't make 18 points.
[4:47] Make one.
[4:47] One is that this does not involve us.
[4:49] Two, it is the responsibility that the president is doing this, even though he's protecting four Democratic presidents.
[5:01] It involves the papers and confidential documents of four Democratic presidents.
[5:06] It's not a partisan matter.
[5:08] President Roosevelt
[5:12] Does that come true?
[5:16] See my point?
[5:17] Wouldn't that be a good point for me?
[5:23] You see, we've got to get across the point that it doesn't involve us.
[5:28] Otherwise it looks like we're covering up on the war.
[5:33] I was really getting at the question, I don't think there's any glimmer of that appearance, but that's the thing we were concerned about.
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[6:10] that the disclosures of these things help you politically, regardless of who you run against next year.
[6:17] I mean, that's the kind of thing the press will play that is making the point that it is and doesn't recover enough.
[6:28] Got it.
[6:28] You got it.
[6:33] I want to make this, I want to do everything we can to destroy the times on this issue.
[6:46] You see, it isn't a question of whether or not, well, it's going to hurt Democrats or Republicans.
[6:49] God damn it, it hurts the country, Bob.
[6:50] And the time, that's got to be accurate.
[6:51] That's the point we're making.
[6:52] I was speaking to your other point of the fact that it doesn't matter.
[6:53] Well, that's my point.
[6:54] It doesn't involve us.
[6:55] See, that raises it for the higher level.
[6:57] It raises us.
[6:58] It does involve the country, whoever is president.
[7:01] It involves the presidency, it involves our sources, it involves the ability to conduct a government.
[7:07] That's what I meant.
[7:27] Now I'm rightfully speaking to go out at any time today.
[7:45] Just have you put it out there.
[7:46] This won't do any harm.
[7:46] Have you go out today.
[7:47] Last night, I heard he sent me a note and I talked to him last night.
[7:48] He wants Mitchell to delay the grand jury, which he said he was going to talk to Mitchell.
[7:50] I'm not sure that he ought to.
[7:51] And it just may be as well to let it go down.
[7:55] John, we've got to play this boldly.
[7:58] I mean, and we've got to take risks.
[8:04] We, I mean, I just don't want, I don't, I just want to be sure that John is aware.
[8:16] In fact, I'm not.
[8:16] He's going to be.
[8:16] Here's what you're going to run into, because I know how it was with the sanguine in his case.
[8:19] The men here are going to be concerned.
[8:29] Why do we have to raise this issue?
[8:30] Why do we have to get the war in front of patients?
[8:33] Why do we fight the times?
[8:35] Why do we appear to be repressing all that sort of thing?
[8:36] And they'll say, and they'll get a little jittery.
[8:37] We'd better pull back now.
[8:38] It wouldn't be well.
[8:39] It wouldn't be great if this went away.
[8:41] The point is, it's here.
[8:41] It wouldn't be great if it went away at all.
[8:43] The point is, you want to fight it, because this involves security.
[8:44] It involves the media that's in that paper.
[8:46] I don't want people around here to think that this is just a little stuff, you know?
[8:57] It is.
[8:58] It's goddamn important.
[8:59] Most discussions have been classified, but...
[9:17] The sun will come out when you say you're done.
[9:24] Nothing more about what I should have said.
[9:25] Everybody can't believe it.
[9:25] If God kept you in bed this morning, they'll leave you behind in bed this morning.
[9:42] and be sure to keep track and be sure to like those today, you know, so that we can help you out.