Nixon, Haldeman & Kissinger on People's Republic of China

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I talked to Tony about the, uh, Kennedy as ambassador to Japan, and, uh, he said he would be affirmative in every way on it.

He said the only recommendation he would have is that he would have to say, I don't really feel that I know him well, and I can't tell you, I can't evaluate how tough he is or how smart he is.

But I have to assume that he's both because of his past performance and all that.

So the key thing is he's loyal as hell.

He'll do what he's told.

And he will not hold to the State Department, etc.

That answers, for me, all the questions you need in an administration plan.

He said, I understand your desire to appoint a businessman there and all that.

But he said, I wouldn't be very scared of those damn businessmen.

You have the real nature, when they get in touch, that they will succumb to the fawning of the State Department types who know how to go to work on a guy like that, stuck around him, and very soon they've got him trapped.

And you never know which ones will do it.

They can be a very big man, very tough and all that, and all of a sudden they get caught.

Kennedy, you know, won't do that.

He sees through the State Department.

So he was...

He was...

Very favorable.

And everybody here, all the votes come down in favor of Kennedy.

Did you talk to Kissinger about it?

I'll ask him.

You talked to Kissinger about it.

He was in here before.

He said yes.

Then you told me the second time.

Maybe I'm wrong.

I think you're right.

You asked about the Eisenhower dollars.

There is a $3 rate.

cost you yeah i don't know why the hell and there's also a ten dollar version which is an untouched by human hand type version that comes in a presentation if you want it but it's a three dollar gift in that form and it's a ten dollar gift in the box but actually if we put this in the box can we get this made in the box i mean it looks like more

Well, not for a dollar.

You have to pay three bucks.

I don't understand that.

The Treasury sells a one dollar piece for three dollars.

The silver version, perhaps.

This doesn't even feel like it's silver.

I don't know if I can smell it.

I don't know what it is, but anyway, we've got some of these if you want them, but I don't know.

Maybe it's not a good idea.

I think maybe it's a... No, I think you're right.

I think you ought to give presidential things.

I just don't think...

I don't know how to think this.

But you saw something back.

I'm just going to put my name.

I have a Gallo name.

What is the first piece of conception and execution?

My warmest congratulation, then again on conception and completion of life.

Since I was vehement in criticizing the President on Cambodia, I owe you equal vehemence in praising the President on the trip, and it superbly handled aftermath.

The President's timing and terseness was masterful.

Now, if the substantive outgrows are as useful as they promised to be,

My substantive concerns of last summer and that of my colleagues will have disappeared as well.

Then you can serve Crow and we will all eat it gratefully.

Meanwhile, our fingers are crossed and I wish you and your boss the best.

This is the man who, the chairman of that Harvard group that came down here to tell me that if I

didn't leave and that they were cutting off from the president and they were going to work on the country.

Oh, that's the main thing.

It's one letter after another.

I got one today from your friend Franklin Murphy.

He's just back from two weeks in Japan.

Yeah.

So did I.

And he's just...

This is the most remarkable achievement in my lifetime.

It's Frank Mercer.

George Franklin from the Council on Foreign Relations.

I feel that the change in our relationship to China could be the most important thing in our foreign relations in a decade.

You've got basically an enormous reaction from the leader class.

They eventually are, well, they'll build it up, but they'll affect the attitude.

which we haven't been having, I'm concerned, are going to support some folks.

Now we're going to get some from leaders.

Holy Cross Fathers, greetings and 10,000 thanks to you and President Nixon for his efforts to achieve fellowship and peaceful negotiation.

I have prayed at Holy Mass and on and on.

May these efforts and President Nixon's discussions bear much fruit for world fellowship and mutual help.

I've got about 15 minutes.

Put out some good stuff.

Who?

The Vatican.

Oh, it's just, as you said, it's the leader class.

This fellow is head of the Kennedy Center at Harvard.

The brain trust for Bobby Kennedy, Teddy Kennedy.

What's his name?

Richard Newsom.

He wrote this book on presidential power.

And, you know, they'll be talking around, and they can't take it back.

And he talks about leadership, I guess.

Oh, yeah.

The president's timing and truthness were masterful.

And truthness?

Yeah.

That's who said it?

Yeah.

What is it, timing and what?

Truthness.

Well, that's good.

Boy, that was a master stroke to give us.

Tell the fellow who, I forget who it was.

Somebody said to me yesterday, Frank, the world is no longer what it was at 1025 on Thursday evening.

Good.

No, 384 words, essentially.

You forgot to mention that post, the announcement to the text to your 8620.

The whole mood is different.

Yes, that's right.

Who gives a damn now about Madam Finn's seven points?

Anyone who wanted to start a riot on that, we haven't answered them.

We've ignored them.

Okay.

I will.

I will get back to Nelson.

Okay, I'll just work him over.

No, I'll work him up better now.

It's always good.

I'll make my point.

Good, Mr. President.

Well, I have a report now.

Good-bye.

Or if you can't go home early, let me know.

We have a hospital in 510 Stewart here.

All right.

I might be able to... Well, getting back to...

I will think...

I think, Chief, when I was told we've got a 54...

No, it can't be useful worldwide.

It doesn't make that much difference.

They're making the point that they took it Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and it was too early to measure the effect of the China thing.

That's what they said.

They were surprised that it had moved, and they said they thought, sure, it would go out now.

I'm not so sure that's right because ours would indicate that it might not be.

Ours is at 54.

We don't know.

Ours has been at 48.

We've been at 54 for three months running now.

Well, on the other hand, too, we don't know exactly where we were right after the papers.

It might have been just a bit lower.

My guess is it could have been, you know.

so much that the very right hand of the Supreme Court decision was quite a barrage.

You know, that has some depressing effect.

And then we came out.

But we're not going to give you much of a word.

But it's hard to figure.

You can't tell about those.

You just don't know.

There's certainly a hell of a change in attitudes.

I mean, we don't.

We go around and we see, oh, yeah, everybody got piracy.

And the people of the whole community goes out.

We don't mean people with this difference.

What is this negative?

Does he have the same negative as before?

Forty-nine.

Wow.

Thirty-eight.

Seventy-nine.

Unless they always turn it blank, don't they?

Would you bring me in the, uh, poll report and the poll book and the Gallup poll?

You know, that I don't know.

The reason to give him a 54th, and we pulled midweek, and Gallup was up to 54th.

Yeah.

And our last time was 48th also.

Yeah, we just completed on using 54th.

I mean, to be seated, it's below to this.

We'll see what Harris does, too.

Harris will probably be able to deliver to Jimmy his own sign.

I think it is up some.

I have a feeling that there's, I don't know, I can't, I don't see how it cannot be.

I don't believe, I don't believe.

Well, we have too many personal polls that indicate if it is.

Now, it may be, will we lose some?

You never know.

You know, you may lose some hardliners.

That's the other part.

You may have a, you may have a box here.

Yeah.

That's right, because the people, even though there's a strong, very strong, very approved of the China thing, the people who disapproved could be people who were pro-Nixon before.

That's right.

But now disapproved.

In other words, the mix made a change.

On the other hand, a lot of people who approved of the China thing, you know, were anti-Nixon before.

Yeah.

And you would think some of them would move over.

You would think that would counterbalance it.

Yeah.

Well, it might just balance out.

Now I...

I think it's still, we don't have that much opposition, but there's that much.

Well, if you look at your figures with regard to people, the balance of that total of ours is extremely encouraging.

You know, our own, everything, everything on it.

Good God, we need, who's the best man to go deal with?

Who did this?

This is a good idea, and so forth.

No, everything, everything.

Yeah, they were out Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

4938, they come out.

Oops.

Shane, we'll return to your call.

All right.

For example, it's not complete yet.

The figure could change on the approval side at one point either way.

Approval side.

How does the approval side change without the disapproval side changing?

Yeah, by the undecided.

They were 48-39 before.

Yeah, well, there's no change then.

Okay.

There's no change on ours either.

Well, one thing for sure, we're not going down anywhere.

We're just really hanging in there at the same...

I think we've got to find this one.

We've got the breakdowns by, you know, all the categories.

The awareness thing is interesting, the way that 85% of the public are aware.

It's 90% of the men and 81% of the women, so you have a higher male awareness.

And it goes up with age, 89% of the old folks and only 76% of the 18 to 20 year olds.

96% of those who've been to college and in college.

93% of the people with over 15,000 income.

That's just the worst.

The very big role is higher among men than among women.

Higher among older people.

Goes up with age.

Goes up with education.

Goes up with income.

No difference between Republicans or Democrats or Independents.

Independents are the highest.

Independents are 89, Republicans are 85, and Democrats are 83.

That's something.

Regional, I think.

Regional and regional.

Yeah.

No difference, really, except a little higher in the West.

East is 85, Midwest 85, South... No warrants for approval.

Approval.

This is very favorable.

Yeah.

Or is it the highest?

I'm reading the wrong numbers, I'm sorry.

That was awareness.

It's all in the same category.

The approval is also much higher among men.

A little higher among old folks, but not much difference in age.

A lot higher in college students.

The very favorable reaction was 28 overall, because in the east it was 30, midwest 31, south 24, west 29.

South would be lower, a little low in the south because of the hogs, not the same anywhere else.

The very favorable was damn high on this though, isn't it?

Yeah, highest it's ever been.

Since November 3rd.

When you combine very favorable and somewhat favorable, it's 58 overall.

The east is 62, the midwest 61, south 53, west 60.

So it's really the same everywhere except the south where it's low.

I thought that you had done the very favorable, somewhat favorable concern.

Or was it fifty-five?

Fifty-eight.

That's, I'm sorry, these have got to be re-calculated.

That's of the eighty-five.

Yeah.

Which would be sixty-eight of the total, of the sixty-eight of the people asked the question.

Well, I think that might be what it says.

It may be, Bob, that we have more here of things that's not going to have a party-like reaction.

Could be.

Here it is.

The 68L.

South of the east of 73.

Midwest 71.

South 63.

West 68.

South is lower.

More hawkish.

Would that be your guess?

I don't consider this a human condition.

People would change some, which is not a question of God.

Also, as people go out in the country, there are going to be people talking to each other more and more.

I went to Cape Verde, and I went to Cape Verde, and I went to Cape Verde, and I went to Cape Verde, and I went to Cape Verde, and I went to Cape Verde,

Well, they all ran as fast as they could on the rudder, because they run at the same time.

We'll see if it's not... We'll have to be back at the same time.

Okay, we'll see.

First meeting at 9.30 on snuggle.

There are only going to be two.

The bomb is not ready to do its national security fire.

So the first one is at 10.

Good.

One at 10 and one at 3.

And there will be another one Saturday.

Nixon, Haldeman & Kissinger on People's Republic of China

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on July 22, 1971

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