Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 607-010
Date: Friday, October 29, 1971 at 10:46 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Blount, Winton M. ("Red"), Jr.; Butterfield, Alexander P.; White House photographer; Bull, Stephen B.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/607-010

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:01] How are you doing?
[0:04] All right.
[0:06] How are you doing?
[0:08] Good.
[0:11] Nice to see you.
[0:13] How's it going?
[0:14] Uh-huh.
[0:15] Are you getting ready?
[0:16] Well, how's it going?
[0:18] Good people.
[0:18] Oh, I know that.
[0:19] I love those people.
[0:21] They're good, apparently.
[0:24] Well, they love you.
[0:25] I like the country.
[0:25] Oh.
[0:26] It's, uh... Good to know.
[0:27] All right.
[0:27] Good, sir.
[0:28] Well, uh...
[0:29] Mr. President, I've got one thing that needs to be talked about.
[0:33] And that is the matter of the confirmation of the Board of Governors.
[0:39] You're nominated in September of next year.
[0:43] And they did not hold any hearings, even.
[0:47] Then we made a recessional in January, and they haven't held any hearings on them yet.
[0:54] Basically, it's just an hour long.
[0:58] Gail McGee, to an extent, they kind of play it off on each other, but it's basically Hiram.
[1:04] He knows that he ought to name a member to the board.
[1:08] Now, this is the way that, you know, it's Hiram that is entitled to one.
[1:13] Now, why is Gail McGee the chairman of the community?
[1:16] I don't know.
[1:17] Why not man's people and use God?
[1:20] It's just the same kind of process.
[1:23] The purpose of the form was to remove the input of partisan efforts both in the Congress and in the executive department on either side.
[1:34] And if, of course, the Congress is going to name political people to the board, why don't you name political people to the board?
[1:41] You name all non-partisan people.
[1:44] Well, this is a kind of a confrontation situation.
[1:49] No more conversation with Bryce Harlow.
[1:50] What kind of Bryce is he bossing?
[1:52] Yeah, yeah.
[1:53] He knows how I'm doing.
[1:54] He knows how I'm doing.
[1:55] He's very close.
[1:55] Uh, well, I don't think we can come down to this.
[1:59] Sometimes you've got to pay a price to get something done.
[2:08] Well, we don't.
[2:10] So if you would, if you would, if you would authorize, if you would authorize Bryce to see if he could make a deal with Brock, you know, he could take care of his sentence some other way and just say, look, you need, give the president five names.
[2:32] She would tell you, I'm going to support you 500 names.
[2:37] on one of those to that boy.
[2:39] Bryce can make that kind of a ring, and this would be such a great thing about this.
[2:45] Scott, do you want to call Bryce, or?
[2:50] Give Bryce a call.
[2:51] Bryce knows I had him working on another thing for a second on this time.
[2:55] And so close and as we got our mind back, I wanted him to go out and cut a deal with, tell him he got to get it through.
[3:01] Right.
[3:01] I'm familiar with this.
[3:02] I said, he said, cut a deal with Baum.
[3:03] Now, Baum's just a clever Chinese.
[3:05] That's what he is.
[3:06] Fair enough.
[3:08] There's one other thing that we say in that regard.
[3:11] It is so important to maintain the virginity of that board.
[3:14] I know that.
[3:15] I understand.
[3:16] I don't want to cut people, but can we have the letter?
[3:19] I agree.
[3:19] But my point is that, you know, some of our own team would like to do it.
[3:24] And as the board members come up again, you know, it's better to make a profit or make part of some promise to that board.
[3:32] And I would hope that Ash, if you will,
[3:35] to see that, uh, that's not done without people, and that, that we just, okay, this is essential.
[3:42] That's why we did this.
[3:44] Don't worry, I have no intention of harming any part of these people.
[3:52] Not your life.
[3:54] But, as I said, I can see that we have a practical problem here.
[3:59] That's what we've got to do.
[4:05] Just a brief word, the post office is going very well.
[4:09] We ended last year with 12,000 people.
[4:12] I saw that.
[4:13] We had a $2 billion increase in the bill.
[4:19] Your lawyers say that last time that happened, remember, a man running out to the contract?
[4:24] Yeah, yeah.
[4:26] So anyway, it's going very well, and there's a lot of good people.
[4:30] I met with Bob Hansberger today.
[4:32] Oh, yeah.
[4:34] Oh, he's a great guy.
[4:36] Great guy.
[4:37] He won't do it.
[4:40] He's very, very good.
[4:42] He's a first-class man.
[4:43] First-class man.
[4:45] He'd be great.
[4:45] Absolutely great.
[4:48] That's what we need is a man like that coming in and taking over the hill.
[5:18] I'm gonna stay around waiting for the board to try to do this.
[5:26] I've got it in my mind that I'm probably gonna run to the Senate and make an announcement.
[5:32] Yeah, I appreciate that.
[5:38] I saw Spartan last night.
[5:39] You know, I always liked Spartan.
[5:43] He's a nice man.
[5:45] But, uh...
[5:46] But read, uh, the, uh, John, he should not run.
[5:52] And the reason he should not run is that, oh, he's only, and I say only, but he's 73.
[6:01] Well, he looks like 19.
[6:03] Now, he doesn't talk that way.
[6:07] He doesn't put that in writing.
[6:09] But John Sparkman...
[6:11] Why, they never put him on college.
[6:13] He looks like death, Warren.
[6:14] I don't know what it is.
[6:15] There's some physical deterioration in the last month.
[6:16] I don't know.
[6:17] I've let it be four months.
[6:20] I wonder if he wants to travel with John.
[6:22] But he's got nice dental.
[6:23] I think, from the standpoint of the candidate against him, he'd be better off against John than somebody else.
[6:30] Despite the fact that he's a nice guy and supports us on Vietnam and a few other things.
[6:36] But on the other hand, I looked at him as a man.
[6:40] And there's a candidate for vice president who's got a bigger stall than I have.
[6:43] My God, what has happened to this man?
[6:47] He's got no election.
[6:48] Well, how do you think the people in Alabama are going to respond to that in terms of rural areas?
[6:53] Well, narcolepsy means that a man goes to sleep all the time.
[6:57] And he sits up in his committee here and he says he's sound asleep.
[7:02] A fellow friend of mine was driving along to work back home the other day, and he slept through two traffic lights.
[7:08] And the fellow had to go up and knock on the window.
[7:11] And they thought that was true facts.
[7:14] He was driving the car?
[7:15] I don't recall him going to sleep in the traffic light.
[7:19] So that's really the problem, and it's too bad, but it's a fact, and it makes him look awfully old.
[7:25] I can't believe it.
[7:26] Awfully too bad.
[7:31] Well, is he going to have a primary?
[7:33] Yeah.
[7:34] Is he going to have a primary?
[7:36] Who's going to run against him?
[7:37] Well, there are too few people already that are going to run against him.
[7:41] I think it'll be better.
[7:42] He's really strong.
[7:43] You?
[7:43] Yes, I'd rather leave him.
[7:45] He's tough to beat.
[7:46] He's tough, but on the other hand, he's too old.
[7:49] He's too old.
[7:50] That's all that's going to happen.
[7:52] That's just permanent.
[7:54] They can't put him on TV.
[7:56] They can't put John Sparks on TV.
[7:58] And then, can you imagine him out with people?
[8:03] Meeting them face-to-face.
[8:08] Well, they had, it's one of those things.
[8:11] We've got that man up there.
[8:12] He's too old.
[8:13] He's got an old fart all over him now.
[8:15] He's 80.
[8:15] He's going to run again.
[8:17] He should get out because he's got, frankly, a lot of steel in his head now.
[8:26] But he does look old.
[8:29] Yeah.
[8:29] We've got the poor John.
[8:31] I've never seen a man change so in a year.
[8:32] Nothing's happened.
[8:38] Uh, Mr. Grant, how's it going for you?
[8:39] How's it going for you down there?
[8:42] Well, it's an uphill.
[8:42] It's an uphill.
[8:43] Of course it is.
[8:44] Of course it is.
[8:45] It's been an uphill.
[8:46] Listen, of course it is.
[8:47] But, uh, you've got to be kind to Wallace, of course, down there.
[8:51] You don't want to cross him.
[8:54] There's no reason for you to fight him.
[9:00] I mean, uh... My brother said if it wasn't uphill, he wouldn't run.
[9:03] Oh, George.
[9:03] George said, what's he going to do?
[9:04] He's going to support your...
[9:07] You know it has.
[9:08] You don't like John.
[9:12] Run away.
[9:15] That's a fucking business.
[9:16] But Alabama deserves better, basically, than George Wallace and all that space.
[9:21] And I'm proud to say, Jesus Christ, you've got number three and number four football teams in the country, and God Almighty, it's ridiculous.
[9:29] It's ridiculous.
[9:30] It's a properly coached group.
[9:31] Not in this state.
[9:32] Now, Allen, apparently, he's a good-looking guy.
[9:37] He did.
[9:38] But he's not smart, he's young, he's big-headed.
[9:40] Huh?
[9:40] He's big-headed.
[9:41] And Jamal was his name.
[9:43] But I don't think he's very smart.
[9:45] Alabama has a tradition, it's a very great center.
[9:48] And if that's smart, then Mr. Bryant is pretty good.
[9:50] Now, Mr. Hill is a good son.
[9:52] Oh, sure, oh, Lister, I remember.
[9:54] I'm very influential.
[9:55] Very influential.
[9:58] Well, I've got to just go down there and fire you and just go like hell.
[10:03] Get out in that country and convince them you're not a city boy.
[10:10] I don't know, it's a, I can be done, too.
[10:13] It's a, although, frankly, Alabama's more a city now than a country.
[10:18] I, you gotta figure, I think, actually, if you look at Birmingham, it's a sophisticated place.
[10:23] Well, being in it, I just, you know, Montgomery, I haven't been to, but I know it would be, I mean, that's very, a lot of people come to the Old South, right?
[10:33] Yeah, the heart, what is it, the heart of the town.
[10:35] Or it's the heart of Dixon.
[10:38] Yeah.
[10:39] Yeah.
[10:40] Must be a lovely city, a lovely old town.
[10:43] Well, that's the cradle of the Confederacy.
[10:44] The cradle of the Confederacy.
[10:47] His first White House in the Confederacy was that, and Jefferson Davis was sworn in.
[10:51] Yeah.
[10:54] Well, I've certainly enjoyed being here, and I appreciate very much the opportunity that you've given me.
[10:59] Oh.
[10:59] And we've given you a challenge.
[11:01] It's a pleasure.
[11:01] You had to fight some tough ones here, didn't you?
[11:05] I did, yes.
[11:06] Very, very tough ones.
[11:08] You're the nations.
[11:09] Strong.
[11:10] It's been great to be on their team.
[11:13] We hope you win.
[11:14] Like you say, I didn't make it.
[11:18] I have a little bit.
[11:20] I'm going to be sure you get it.
[11:22] It's one of them things we made over these days.
[11:25] I just said it.
[11:26] The mail was a great deal.
[11:28] One thing we want to work this out.
[11:32] Well, hey, uh, we were, uh, uh, the, uh, the, uh, the, uh, the, uh, the, uh, the, uh, the, uh, the, uh, the,
[11:57] Okay, sir.
[11:59] Yes, sir.
[11:59] Well, we were going to have a little, you know, secret press after.
[12:03] Oh, yeah, I see that.
[12:04] Well, I thought that if they just said it, we'd call off the subject.
[12:08] I don't know why.
[12:10] Well, Arch, I was impressed with what you were.
[12:13] Well?
[12:13] On the resignation, yeah.
[12:14] That's all right now.
[12:15] That's all I'm going to do.
[12:16] The announcement for the Senate is on the 30th of July.
[12:20] That's what I'm going to do.
[12:21] And I understand that's clear to the department and everybody, right?
[12:24] Well, that's correct.
[12:24] This is the day that... Well, we thought it would be a good kind of a thing to do.
[12:29] All right.
[12:30] All right.
[12:30] Well, I can't even say it.
[12:31] First of all, I can't say what are your political plans.
[12:34] So you're going to determine that.
[12:37] All right.
[12:40] Okay, well, I'll send that in.
[12:44] Well, we'll work it out.
[12:46] Sure.
[12:47] That's changed this morning.
[12:50] They just wanted to be sure.
[12:56] Oh, God.
[12:57] Well, thanks a lot.
[12:58] I think so.
[13:07] I don't mean to put you in our office meeting, but we handled it.
[13:11] I'm not going to say we're going to run.
[13:14] I'm going to go ahead and believe it.
[13:15] The right thing was that you would do not 2% before time, before the economic policy, before Russia.
[13:21] Well, I think you went.
[13:22] And of course, we'll have some better things we won't do.
[13:27] But you just let me see if we can get that.
[13:31] It should go.
[13:32] Well, you arranged for the half of the concept of the postmaster general.
[13:38] I mean, I got that right.
[13:51] You know, they haven't won for a while.
[13:52] Their coach is also a, I'm just saying, a judge.
[13:53] I'm Joe Joe.
[13:53] Joe Joe.
[13:54] Yeah, I remember him from years ago.
[13:54] Yeah.
[13:54] The goal could have been a Bears, Bears out of the seat.
[13:56] And he's a fan.
[13:56] I love him.
[13:56] He's my boy.
[13:57] Tell him I asked about me.
[13:57] I don't press that.
[13:58] All I ask is what happened in Alabama football.
[13:59] I'll do it.
[13:59] I'll do it.
[13:59] That's my best to your wife.
[14:00] Thank you very much.
[14:18] We'll, uh, go out to the right.
[14:20] Thanks a lot.
[14:21] Get out.