Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 618-006
Date: Thursday, November 11, 1971 at 3:52 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Hardin, Clifford M.; Hardin, Martha L. (Wood); Butz, Earl L.; Butz, Mary E. (Powell); Ehrlichman, John D.; Whitaker, John C.; Higby, Lawrence M.; White House photographer; Bull, Stephen B.; Ziegler, Ronald L.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/618-006
National Archives Catalog: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/417179689 (NAID 417179689)

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Well, how are you?
[0:17] All right, good.
[0:18] Well, nice to see you.
[0:18] Good to see you.
[0:19] It's a good job.
[0:30] Now we stand over there.
[0:31] Well, we, uh, we did have a lot to see, and I'm very, very glad to see you.
[0:50] Your well-earned businesses are a sad day and a happy day, and I hope your buses make a lot of jobs in the world.
[0:53] And after you do that, I'd like to wish you the best of luck, and I'll see you next time.
[0:54] Thank you.
[0:55] Would you hand that over to me?
[1:21] Yes, Mr. President.
[1:22] One of the hard ones, just to get in the heart and so on.
[1:23] One, two, three.
[1:23] One, two, three.
[1:23] There we go.
[1:24] That's one of those hard ones.
[1:24] Very good, huh?
[1:27] Thank you, sir.
[1:44] Are we planning to ventilate the water and put it through, say anything?
[1:45] Not as long as our intent to use, I'm afraid.
[1:46] Would you like to?
[1:47] Well, no, I mean, it's really a question that's serious.
[1:48] Should I say, what are we going to do?
[1:49] I'm just going to say something to introduce the Secretary in respect to the old, we bowed and walked out.
[1:51] Yes, sir.
[1:51] I didn't say nothing.
[1:52] And Dr.
[2:09] Bucks will say something very briefly, but he'll ask questions because it's common truth.
[2:11] I think that would be great.
[2:12] He would.
[2:12] Yeah, I think that would be terrific.
[2:13] I think that would be great.
[2:17] because they ought to go to jail.
[2:37] Well, I can hear you.
[2:38] Are you going to head this department?
[2:38] Well, that's a question, a natural question.
[2:39] You don't have to take any questions.
[2:40] Nobody's going to have any questions.
[2:41] It's not going to be any, this is not, because he's got a constipated stomach, so I don't want to fight you.
[2:43] But I didn't quit this.
[2:43] Well, I'll say what I have to say.
[2:44] You can play off what I have said, you know, and kind of briefly, and then,
[2:46] They'll say, uh, well, they'll say, well, I didn't mean any, you know, that person needs to be, you know, that's three of the greatest years of our lives.
[2:56] That's exactly that.
[2:56] Something like that.
[3:01] I can't say any better.
[3:25] You strongly, George, recommend it.
[3:26] Your success has been known for years.
[3:27] You might say, that's nice.
[3:27] You've got to thank me with that, George.
[3:28] Yeah.
[3:28] We were making sure that you have a very happy memory.
[3:29] And all of a sudden, you get this song.
[3:30] That's right.
[3:30] That's not so good.
[3:31] I don't know.
[3:31] It's not bad.
[3:48] A few years ago, I met that gentleman.
[3:49] He was a full-time student.
[3:49] But he moved on, and for that, he was part of the agriculture building out here.
[3:51] So, good guess.
[3:51] But it's all kind of worse.
[3:52] Oh, boy.
[3:52] Well, they make it very easy.
[3:53] There you go.
[3:53] Thank you.
[3:55] My rocks are very clean, and yeah, they should be free, because they're not going to be used much.
[4:15] But hey, I'll serve as a citizen for a long time.
[4:16] I'll leave you at the mouth of that crow, so you can see my letter.
[4:17] Yeah, here, both letters.
[4:18] My letter will both be, uh, be released.
[4:19] I've received that, right?
[4:19] Yeah, I've seen it.
[4:19] Yes, sir.
[4:20] Well, then you will be probably already released.
[4:21] I will go out today, and I will sign this.
[4:22] Thank you, Mr. Dean.
[4:22] It's been a very long time.
[4:24] Well, we released both letters.
[4:40] Uh, we haven't said a day for the foundation of something we can take out of it.
[4:42] Well, I think it's really... Well, I mean, I mean, you'd like us to do it, wouldn't you?
[4:44] Well, no, I mean, I have to go.
[4:44] I have to go.
[4:45] Yeah, but we can work to make it go, right?
[4:45] Whatever you want.
[4:46] Whatever, you know what my thing is.
[4:47] You talk about it, we talk about it.
[4:47] Whatever you do, you work out here.
[4:48] We will certainly be our, you know what I mean?
[4:49] We'll be, uh, we'll be, uh, that might be enough.
[4:56] Oh, yes, you'll stand up, Joe.
[5:18] Good, good.
[5:19] Cliff, you pick your own day.
[5:19] It's what fits you personally.
[5:20] Actually, the usual thing is to say it's all my successors.
[5:21] But that might be, as I said, to take care of everything in 60 minutes.
[5:22] Yes, 40 minutes.
[5:23] You hope not.
[5:24] It could have come very fast.
[5:44] You know, we signed up today.
[5:44] We need to nominate the leaders of the world right now.
[5:45] The board meeting is coming up next Friday.
[5:46] We have one attendant.
[5:47] And certainly, I think that would be fine.
[5:47] Mike, if that's what you'd like to do, we can work it out.
[5:49] It's fine.
[5:49] Because if you work it out internally, I don't mind either.
[5:50] I would plan that out.
[5:51] It just happens.
[6:07] This is working out fine.
[6:07] I've been worried about Les being on this board.
[6:08] Thanks, Lee.
[6:09] He's awful right now.
[6:09] I'm hearing his eyes.
[6:10] I don't think this is an accessious relationship, for sure.
[6:11] Mr. President, thank you.
[6:11] All right.
[6:12] We're ready.
[6:12] We're going to stop turning this back right now.
[6:13] People who are specifically asking me or the board, it's about to go right something now, sir.
[6:15] We're going to go to the board on the note, sir.
[6:16] Yeah.
[6:19] I think what we will do, the two of you will stand for me, and the two of you will stand aside, you see, because the stage is quite small.
[6:33] I think that's the best.
[6:34] As a matter of fact, the way we will do you, we'll go in our...
[6:43] I'll get the old man together.
[7:04] I'll sort of walk in first.
[7:04] And then the two ladies will follow and stand on the side and listen.
[7:06] But they will not be on the platform.
[7:07] They're very small things.
[7:07] I'll be careful.
[7:07] This is over the swimming pool last year, sir.
[7:08] That's right.
[7:09] Right at the high dive.
[7:09] We already did change that.
[7:25] for three months, four months.
[7:47] I was in here about, we got back to San Jose about a fifth of September.
[7:48] So I said, let's say three months, you had it, I think Dale Rodgers had given you the answer.
[7:50] I said, well, I'll just say four months ago.
[7:51] Okay, I'll still change it.
[7:52] Yeah, that's fine.
[7:52] I want to, I want to, you know, we've got a lot of stories, you know, and we've got to take them wherever we've got them.
[7:54] We've got some very good talks with Greg Martin,
[7:56] Oh, good.
[8:14] Also, if you go to Turkey, yeah.
[8:14] But I'm terribly impressed with Grant Martin.
[8:15] He's a good behind-the-scenes worker.
[8:16] He's a very intelligent fellow.
[8:17] He has me behind that.
[8:17] He's a tough man.
[8:18] He's a rather strong man.
[8:18] And see, there's this effort he's done to the FAO conference.
[8:19] He's always at the FAO.
[8:20] Very much impressed, Prime Minister.
[8:34] I really appreciate it.
[8:35] Yeah, everybody's alive now, right?
[8:35] I think this would describe the old president as a knight.
[8:36] I found that out of the gateways.
[8:37] The editor-in-chief, he was still there.
[8:38] He concurred some.
[8:38] He ran out there and started serving.
[8:39] I hadn't made an issue.
[8:40] I heard you think it was a good idea.
[8:40] Well, here's the thing.
[8:48] The, uh, I think, I think we're going to have to take a look at the question.
[9:10] I think we've got about, uh, six percent chance to win, um, possibly.
[9:11] We're going to have to have continuing process there for regulatory support.
[9:12] Uh, that's going to be, I don't want to see the downtime.
[9:14] They gave us quite a hazing on the non-money.
[9:15] Oh, gosh.
[9:15] We have the, uh, you know, I handed it to Joe.
[9:24] We had, uh, you could have, you know, you could have a party talk, I guess.
[9:44] Yeah.
[9:45] That was, that was, that was on here.
[9:45] Yeah.
[9:45] All right, let's say, yeah, if they, if they have any, we can simply say, I'll be, uh, if he goes by, then he has to, yeah.
[9:48] Well, that's right, let's hear what he says.
[9:49] Well, don't worry, we're going to give you a debate right now.
[9:50] Well, you can be a little big on it if you want to hear what I'm going to say, you know what I mean?
[9:56] If you want to write the same story, let me just, I think you better have it tomorrow.
[10:11] I'll take your press conference tomorrow.
[10:12] All right, I'm getting to go to Chelsea.
[10:12] Go ahead and go.
[10:13] Happy Monday.
[10:14] All these three are from the same team.
[10:30] We're going to have to start planning on that.
[10:36] I think he would lose politically.
[10:56] Isn't there a way to split?
[10:57] I know they like to say it's one shot.
[10:57] Isn't there a way to split?
[10:58] That's why we put him back to resources.
[10:59] So he wouldn't have to split.
[10:59] No, he'd split.
[11:00] Well, I'll take the name back.
[11:00] It's the research unit that was to move over.
[11:01] It doesn't make any sense to me.
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[11:37] .
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