Conversation 623-022

TapeTape 623StartTuesday, November 23, 1971 at 4:36 PMEndTuesday, November 23, 1971 at 4:56 PMTape start time04:54:25Tape end time05:15:14ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Waller, William L.;  Eastland, James O.;  Mitchell, John N.;  Bull, Stephen B.;  Sanchez, Manolo;  [Unknown person(s)]Recording deviceOval Office

On November 23, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, William L. Waller, James O. Eastland, John N. Mitchell, Stephen B. Bull, Manolo Sanchez, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:36 pm to 4:56 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 623-022 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 623-022            Conversation No. 623-023             Conversation No. 623-024

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 Do not cite this transcript as authoritative.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.

Mr. President, you know, oh, Dr. Waller, oh, Dr. Harvey, you're the same stuff.
I mean, I'm glad you're up here, Harvey.
It's all right.
I mean, I had that piece of him, my man here, John Stennis, John Gossett, William D. Gossett, but I don't remember.
That's the other one.
Go on over and sit down.
Sit down.
I hope we, I guess I'm trying to keep you waiting a little bit.
I'm going to sit here.
Do you remember when we were trying to tell them what time it was?
I don't know.
I don't know.
I know it was in the last week.
It was in the last week.
Uh, I'd like a little tea, coffee, Coca-Cola, ginger ale.
Not yet.
I would in another half hour, but I don't have it this morning.
Just a plain tea, please.
No, not even two.
Well, like you said, that was the one.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, if you were at the, uh, Fort Essie, uh, you'd be very familiar with the area around here, because we've got about 25 counties.
At large, they depend on tourist dollars.
That's the, uh, family, family unit.
That's the, uh, vacation and the convention, the convention stands for.
Forty dollars.
We need a major facility.
I'm all in favor of a building that's all cost-free.
But look out here, Chuck.
It's so difficult.
Oh, yeah.
Well, you're not going to get out of here.
You're not going to get out of here.
You're not going to get out of here.
You're not going to get out of here.
You're not going to get out of here.
If we get the laws of the building in the economy, we need help for a large combination grant loan.
up to $25 million to build this complex, which would make it up in that area.
And it had to be selected on a major, accurate site.
Who could get that kind of a loan?
The ADA had $169 million, but they would not give over $5 million at the time.
And partially on the grants, but I'm sure one of your staff
The governor's gonna generate a thing that's gonna open up problems up here.
I heard that before.
Let me say this.
John, uh... You, uh...
You think it would?
Well, do you want to know?
No, I'm healed.
I don't know what it is.
And that's the place where we've done a little setting that I can see.
You know, that was actually a really good idea.
But it seems to me that that's something that might work.
I don't know.
I like the concept, too.
One of the few heroes.
Now, the president was under double pressure from George Wallace and the government.
I can't help but say that.
But I think, let me say this.
The idea is,
I don't know what horses are, but I'll get to your John, and John will check them out, and I'll get to our message people.
We have seen that man through American Legion, back in the 90s.
from 5,000, 7,000, 10,000 Americans would like to come and sit in units.
You know, if you live in the state, too.
Yes, sir.
If you live in the country, now, there's three other connection plants.
Now, this is a beach country.
Yes, sir.
It's a man-made beach, but it has the same feel as a natural beach in many respects.
What is that?
And we would like to see a lot of acreage complex everywhere you are.
outdoor recreational facilities to be in the same kind of fashion as camping and boating and fishing and aquariums and marinas and exhibits and educational things.
And educationally speaking, gentlemen, I think we could offer a junior college that will, of course, choose to go to the sports arena and basketball and things like that, but that area of the campus and things will be
and then high shelves and plates and things that would cover them.
I knew that we could have this, we could have that area.
You live with these people, and you move these with them, and so can you.
I know.
And they've not, regardless, become a sports center or a hotel in the Super Bowl games.
That won't be over, Carson.
Either down there or dedication or something.
A lot over here somewhere.
I wish I'd seen John Depp in Carson.
And, uh, that won't be, that won't be it.
But, uh, one thing I'd like to say is this, that, uh, and I won't say this because Jimmy's here, but it would be very difficult, because I look back at it, and it just doesn't make sense.
And I, uh, if it weren't for, uh,
on national security votes and on some other votes that have all already been made in the southern head of the country.
It would be very difficult for me to run this office.
These polls have stood up over and over again.
I mean, my God, they try to put me to our efforts to get an onslaught into Vietnam, our efforts to keep the strength of the country up, and get the Russians to not have any, and we don't have any discussion of that.
And these fellows have really been great.
And I must say, you know, John Sanders has preserved a fine mark for this.
I know that, you know, he doesn't like to fight as much as Dick Russell used to.
Dick Russell, he's got experience, but John, John Langston, he's not great at this, you know, but he has.
And Jim Peters, the trouble is, Jim takes my, to the court, I think, to preserve it.
You told me to put it in.
I think they're good at putting it in, Jim.
I probably would have done a better job than you did.
I didn't even say anything like this.
We all pay this.
In my view, I just went back.
I don't put it in.
It's yours to choose from.
I have to count.
I write them down.
study of the editorials of the New York Times and the Washington Post at the time.
William O. Goebbels was appointed to the court by Franklin Roosevelt.
It was Roosevelt's formal appointment to the court.
Goebbels was 40 years of age.
His only experience as director was on the SEC.
He was a good writer, deep writer, but what am I saying?
The editorials raved about the green climate it was.
They raved about the fact that Roosevelt had changed the whole character of his work.
Not one word about philosophy, not one word about qualification, not one word about experience.
So it shows you that I was standing.
Now, what you might call a breakfast.
Just as smart as others.
You know what I mean?
Not me.
Oh, yes.
The breakfast record in college is just as good as the other night.
That proves everything.
Just as smart.
But he's conservative.
And we didn't change the court, too.
I hope.
If we have them, maybe we'll get a basket gun.
I don't think we're going to have problems for three years.
He could be on there 25 years.
Boy, he is smart.
And I think you certainly had a husband and wife.
I think you do.
I do, too.
But when you saw her, I was just finding out.
You saw her.
I was just up there for a few days, just pretty dreadful.
How do you know I saw her?
Or you were getting pregnant?
Did you?
Yes.
Really pregnant?
Yes.
You got to go to the news center and say, you raised him, and I...
The third one is, how many votes were you going to have against Scott?
Four or five.
Four or five.
As well now, I saw several friends.
I got a card vote.
And the only word that was voted out, we had two votes in the Senate to describe the union.
A big voter.
A big voter.
Yep.
I don't think they're going to get through public school and run off when they get to the court.
Well, in the U.S., they will get to the U.S., but you need to get to...
He said, I don't know, too.
And I said, ooh, I didn't say I knew.
He said that, you know, he said, when I get rid of James, I'm dead.
And that was the end of the story.
Like it's case in challenge.
Let me tell you this, though.
I thought it was the man who had the disgrace of the enemies.
He was a good friend.
He was a decent man.
And, you know, to take the refugees, to direct a fine man like that, and taking their pieces, and I'm not taking no, uh, no, what was it?
Oh, poor guy, taking his guys home, apparently.
Oh, and yet, John was big.
But we had to, to turn down...
Well, I was broke in New York, and he said he would report me.
I said, well, excuse me.
I told him that 9 and 9.
Well, he came in my office two or three days after that.
He said that.
I said, I won't.
He said, I'm trying to see my plan and stuff.
And I said, I don't care.
Was it Hemsworth?
Yeah.
I told him I might let you leave.
I told him not to.
They've never gone to Mike Wallace's show.
Any suggestion there?
You know, I mean, he doesn't go, he shouldn't make a speech.
I don't know if you agree.
Television is, for example, for the political end, we have to eat it.
But I think Judge, I don't know, for example, as you know, I am totally against this proposition of televising courtroom procedures.
But you just tied it right to the line.
They started doing that.
Well, let me say, that defendant has not seen problems.
Look at that poor defendant with those television lights on.
It'll be a miscarriage of justice that you've never seen.
They're going to change their whole system of justice.
It'll never happen.
The President never will.
Well, let me say, we can figure out how this goes up there, up there, up here.
But I have to start to say a moment ago that because of what your two senators have done for this country, that I want to do what we can with Mississippi.
I said at one time, I said that I just don't believe in this nonsense to the effect that we have first class and second class states.
I've been to Mississippi.
The people there are great people.
They're proud people.
And they produce fine political leaders.
And frankly, I would like to have knowledge of what happened in the elections and so forth.
But I can assure you one thing.
One time when I had a project like mine with two campaigns,
And your man was very nice.
He was a gunner.
What was his name?
Martin.
Martin.
What became of him?
He was the governor of the city.
Right.
He was elected.
I remember that.
I spoke, as a matter of fact, I remember that meeting so well when we were first.
I spoke at the campus.
And that beautiful, you know, those columns.
Right.
It's one of the most beautiful campuses in the world.
They have a great, beautiful pipeline environment.
Right.
That's on my office back there.
Oh, we'll answer.
We'll take them up.
Yes, sir.
We'll take them up.
We'll take them up.
We'll take them up.
We'll take them up.
We'll take them up.
We'll take them up.
We'll take them up.
We'll take them up.
I went to two primaries in Mississippi, one a big one and then a general election against everyone.
I've been in about an eight-month meeting.
I feel I've done a good job.
Where did you start?
Yes, sir.
Assume that you are a lawyer.
Yes, sir.
Do you think lawyers are supposed to be involved in that?
How many seconds?
Eight.
They always do this for a second or two, and you're here, a private officer.
You're like, you're going to rob me.
That's expensive stuff, too, so it takes time.
I'm not trying to block them off so that I can pull them out of the way.
Just to say that's, that's, that's, that's usually, uh, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know,
uh office building and i know that we always use libraries
That's because of this gold building.
That's right.
You know, you know that Lyndon Johnson became president.
Well, he was in his office for the first time many years ago today.
See, the county of Wichita, many years ago yesterday, Johnson flew back and fell in his office the first day of the day.
told me one day he said
Thank you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.