On December 2, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Arthur A. Fletcher, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., White House photographer, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:50 pm to 3:04 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 628-014 of the White House Tapes.
Transcript (AI-Generated)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 Do not cite this transcript as authoritative.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.
Oh, there I am.
Thank you.
Well, I can't believe it.
A perfect box.
A perfect box.
And so beautiful.
And so beautiful.
I can't believe it.
Well, you've got a great power of strength, Lewis, and more recently, everything you've done.
And this is a fine assignment.
And I just hope you can save those colleagues.
I don't know.
I mean, we need some reason about it.
As you know, we've done much by this point.
We've got to run us that point.
And you have a game here, which means you need to know that previously.
But I agree with you.
I was one of them.
would be very bearish on the future of the White House.
You're not bearish.
No, I am.
Frankly, I want to say, I mean, all right, that's a fair point.
There is a resource, a driving resource that we need desperately.
And I see it.
Those schools are the principal instruments.
We can come up with the greatest plan in the world.
But the hard core fact is, if those schools aren't available, then we lose the delivery system.
Those schools are part of the delivery system.
They're delivering people that they want to treat them on opportunities for.
And just a quick picture to give you an example.
The 34% of the youngsters going to those schools are from families of no less than 3,000 homes a year.
Now, if they're not going to those schools of those, then why do those schools have to have another part?
Why?
Because the rest of them are going to schools that are coming from families that are less than 8,000.
And we're talking about 44,000 youngsters.
So if we can save those schools, then we have actually saved a part of our delivery system for whatever long-term economic delivery package we come up with.
All the kids like the school, he goes to one, it's always a small town.
So it's a real challenge.
They want to get out there.
There's going to be a goal out there, 66,000 people.
We've got one coming down.
We've got one coming down the back.
It's going to knock me out of here.
Oh, I really got the rest of them here.
Well, you got to go back to the domestic council or anything.
That is a fancy name.
I can let you know.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I think this would be a golden opportunity for you, if so, to give a powerful look at everything this administration has done.
in the whole school system.
And I heard an example, I mentioned, where it would be right around 1 in 10, but it would be a perfect opportunity to say, we said, we were going to, don't think I'm going to ask you to do that.
You've got to give us the base, of course, and see where I will be then.
All right?
And Washington D.C. is right there.
We can ask you if they,
So if you'd like to put it somewhere between King's birthday, which is the 15th, and Brotherhood Week, and then my husband's birthday, which is in February, I would be saccharine in between there.
I could use that testimony to kick off the national campaign across the country.
And I tell you, with that kind of a minimum, I can raise the $12 million that they're talking about as a national, as a national, I can raise it in six months.
I would like to be able, by the time the election gets underway, people, I'd like to be able to say, when those schools start in September, I would like to be able to say that I raised it years ago.
Step 10.
That's the way to go.
That's the way to go.
It would be really nice to be able to get back to it.
So what do you open?
What do you do?
Do you not start?
How do you start?
How do you start?
How do you start?
How do you start?
How do you start?
But don't let this reverse racism set in.
You see these darned people are trying to make the black college, they say, well, that's discrimination.
That is partly discrimination.
It's basically a way for kids to go to college.
You know what I mean?
Right.
Absolutely.
I look to these schools.
I will look to these schools becoming, actually, by the middle of this decade, the starting point, the end of it, those schools that we can integrate themselves.
They're my students.
They're great students.
So grab your big, big one, your one, your two, your three, your four, your five, your six, your seven, your eight, your nine, your 10, your 11, your 12, your 13, your 14, your 15.
Well, we've done a great job.
We appreciate it.
All right.
We've taken a long reading of us, and we appreciate that.
All right.
Now, just for one minute, I'm going to change the topic.
I understand I'll leave you for 90 minutes on the fall show.
I just wanted to read a bit about my experience as an adventurer, as I generally do, and I was married, and we had fun around the campus.
And any of you are going to be very good at this whole topic.
Oh, sure.
Absolutely.
Anything you can do for us, we'll be glad to see you.
They didn't want to carry it out at all.
Then I said it's a written presidential order.
Now they say they want it back again.
I don't see how we can let them disregard a written presidential order.
The argument is that we are going to look silly doing it in two prides.
I don't want to keep bothering, Mr. President, but the pattern of sabotage has been unbelievable.
Haig and I were up till 1 o'clock on Tuesday night to write out the scenario.
We had Urban's approval and everyone's approval, and that bastard who went up there to breathe, pray, made it look as if it were as much anti-Pakistan as anti-Indian.
So his whole briefing was conducted.
i think you don't know he doesn't give a damn but he's under heat from his bureaucrat i think let me take the response why not the only hope we have to avoid you know
Yeah, to avoid a big blow-up there is...
I've got your note.
I would just call.
I said, I raised it with you.
You insist that it be done tomorrow.
And you're willing to send a written order?
I don't want to send a written order, but I have strong convictions.
That's what I thought I was going to do all the time.
I was 100% apprehensive.
I told Pell that you were really planning me, not him.
That you were saying that I hadn't transmitted the order.
And that I felt that way.
That I told the woman I was going to do it.
I told her definitely that message.
It's another of those you were saying, too, and I checked my heart.
The people up in the Congress are delighted that we did this.
Oh, God.
You know, they're delighted.
I'm delighted.
Didn't you tell me that, too?
Yeah.
Oh, dear God.
I talked to Peter Freeman.
And Scott is going to make a talk today on it.
And Brad Moore.
These Indians deserve to come.
Yes.
Just do it then.
I don't think we have to make a big speech about it.
Why don't we just do it?
Is that the problem?
That's right.
Look, the problem is, Mr. President, that they are so compulsively pro-Indian that they don't...
I'm not pro-Indian.
So that's that.
Well, I'll call him back.
About who?
Rogers.
and say we could do it tomorrow, I'd talk to you.
No, but I don't want him in any capital case.
We, uh... Can we now back off?
On what grounds would we back off?
You wanted to say that, no, it would be a disaster for us to back off.
We're not doing it now.
What we ought to do is to be much more intimidated.
You know, are we?
Are we?
No.
We're doing all the economics.
Yeah, but we are also doing them in such a half-assed way.
They won't get across fast enough, but we can't do that the other way.
Well, I don't know how it was, but it can't be dispersed.
Oh, it's not.
But what they're doing is kind of...
They're playing the game, but they're using non-appropriate funds.
And they hope that the thing will blow over before 2.30.
And so therefore, if he wants, I'll just send over a written order.
I want you to say that the president feels that he's a study head.
It's all right.
He knows he's terrible.
He's a study head.
He just suits himself.
I don't know what the picture is saying, Mr. President.
I don't know what the picture is saying.
But put it that way.
I want to get him out of the office, but I can't keep myself.
See, because that would threaten the president.