Nixon, Woods & Bull on White House social events and DeWitt and Lila Wallace

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Say, are the Connoys invited tonight?

Yes.

I wonder if they're coming.

They are.

Well, he's sick today, I think.

I think it's because we've got two or three of them who've had the cancer, because they're on call today.

The flu.

Is that what it is?

I don't know.

He came back from Europe, especially after the dinner, and had a few infections.

The doctor wasn't on him.

He wanted to come in.

It was a little bit.

Yeah.

And Mr. Weierhauser.

Mrs. Connolly, if she calls and says they can't come, tell her to come, that others are coming.

This is a letter to Bob.

Where's the senator?

I know you like W&U Tech.

You can photograph it.

It's apparently an epidemic state in parts of the country.

Do you have time to think a little bit about your case tonight?

Would you like to think about it?

I'm sorry, does the wall of the president's home suggest that the wine truck fellow might be at the table with Mrs. Wallace?

No?

Mrs. Wallace, she's with me.

But I didn't have a wine truck following me.

So if she likes him, I think there's no problem.

Well, they're invited because they suggested that.

I think they work together on those things.

But don't get me wrong, sir, the Lindberghs,

The host.

Would you like Bob Wolf at your table?

It passed.

Well, wait a minute.

He is such a celebrity, or was he going to be at another table or something?

Lucy was thinking of, and I agree with her, putting him in that center table with Mrs. Conley as the host of that table and have Bob close to that table.

Right.

But maybe I, I just don't know.

I think the little rock fall is fine.

You want Mrs. Waller here?

Yeah.

She should be my neighbor.

Well, we'll put someone there, Walter, to dominate the place.

We won't put her right next to you, though.

Oh, yes.

Let's put Mrs. Waller on the right and her on the left.

Sure.

That's going to be a very entertaining evening, isn't it?

We have a team that's interesting, and she'll take more of the load off than you girls, actually.

Fine.

It's sort of funny this, because, you know, at the last minute, it's going to take quite a few.

We don't even have one center of consciousness now, and we've had quite a few.

Perfectly all right.

And we're going to put, you know, Billy Graham has to be the table of his own and peel, I think, don't you?

I don't think they should be.

Because they're big enough to keep the table going.

What about Lionel Henson?

I don't suppose you want him or Peter here as a pet.

He's younger than he could be.

And do you think Steve Royce is apparently a very good friend of DeWitt Wallace?

Steve Royce is a...

He used to be out at the Huntington.

Fine.

I'm sure he's fine.

Okay.

Maybe she might like, well, either Jen or Lindbergh, or maybe she'd like Crescent Myers or two.

Or he's big enough to be at a table by himself.

I have Lindbergh at their table.

Because he is not the first.

No, he's not the first.

He is, but he's smart and he won't talk.

I don't know if there are any other women here.

You need to quiet down.

Well, you don't have to, but you've got a lot of women.

Well, how about putting maybe Mrs. Robinson there?

Or Mrs. Mulcahy.

Oh, all right.

They haven't got Harold Hellmer, Keith Bunsen, or Tom Patterson.

No.

Alan Wallace.

You've got to have him.

No, not Wallace.

Not at my table, really.

For men?

Well, you've got just yourself.

Oh, you could put Benson.

Bunsen's all right.

You know, you've just got yourself a lot of trouble.

What about George Champion?

He's just so upset with you.

He's always upset.

I know.

Always upset.

I don't mean a hell of a lot.

But he did minor cats, one of the two.

You know, he's likely to be better than cats, so that he doesn't do... Let's start on the economics.

Or anything, anything.

I just don't want to... Well, he may not think that there are a lot of other people much more important than all those other people.

And, uh, but in my people, the function's fine.

I'm just, I'm trying to, you know, he's kind of an older corporation now, so...

Yes, he'd be fine.

Yes, he'd be fine, sure.

he could be i don't mind but it doesn't need to be he can be he's a break ball yeah put him in the table now that's enough that you got him

Well, you could, yourself and Mrs. Lawler, and Lyons, Mrs. Lawler, Martin, Hayden, be five, and then we'll take...

There's six of each, so twelve?

Eight, I guess.

Eight.

Eight of these people.

But they're not... You want four men?

You need three men besides me.

Well, why don't the others want... And Hayden and the Mary and Ethel, seven?

That's good.

And you know, now, the way people have understood it, there's even, it's going to be an uneven number and I'd be an extra woman.

So I don't really think I ought to go.

I'll come in later for the entertainment.

Oh, you know, what's the difference between an extra woman and an extra woman?

Well, extra women are the same as an extra.

You know, they're down to 91 now.

And you just can't invite outside people.

You know, like with someone who got these calls yesterday and today.

You know who we were running into?

Mrs. Lila Ting, what's T-Y-N-G?

She's Henry Luce's first wife.

She's the mother of Hank Lewis and was a good friend of Ben.

She's coming.

I'll write that out on a note.

I just now found out who else she was.

I asked Hogue.

That's fine.

Okay, well, Lucy just wanted... She'd like to have your table.

She'd throw it.

It'd be fun.

Sure, it'd be fine.

Fine.

Well, there were two inches of snow on Kent's table this morning.

Oh, really?

Was it quite cold up there?

It was cold last night, but I, of course, I missed my house.

It was nice.

It was a good break.

It was sweet.

Well, just to get away, I guess we're not even... Out of here.

Really get there and spend here.

Well, yeah, it's just good sometimes to be able to look out across the country.

God, this is a wonderful place to be.

You know, I have no complaints about it.

This is a, it's a good move, the pressure's around.

How was the affair?

Were you good?

It was nice.

That building was very pretty.

They restored it, you know, to the old high ceilings and stuff.

They read a nice letter from you.

Chief Joseph was there.

Nice.

And I saw John Volpe at an earlier thing and

I told him you'd written, and he said, this is the third time the son's been in the hospital, and he had changed, and he thought, and I told him that you had mentioned calling, but we thought maybe later, till we see how it's going along, he said, oh, that's right, he did, and I said, if you get to this point, you know, if you make a call with helping me, that's the point, to accept you letting me know, because the president wanted to call him, and we thought we should wait and talk with you first.

Good, you've done it right.

Incidentally, when you're thinking of dinner lists sometimes, a burger's always a good one to have on.

I don't know why you see it.

Just a courtesy this time.

Well, this list, I take no blame for, because I didn't do it, but this is done by all of them, and it doesn't have as much liberty as my name.

Because we're too many of the same people.

I even gave them a list of how many have been here six, seven, and eight times.

And, like, we've got so darn many people who have done more than friendly quarreling to a hater, and they're back again.

They learned what they were requested to do.

They were put on by tax drivers.

There are a couple things that I think you might want to see.

Mark Stamford wrote a very nice letter.

And here's a memo back from Earlsman on that equal rights amendment.

But I think you ought to read it.

He said that he wanted to push it with John Rachel.

Yeah, John, yes.

You don't want to see this.

Grant sent a copy of the letter he wrote to John Connolly on it.

I don't think so.

Unemployment, that's better.

Unemployment.

The catchphrase John's trying to read, unemployment was initiated by his recent visit with us at the Price Commission.

Sorry, that's John Bronstock, is that right?

Bronstock, exactly, yeah.

And that colored sign on his road, he left thanking for the agitators, saying he would be anxious to help.

He'd rather do it on a personal basis than under the offices of the party, so I'm willing to tell Larry to get his money.

That's all he says for anyone.

Is that alright by this?

Yeah.

I think what he's usually in California.

Well, in our taxes.

He's written... My idea is that Marty would probably have a combat trip out there.

You know, he probably wants to do it in cash.

He might.

On any personal basis.

We were out in California.

He's done all the things, but...

I already said I didn't think you could do this, but Kenny Ball wrote the letter, and Clinton Harris wrote about it to me.

What did he write?

Well, he had put your name on a fundraising campaign to raise $10,000.

And I said, oh, you can't get a president's name on something like that.

So I'm just...

Yes, I can't put money in the nanny clock.

And if you're reading over the weekend...

his 9,000 accounts about your broadcast, and a letter from Luke Dowdy, which I hope you might understand.

Oh, he's written a few times.

And an interesting one from Irv Davidson.

Oh, the lobbyist for Indonesia.

Yeah, but the letter's about a talk he had with George Meany, his wife, on an airplane.

I mean, the memo.

And so I think you ought to read it if you have the chance at all.

Put it in my little email?

Yes, sir.

And then there's a letter to you from Britain about European community, etc.

And, you know, a lot of things.

I think maybe you might hear that.

Yeah.

For their response, I think I know what it is.

Yeah, I would like to have it filed.

I'll read it to see what it is.

Yeah, I've got the letter.

Yeah, okay.

Like when you put those red folders, I'd like to take them.

Then I get them in a helicopter or something.

It's just the best thing to do.

I feel that I'm not going to use the time very well, and it's good relaxation.

And then I read them all, and it's very helpful to have them do it.

It gives me a little feel of the man, which I need to get.

Yeah, unless you're running to these people or anything.

Oh, I guess.

They like to know you're staying at this moment.

I, uh... Now, I don't know if you want to answer that dinner this late and invite any of the others.

I don't think we can do that very well now.

I wonder if under the circumstances that Wallace and us really wouldn't be better off than I was.

I don't want to stand around and talk to these people.

Should we move on?

Shake hands with people?

No, I don't think so.

I think they've set it up not to.

They've set it up, I think, to bring those people in.

They're getting treated royally.

They're going to duplicate the dinner over there or do something.

They'll be brought in and be seated in the East Throne for the entertainment.

I don't think you need to shake hands with those people.

I thought you were going to say anything would be better if you and Pat and the Wallacians were at one stage.

What do you think?

I don't know.

I wonder tonight, maybe it isn't that way, that we just shouldn't be in sort of like a head table.

It isn't too late that you put just a... No.

I mean, leave it around.

Leave it around.

Okay, hold on.

I think it might be kind of nice for the wall.

Yeah, it's nice for them.

They're being honored.

He gets a chance to hear me talk, which he wants.

Otherwise, I'm not going to have you.

She's not going to have you.

I won't have breakfast with her.

Don't be up and going.

Let's all sit at the same table for a change.

Well, I'll call Lucy now and tell her that.

I think it would be good.

No, that's what I hear about it.

Then just leave the people at the table.

I still think I'd have Mr. Longworth.

You wouldn't?

I wouldn't, but maybe you would.

I think she's trying to think over a little too much about us.

Well, all right.

Maybe.

Maybe Pat would like her, too.

Would you still put Martin Hayden?

You wouldn't put Martin Hayden in there, then, would you?

Well, I don't know about other... You just gotta remove one man, so which one do you remove?

Leave Lawrence Rockefeller.

He's a little bit boring, but... Is he?

Oh, yes.

Don't put him by himself.

He likes him.

Fine, fine.

And maybe we shouldn't do it.

Oh, yes, fine, fine.

But we've got that Rockefeller regret.

He isn't gonna be here.

Fine, fine, fine.

Governor...

Governor... Maybe then, I don't know.

Who's our other person?

The mayor of Indiana.

Well...

He didn't do it.

We haven't patched it.

Steve Wright, Lionel Hanson, General Lindbergh.

I see an original one on it.

I don't think he sure did.

It looked like he was there before they caught him.

He was going to be across the line or something like that.

He's coming along.

Got them all paid.

He threw all those compacts around.

I really wrote as much as I love them.

I've seen them all so many times I haven't got a hell of a lot to talk to you about right now, you know.

You can overdo that.

I couldn't agree more.

It's about power, business, and, you know, being in love.

Well, don't worry about it too much.

I don't think we should put the comments there.

I don't know whether Lindbergh made a positive analysis.

You know, I think you may be right.

Alice will comment on the conversation very much.

I don't want to hear more from me.

Well, that's very nice.

She has the way of trying to take over.

I put her at another table where she can sort of be the grand dame.

Very good.

And so then we have the Wallaces and ourselves.

There's four.

What do you need?

Four more?

He doesn't want to eat two other couples, right?

Right.

And we won't make them any man in the life of us.

That's right.

Well, our truck hauler's okay.

We've got to get him.

Mark and Hayden.

Her doctor, who saved her life, is going to be here.

Oh, they're very fond of that Dr. Howard Rask.

She's very fond of Dr. Peter Manning, president of Juilliard School.

Well, I have, uh...

I know, but I shouldn't ask you, except I hate that you're born dead.

Oh, not to bother you.

I can think about it.

Rose just put anybody in there.

I don't really care.

But, uh...

I think Lindbergh is okay.

Of course, he's a hell of a celebrity.

He doesn't carry a table.

I don't think he'll talk about himself without carrying a table.

He can't carry a table with somebody else there with him.

But I certainly think he could put...

I think Howard Rust is okay.

I don't know how women are going to have that.

I don't know, I don't think it would be a bad thing.

You could put Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Mulcahy, if you want, or somebody else.

They're fine, that kind of person.

Sometimes you could put Mrs. Bob Post there.

He's great, but her at the table.

Laura's home.

Because that's coming a long way.

Right, right.

That's fine.

And maybe, I don't know, that Mrs. Dan Seymour, J-Mo's tongue?

No.

Duh.

I've heard a couple more times.

No.

What's Jane Suthridge's wife like?

I mean, ask Anita later.

They won't want to know.

Over there, yes, later.

Oh, what about Mrs. King?

Mrs. Elizabeth Harry, who is her first wife?

Sure, I've met her.

They were supposed to be, you know, very, very good friends, so... Good.

Is Henry available?

Or is there any other instructions?

I really think, though, that Dr. McCance is not there with us.

Hell no, Michael.

Well, of course, how many times you put up with the mic, that's what I'm getting at.

That was a good response.

Commander, I can't tell you everything I think.

Maybe you'll try.

No letters to me that I've already written.

I know it's a very nice letter, but I should not write it.

I don't know what it has to do with this damn thing.

I don't know either.

What do you think?

Do you care about him?

Yes.

He's an impression.

He's still not meeting in the bathroom.

It's about 3 o'clock.

Well, I think, I started thinking that John is being unrealistic about it.

I don't think they're going to help us.

I think it's almost like you don't want a negative one.

Because look, I agree with you.

John Lennon, they do great flip-flops when they hear that Kennedy changed his mind.

So before, all along, we've said we were for it.

I don't know.

I...

.

— 1 min 10 s with no transcribed speech —

But I'll save you two.

Fine.

Okay, we'll be calm tonight.

It won't be fun.

It occurred to me, I don't know, have we invited the Mitchells tonight?

Nixon, Woods & Bull on White House social events and DeWitt and Lila Wallace

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Transcript (AI-generated)

Also recorded on January 28, 1972

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Nixon, Woods & Bull on White House social events and DeWitt and Lila Wallace

AI Summary

Audio

NARA Description

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Transcript (AI-generated)

Also recorded on January 28, 1972

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Cite this conversation