Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 670-004
Date: Monday, February 14, 1972 at 8:52 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Kissinger, Henry A.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/670-004

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:01] Hi, Harry.
[0:09] Just, uh, see, uh, our, our, our taxes last night, they still seem to be running.
[0:21] Oh, I see, but they didn't go well.
[0:25] Good, good.
[0:27] I didn't mind being on it.
[0:29] I just wanted to be here to see.
[0:33] Literally, how did they catch the, uh, 10 of the 9, 48 hours, or 24?
[1:06] Well, we want to have them increased, though.
[1:08] I mean, I know that doesn't give me any satisfaction.
[1:11] Why haven't they increased?
[1:12] Because they can't get the planes out there or what?
[1:18] Yeah.
[1:18] I know it's very different there, yeah.
[1:23] Well, they'll be there by the time we get back.
[1:27] And also, the very fact they're on the way means something.
[1:33] Well, they're here.
[1:37] I can say it before you put it.
[2:13] Listen, I'm having a meeting at 11 that I can't break out of.
[2:16] If you'll note, 10 o'clock or so.
[2:17] Fine.
[2:17] Well, I can't break out of that because I've got a dysfunction with the press center.
[2:24] Good, good, good.
[2:29] Well, I was going to say that if you're between 10 and 11, I'd like to be interrupted.
[2:33] I have a meeting that may come soon.
[2:36] I've got a call here.
[2:38] But if it's between 11 and 12, I'll have to wait until after 12.
[2:42] OK.
[2:44] Well, I don't want to do that.
[2:48] I'm concerned about the PR on this thing.
[2:51] I think it's true that it's all being played in where these are the strikes in South Vietnam.
[3:07] Is the camera started?
[3:08] Yeah.
[3:20] Well, let me say this.
[3:25] They think this is a tough way to let me be game.
[3:28] Because we just have to let them have their, you know, just kind of let them come and get screwed around here.
[3:33] I mean, we're just getting up to that, you know, pretty uncomfortable.
[3:40] I know the one interesting thing here in the summer is that the French press were kind of getting
[3:49] Some, they aren't supporting us as much as our January 25th thing.
[3:54] That's right.
[3:55] Yeah.
[3:56] Yeah.
[4:00] Yeah.
[4:01] Actually, I think this kind of thing, they believe so intensely in propaganda that this may shape them more than we think, too.
[4:10] Do you have a lot of first-time comments?
[4:24] You know, that's more important.
[4:47] We cannot have any people in the government saying, well, we're flexible.
[4:51] We must continue to say that goddammit.
[4:53] We can prove that to them, maybe to our own people, we say we're flexible.
[5:01] The point that I made is this was a North Vietnamese.
[5:06] I think that some of our people suggest they're flexible because they think that'll get them to talk.
[5:13] They are not flexible.
[5:15] And I think indicating flexibility doesn't do anything.
[5:17] On some of these Chinese things, I'm inclined to think that I'm going to top some of those up.
[5:28] i don't want to i don't want to i mean i'm going to be someone absolutely every point every point they get nothing and of course they force us to get something well that's what we know
[5:46] Well, the press will pay attention to them, in my opinion.
[5:49] Well, what I'm getting at is that they're Congress Hill.
[5:53] If you read their whole history, these people are very good, you know, at handing out cosmetics, but they're just tough as they can be.
[6:02] And what I have in mind, I think the work is just excellent.
[6:07] But I think what we have to have in mind is that it's dealing with the North Vietnamese.
[6:12] comments generally.
[6:14] Flexibility is not an asset.
[6:16] You must not talk about flexibility.
[6:18] You must never talk.
[6:19] If you don't talk later, you don't talk about flexibility.
[6:22] You know, we run into that every time we come in here.
[6:24] Every time we leave, every time we leave.
[6:27] We've been strong with people.
[6:29] We do reasonably well when we start flapping around and trying to do really what we're doing too much.
[6:35] You see, the Bill's thing was that it appears that we're apologetic that, you know, we made an offer, but gee, gee, we aren't insisting on the kids.
[6:44] Come on and wait for us to come on and play.
[6:46] Goddamn it, we made an offer before, but that just shouldn't be said.
[6:50] See my point?
[6:54] I don't know why the purpose of it was to do it with the American public, and I don't think it means a goddamn thing.
[7:00] It will be our critics and the American public, Henry, are going to criticize us until we give the country to the communists.
[7:07] So therefore, don't tell them you're going to be flexible.
[7:10] Let's only lose your friends.
[7:13] That's right.
[7:16] That's right.
[7:16] That's right.
[7:18] Well, let's see what happens.
[7:18] We'll see about that.
[7:20] But on the airstrikes, then we would start right after death and continue until when?
[7:25] Well, after all, if they're in South Vietnam, we'll do them as necessary.
[7:30] Yeah.
[7:36] Yeah.
[7:36] You know, in this instance now, because here's what we are interested in,
[7:50] and they'll know what's happening from where.
[7:53] So we said, you might say, look, we're just concentrating more.
[7:58] And maybe you should get that out.
[8:01] We want to try to .