Conversation 685-004

TapeTape 685StartTuesday, March 14, 1972 at 11:49 AMEndTuesday, March 14, 1972 at 12:15 PMTape start time02:55:38Tape end time03:20:45ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Bull, Stephen B.;  Mosbacher, Emil, Jr. (Bus);  Assar, Nassir;  Akiman, Nazmi;  Haig, Alexander M., Jr.;  White House photographerRecording deviceOval Office

On March 14, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Emil ("Bus") Mosbacher, Jr., Nassir Assar, Nazmi Akiman, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:49 am to 12:15 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 685-004 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 685-4

Date: March 14, 1972
Time: 11:49 am - 12:15 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull..

       The President's schedule
            -Forthcoming meeting with an unknown person

             -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
             -Jack R. Miller meeting
                   -William E. Timmons
             -Emil (“Bus”) Mosbacher, Jr.

The President left at an unknown time before 11:51 am.

       Mosbacher

Mosbacher entered at 11:51 am.

[General conversation]

       Oval Office furnishings

The President entered at an unknown time after 11:51 am.

       Greetings

       Mosbacher’s possible appointment as ambassador
           -Spain
                 -Mosbacher’s financial interests
                        -Example of Arthur K. Watson
                              -International Business Machines [IBM]
                        -Election year
           -Portugal [Ridgeway B. Knight]
           -Patricia R. Mosbacher

Nassir Assar, Nazmi Akiman and Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr. entered and Bull left at 11:54 am;
members of the press and the White House photographer were present at the beginning of the
meeting.

       Seating arrangements

       [Photograph session]

       The President’s recent trip to the People's Republic of China [PRC]

       Secretary General of Central Treaty Organization [CENTO]
             -Members of CENTO

PRC trip

The President’s forthcoming trip to the Soviet Union

Mohammed Reza Pahlavi [Shah of Iran]

World peace

CENTO
    -Purpose
    -Unity of non-Communist nations
    -Balance
    -Alliances
          -North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO]
          -CENTO
    -Pakistan
          -Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
          -Soviet Union
                 -India
          -PRC
          -Role of CENTO
                 -Communication with the non-communist world
    -Relations with the US
          -Iran, Pakistan, Turkey
    -Change in world situation
    -Purpose
          -Iran
          -Pakistan
          -Turkey
    -Soviet Union
          -Indian Ocean
    -East Mediterranean
          -Jordan
                 -Middle East
                 -Soviets
                        -[Hussein, King of Jordan] Hussein ibn Talal
                             -Forthcoming visit
          -Indian Ocean
          -Iraq
          -Sri Lanka
          -Iraq

                  -Syria
                  -Iran
            -Regional instability
                  -Communism
            -Purpose
            -Military consultations
            -Possible US financial assistance
                  -Congress
            -Pakistan
            -NATO
                  -Soviets
            -US policy
                  -Congress
                  -Military
                  -Economics
            -Symbolism
                  -Forthcoming Soviet trip
                        -The President’s trip to Iran
                              -Announcement of trip
                              -Shah
                              -Announcement of trip
            -Assar’s schedule
            -Iran
                  -The President's previous visit in 1953
                        -Mohammed Mossadegh
                        -Shah
                              -Father
                              -The President’s view
             -Symbolism
                  -Pakistan

Mosbacher, Assar, Akiman and Haig left at 12:15 pm.

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.

and say, look, there's been Social Security benefits of 51% in the last three years, and Social Security recipients have had more benefits in this administration than in the total of the last three, and here's my last question, how do you work these things out?
I'm sure people are talking about it, but let's see what they're talking about.
Lots of ways to talk about it.
I think if we can put it in our cluster, that would be great.
We can't do it.
All we know, we're for it.
5% jealous, why wouldn't we do it?
Yeah.
He's got, he's got fun stuff.
That's, that's what it is.
You're, you come around and you're supporting folks.
Yeah.
Well, that's where I've been right now.
Is, uh, is, I'm in a critical position.
Well, why the hell is, uh, but I, I have to, I have to get, I have an officer in here to make his case.
And, uh, that's why we're in this, we're in this against the president's position.
I don't know.
He said he disagreed with it.
I didn't know one way or the other.
I do always get a lot of sound around.
I think that they disagreed with it.
It's tough.
It's tough.
He probably can't win.
He may get rolled.
He may have to be turned around.
And he might get rolled underneath him.
uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...
But I think what he's going to come in and say to you is that this amounts to higher taxes.
The way the fight is, is no higher taxes.
Well, but we're going to, we're going to have to, yes, you know, I've got to go see about some other things.
Well, you've got to go all the way.
Yeah, but the key thing is I've got to have somebody strong in the role with Miller who is going to be built into this.
You know, you've got to get him the hell out of here.
You know that's our solution.
No.
Thank you.
Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you for watching.
Hi, how are you?
Nice to see you out here.
I just want to do a couple of words about the Spanish job.
I don't know if you've heard of it this morning.
No, not that I haven't talked about it today.
I know that we've talked about it before.
I know a lot of things about it.
what you didn't know, what they didn't know, because I discussed it with you.
We have a conscious interest over there, and I thought it would result in sale, but I suppose it's in this, you have to work together that way.
Well, I think the problem is it's a small family company.
It's not a big thing, but it's not a big thing.
It's not a big thing.
It's not a big thing.
It's not a big thing.
Yes, but it's not like you.
It's an L.A.
I don't know what you do.
I'm just curious.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Well, I don't know if this would be close enough or not.
We don't have any entrance in which .
But the entrance that we do have is .
Do you want to consider it?
Well, I'd be glad to consider it.
One of my problems is, as I mentioned before, it kind of goes back to the term of fever.
I think you should stay here.
Well, if you can't, I'm sorry.
I don't have anything to say to you.
How did you do this?
Stay here now.
And we'll just have to find somebody else for this matter.
I'm sorry.
I'm not intelligent enough to ask you guys to say anything to me.
They're kids, you know, sons and sisters.
They have a voice.
Yeah, sure.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, that's right.
Thank you.
All right.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Oh, my English.
I need to be a much more fluent English professor.
I'd love myself to become a teacher, sir.
I can say that I hold admiration for your statesmanship, but now this admiration is sort of converted to disbelief.
President, what do you achieve?
I should say giant strife.
what is going to be the shape of our world, beyond that.
And all your friends and others, they guide them, they tell us the importance of what it is.
So, you are never getting anything except the bareness of the world,
I feel that there is just a need for such a movement, something to develop.
As I know, there is something hanging that nobody can not grasp.
One man go and grasp it.
That's what you achieve, isn't it?
We are very, very, very happy.
We'd like to know more from you.
There you go.
I'm already confused.
So, if you allow me to go after your eyes again, to grow the views of your present situation, political situation, what about the future, what point of our organization is this?
The world has changed, as you know, Secretary General, since Central was set up.
But as far as the, as our attitudes, I mean, regarding the United States and my personal attitudes toward the members of the Senate of the Democratic Organization, that is not changed.
I think one of the problems with the China trip, and the one that will be taken to the Soviet Union, will be that some of our friends, like the Shia, like the Church, support their friends, and others will wonder, well, what does this mean?
There are people around talking to all of their enemies and not paying any attention to their friends.
It's not true.
The purpose of this is to
instrument the world's stateroom for everybody.
I think we will be better by influencing the course of events through discussion rather than standing there in a rigid room with a confrontation and isolation.
But looking at Central, in the name of the community organizations, what really makes it possible to have meaningful progress in discussions about children?
what makes it possible.
and it was the center of any progress in the progress history.
But in the non-conference nations, there must be a sense of unity, a purposefulness, a strength, recognizing, of course, that we can't have a central form of the organization.
But the very fact that he's there in all the ways, and so forth,
I think it's a good balance.
It's a good balance to our friends.
They're happy.
We look after them.
They're happy.
All alliances are obsolete.
All should go.
Nailers should be disbanded.
Senators should be disbanded, etc.
etc.
That's what they say, and I want to find out if they want that.
Should we do that?
The answer is no.
Now, you'll have some difficult problems in San Joaquin.
The tragedy in Pakistan.
which, you know, we tried our best to release, to run out, to revert.
But, thank God,
West Pakistan survives.
I think, for example, one of the most important things in the service of the Central Community right here is to have Ulu and the New Pakistan Government feel that they have friends in Central and the United States.
On the other hand, they know that they have an enemy in India in the south, and they know that the Soviet Union supported India in the Scottish crisis.
And then they have, of course, the uneasy feeling that their only friend might be China.
Well, that's a very uneasy situation, so I think it's good for them to realize that Central is still a viable organization, and while they could not speak, if you run into this accident up here, they say, well, what good is Central?
We had all this problem.
You didn't do anything.
Well...
There wasn't anything to be done at that point, if you will, in the various people's tribe.
On the other hand, it's just very essential that Pakistan have communication with and ties to the non-communist nations on the realm of the communist world.
That's my feeling about it.
As far as our situation is concerned, we will continue to, of course, as we
That's our interest, basically.
That's what we want.
Well, you will find, speaking quite candidly, the reasons for which Senator O'Rourke was set up for God.
Senator O'Rourke is only a fragile person.
of anything that has to do with me.
And the point that I make is the world, the situation has changed.
The reasons are not the same in every instance.
But there is a need for Central.
It serves a useful purpose.
And the United States will work with you, with Central.
and achieve those goals, because in the final analysis, what really was at stake was the right of each of these nations to run, actually, their concerns, each of them, to have an independent existence.
and not to be swallowed up by the inevitable tide of great powers going on.
That's the way I would see it.
And also the fact, too, is I know that you're
But you've got to still get moving into the Indian Ocean for us, which we've noted.
That must be something, too, as soon as they move in there, over there.
We can't go back.
Just the fact that there's more sort of East Mediterranean.
Yeah, that's even more frightening.
Yeah, we understand.
East Mediterranean is a...
It couldn't be a power play if we didn't have a signature incident.
When we moved down to Jordan, for example, we weren't supposed to come out of that because they didn't look here.
And that was enough when we moved in on that crisis.
It's basically, that wasn't about the Mideast.
It wasn't about so much.
It was about the Soviet Union.
They were involved in the Soviet Union.
And all over, they were in place to be.
I mean, take the, take the turds coming over here.
Fine.
I'm speaking because of this one good.
The world, you know, I want our soldiers to understand, I want everybody to know, this is all the country needs.
And if I can survive, you know, we will take some rest and then all can survive.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, there.
It's too bad.
It's too bad.
I don't know.
I mean, of course, I've recently seen 20 years of rocket experience, but the number of millions of people that have those miserable memories is terrible.
Because they belong, they belong, basically, to Iraq and Syria, which would be close to Iran and Iraq and all that.
They're more, they don't belong in that bag with the, you know, with an axe.
That's why.
I'd like to know about, basically, the military.
Do you know much more about that than we do?
Well, that's not a reason, of course, for the need for central.
You've got enemy in a portion, a period of the world that's under threat from various places, and a portion of the world that is filled with volatile, unskating forces.
some tie to reality, some tie to principle, some tie to stability, and so on.
Because it's something.
You need something.
Otherwise, everybody's out there with the unbillable kind of card, card to card.
Just in order to show people the importance and the sense of change of emphasis in the last decade.
Right.
Well, we're trying to follow up on that as much as we can get out of Congress.
I think that we might help Pakistan get on the speed.
And Santos Anderson should be on the counter side, because I don't know if he's on the military counter side.
But we're thinking this is a central news machine.
Yeah.
And I think that's what radio is trying to do.
Radio is trying a great deal in that direction to be economic rather than military.
I think you could...
It's a very early place in America.
I'm sure that for economic activities in America, we can always count millions.
Correct.
That's our policy and that's the direction.
That's one where we can get our Congress to support it.
The military is very difficult.
Is it possible?
If you talk to your race colleagues and you visit them, you can say, our interest is very great.
We think that these countries deserve to have been in existence.
We want to help them as much as we can on the economic side.
It's the best place we can help right now.
We recognize the military importance, too, of the economic will that is brought by us.
So the revolutionary forces that play in the area will not just explode in your face.
That's not what we do.
One thing, too, that made us able to get those symbolic connections, as you know, after I had to take my husband to the Soviet Union, I went to Iran.
And, uh, is that an announcement?
No, sir.
Oh, it's not.
But we've told them, you know, that it'd be the negotiations that we've got to do.
So they're direct to the office.
So, mostly, so you see, uh, we'll be, uh, we'll be taking on this on my own bank.
But you see, I have great symbolic importance.
I mean, it's very important.
Yes, sir.
That's why I'm doing it.
So, I'm doing it also because of my...
The message will reverberate all over that area.
We are going to reset.
We're going to work out the time, some time.
And so there's a different initiative.
I came in.
I told them one day's time, three days.
The second, first was the audience, the economy.