Nixon, Colson & Bull on Watergate and Media Relations

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Marked.

They have premises in Arlington.

Yes, I could have been more specific.

Because he drove down, I would say, in the flood prevalence.

But he lied when his wife told you that he was dying.

She, of course, told him.

Right.

Well, geez, it's obvious when you don't even, I mean, you know what I mean?

After all, it's...

You know, they, the way the press is trying to go, they're trying so goddamn hard not to get active.

They are really, 43.

No, absolutely.

Blank account.

I've never saw something like that.

Well.

And he has to hold it up and say something.

And he didn't let that go.

Right.

Part of it is his own fault.

That's the way he doesn't handle the press.

It's getting worse.

Well, he just doesn't know how to do it.

I got his people yesterday to put that speech yesterday out in advance.

But here before, they've never even done that.

They just, Vice President gives a speech, and then if he happens to be in Dubuque, he hands it out in Dubuque to the reporters at 8 o'clock at night, and you just aren't going to make any news of it.

At least yesterday's, which should make some news.

He got out far enough in advance so the reporters could write to him.

But he's got such a, you were saying yesterday about the attitudes towards the press, he's got such a paranoid feeling about the press that he won't even give them, as he puts it, he doesn't like to give them the courtesy of an advanced text.

Well, he says basically that that's hurting the press.

Yeah, because it doesn't get them in the front.

But he, the press, that speech he gave was nice.

Really, there's a title to a couple of minutes on each of the networks.

Of course, that's the other thing.

He won't make himself available for a network interview.

And it's not like you, when you speak, they cover it, obviously.

They have to.

Sometimes we'd rather not.

We'd rather be free, but they have to cover me.

But in the case of the vice president, he's got to make himself a little bit available.

He's got to go part of the work.

Oh, yeah, I had to do it.

I had to do it.

Yeah.

He's a fine man, but he's a lousy press secretary.

I don't know.

Reading the news, I don't really see it.

The Braddards are partially succeeded.

So, you know, that, that, that, that, you know.

This is good.

This is scripted.

And as I mentioned to you last night, Helen Thomas did almost, Oh, Helen Thomas, yeah.

Spectacular.

Right.

But you know what I mean?

You've got to figure,

I've always heard her say that

And I think that he's doing it because he thinks it's going to help him get to the top of the CPS.

And also ideological, which is both.

My point is, be very sure that it doesn't work like it did with that other son of a bitch, you know, that we were currently getting fired.

I'll do that.

On this, I just regularly just say, why don't you look at this for a while?

You say, Bill, I'm going to complain.

nothing about attitudes, we have pedigree lessons, but just what kind of, and you might get, say, very good on chapters and verse.

We have a pretty good program.

We've gone back about a year.

One of the things you can talk about is,

kick the living shit out of this idea that advertising should be a fair and solid thing.

And also, license renewals.

We had to have a better system on that, and I finally agreed and disagreed with a lot of people.

Jack Hansen had to do everything.

I said, oh, I'm 25, and I told him that we had to work it out.

I had mentioned CBS, and he said, you better let me know it.

I don't think people ever should have done it.

A lot of kids do.

I don't allow them to do Sesame Street.

I don't want to let them get rid of their goddamn newsletters.

This idea of a competing network is ridiculous.

I hope what you're saying to me is right.

We've got Sesame Street right up in the beginning.

We favor them.

That's good.

We're not going to have expanded it to a great big, huge, competing government network.

Government-financed... No, I mean, are the networks for this?

No, no.

Tell Taylor that I can't...

Part of what I didn't want to say, because I have a great sense of humor, but I feel that if we would build a mosque in Frankston by going for that, I think he should tell his colleagues in the networks that I'm fighting on principle, if you go to up to $100 million a year for public broadcasting, which the bill would have done within two years, then it would grow into a mosque.

Don't you agree?

Next year, $200 million.

I kept the whole damn thing.

It's a boozer.

But I, no, I've talked to Philly about that.

I've talked to Golden's about it.

Well, would you?

They're all against it.

You call them and say, I'm against it, because I believe in private projects.

Philly's probably the strongest in that city.

Also, Philly's, man, know that.

Right.

Is that?

Oh, yeah.

Steve, would you see whether they have the science convention?

But what the hell?

We can't be against everyone.

Go ahead, you may recall, but you will.

Well, I think that people expect us to have, that's not a... We're not gonna ever say that.

Oh, God.

Between now and next Sunday, the 23rd.

That's right.

But I think the argument that this would be telling you now would discourage us from doing it.

No, I don't, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,

I will not sign this.

If I have a little disaster, I'll say it.

by the election.

Call the Congress back in the session.

I'll be able to call the Congress in the session on that date right then.

As it is.

Thank you.

I think that can't be right.

After all, the math, there's no math there.

There's not enough argument.

He did.

He carried a gun for years.

Well, he kept it.

He didn't keep it in his vest.

He had it locked in a safe.

He was wanted in a few Latin American countries.

The tragedy of it, Mr. President, was that I never had been in his office, so I didn't know whether the story when I ran him a daily news was true or not true, except that it said his office was in mine.

Yeah.

The point is, if I'd known, you know, that it was untrue, I'd have had Justice denied it early in the day, rather than let it run all day, ran all day.

Why?

Well, it wasn't until late afternoon.

It was not late afternoon.

No.

I don't worry.

I didn't even mention it in the post.

I didn't have to get up to the other thing.

They're going to have to cut this, cut the wall.

Howard Smith told me, he told the thing, he said, I still think it's a seven-day one-day.

Well, it may be, but

There's a little investigating .

They're going to find out that this money came from a Republican source, if you will, .

The cause of these students, the fact that the Jews scared the death of the government, and the shared public, the shared word.

There are eager beavers in the campaign committee that were .

But, you know, he wrote what I would regard as a very innocuous letter about what freed all Latin American countries alive.

And they took a lot from that.

That's it.

I sent it to D.C. That's what I sent to D.C.

I don't think they're trying to fuck, but, you know, they could be.

It may be that what they want to do is to get in and sort of get files and retribution against the young people.

I was thinking that if they make that error, I would consider it an error.

And, you know, if they could get in one night, we don't have a security member in the fire.

And, uh... Just messing up a bit.

Why?

Now, this is the search.

This is my point is we know they've been trying to publish that's why they have

I think it would be very helpful if they came in one morning and found files, you know, all over the floor.

Excellent.

Something missing.

Of course, they have that missing over here.

That was in this one space.

It had several campaign files.

Of course, we know that to be true because we went through one day trying to track something back that we were concerned about in the ITT case.

And some had been taken.

And what's going on every campaign?

These fellows did it in a very stupid way.

I mean, it could be very open and clear, but I need to monitor 3,000, 4,000 also.

That would have a very, that would have a very good effect.

Right during that connection.

During, during this.

During that connection.

And then, though it was mostly, though it was in a perfect position to say, Sue, Bob, I need you to come in.

Sue, come in.

They sued him about it.

Absolutely.

But what I meant is, it should be, it'll be, there should be a rival or a missing file on something where, where it's really torn up and the picture's going to be caught on camera.

So they have a charge that's been done by the Republican Party.

So what the hell?

We'll say for Christ's sake.

He didn't charge that on your place.

That's right.

Financial photos would be the kind of thing.

Financial photos would be the kind of thing they would love to get their hands on and be a real mother to them.

Yeah.

That's obvious.

Believe me.

You consider hunting to be reliable, don't you?

Oh, it says so.

You don't agree?

It's, I don't know, since the court never met him, I don't know anything about him.

I was doubted from what I've heard.

What do you mean?

What's the anxiety with hunting?

Uh, different areas.

Why do you doubt him, though?

Uh, just the way he was, yeah, and the money arrangements.

I mean, Hunt is nice.

You see, Hunt, when all the things he did for us, he never cared about the money.

He just wanted to help.

He's a, he's an idealist.

He reads his books, and all of his books have a political message, which is pretty conservative.

I always trust someone who believes, and not someone who's just in there for a buck.

That's right.

How would he, how would he die for something he believes in, in a good civil contract?

Or, just, I've never met him, but just the wing of it, of $4,000 a month contract, setting up an office.

Would I, would the National Committee do more security?

I think that's true.

I don't know if security works.

Well, it is if you do it right.

Oh, sure.

The best security is for the individual himself and carry his own stuff and never leave anything around him.

That's right.

That's the point.

I can do it here.

You know?

I don't leave anything around that I really, really want to talk about.

No, I— I don't— The memos, they're very sensitive.

I either carry them in here and lock them up at night or in the safe.

I agree.

I totally agree.

I would trust, I mean, I would.

He's a true believer, real patriot, and I gather that he's done for his country, and it's just a treasure that he gets to stay with us.

Of course, the other theory that a lot of people have bought is that Howard House was taken out of the country by the CIA.

There's been a lot of hot stuff.

You wrote the book?

A little more.

He tells what a story, coming in here, crying, pleading.

I haven't read it, but well, it's precious to me.

I love him.

Here.

But your evaluation of the economic situation is marked, basically, in the donors because of the government.

Yes, sir.

Totally, my government.

I personally believe in the economic figures, as you know, that all the indices are sort of in a state of pause right now.

I mean, they're not very strong.

And I bet, I mean, you're about to hear everything.

I asked for a sign about that.

I didn't because it's on the letter.

Well, Herb thinks that the economic indicators, which only went up 2.1%, I'm not referring to institutionalism.

That's right.

Inventories, durable goods.

Now he thinks that we're in a steady expansion.

I talked to Schultz last night in life about the Social Security

And the money doesn't come out until after the first of the year.

The payroll taxes are increased.

I thought they went before that.

I thought they went in September.

Anyway, don't worry about the White House.

I love this movement.

It'll help the economy.

It'll help the energy.

It's true.

Well, if they come any time before the election, they don't help us.

They do, but they don't help the economy.

If they can't, I heard some kind of thing about the October numbers.

I mean, it's a real list.

What the hell is that?

Someone losing $400.

He suddenly gets $480.

That's a hell of a lot of debt.

We just have to take the credit for it.

Call our website.

Right.

Good.

That should do.

That doesn't cut much.

The Veterans GI Bill cuts

No.

You don't have to worry about that.

They've got to be forced, but I'll sign some and not sign others.

Yeah, you could veto all of those bills and sign a veteran's suit.

We couldn't lose them.

Well, you couldn't lose them, but you really couldn't.

Are there some issues to worry about?

Just up and high.

Well, that's true.

You can't imagine...

So what?

Far from it.

Well, you know why that is.

Because it's not bad.

They were in the French army.

But you know what the point is?

The French gave them orders.

They let the Vietnamese keep them and slaughtered them.

My point is they were people.

Oh, of course they were.

They were French citizens.

The martyr piece, as opposed to 20, tried to sing us on that, but it couldn't.

But the French are fairly sensitive about that story.

They go up in arms.

That's why they get so upset when you use it.

They did before when Scott used it out here at the briefing.

We gave it to Scott.

The figure's right.

The figure's correct, but the French just want to forget that that ever happened because they sold all those people down the river.

They sold French citizens down the river.

That's right.

The fact that they were Indo-Chinese ethnographers.

Don't worry about the market.

No, we were talking about the veterans groups.

The biggest, second biggest VFW checkers were not

We sent around to the two of them.

Get it back to France.

Keep hammering.

Oh, yeah.

Don't go.

Be sure that they, be sure that everybody says, nobody's questioning the fact with my facts.

They were French.

Actually, I was in Vietnam in 1943.

I've seen these French, sort of French, at the end of Chinese, out of the French system, become French citizens like Romans did.

they were quite right along with the French.

Now, this is racism in a terrible reverse, you understand?

And what the French are really talking about is the Vietnamese.

We don't call the Vietnamese American citizens.

But on the other hand, it's sort of like this, John.

Suppose MacArthur had left 15,000 little people.

Do you know what I mean?

Filipinos were foreign tenants, were American citizens, right?

That's right.

Right.

That's right.

But, or Guamanians.

They could, if they wanted to, they'd arm the people.

That's right.

And it's exactly the same thing.

I think they're very across the card.

Most of you are going to think most of us are going to say, well, it's shocking how immoral that is.

There's no question about it.

The figures are in our questions, right?

There's still a...

If you get those figures, you get yourself.

There are two sets of figures.

One of the French admits it's something like 6,800.

And our figures show 15,000.

And most of the historical work show 15,000 or more than 15,000.

State Department put out a thing on it yesterday for us.

Backing you up.

I used it.

I used it on the site.

You're on solid ground.

I've never been able to say my people haven't used it more.

Scott hasn't used it.

We sent the excerpts of your press conference out yesterday.

Some of the folks said, Jesus, don't put that punch here.

Don't be a crack.

It's controversial.

Put it in.

Let the government screen and say it wasn't true, that there weren't 15,000, there were only 6,000.

That's a hell of a bad answer for him to have to give.

So it's in their figures.

The 15,000 is true.

Yeah, also the thing he did, of course, the other night, which just caused rejoicing among the wives, which you talked about the missing action.

That's how it was.

Because that's what the French, that's what they're afraid of, is that we'll pull out and we'll say, well, we don't have your Christmas.

And they'll live there for 20 years and their families will never know it.

Don't, don't, don't.

I'll get some more build off of this.

were POWs, fighting in the French army, would have never been accountable.

That's right.

And the French got their ass out of it, which is a horrible thing they were allowed to do.

Well, even the French nationals, it took them several months to get them back.

Even those that they did get back, it took a long time to get rid of the French nationals.

We're not going to distinguish.

Are we going to start distinguishing American ethnics?

Are Cubans and Hungarians and others going to be treated differently from other Americans?

I mean,

I think the other thing, French enemies, we don't have French enemies.

They're French citizens.

I think you guys are going to make a hell of an attack on them.

Shocking thing for them to think.

This is a reflection on all American enemies.

Our only native foreign Americans to be the ones we're going to be careful of.

I said that.

It was a fun one.

Because I really think that that got a lot of people.

Oh, it is.

Well, I know all this.

I hope they swing it.

I hope our government swings it.

Because what is his answer?

It's God.

I don't want to.

That's because it's red in the center of that.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

I think you are right.

That's not the end of it.

We want to fire it, but at least you want to shake it up.

Shake it up in terms of accurate reporting.

One of my quiet sites in the right corner is still in.

Great fellow, Colonel.

Saved Brad's life in 1967.

He said that he was a South Vietnamese and a North Vietnamese.

He rode down the street in a Jeep.

He was on a convoy for the time being.

By himself, he cut to the end and discovered two Americans in a hut.

Rather than say that book about him,

I suppose he's an arrogant son of a bitch.

He really is.

Just talking about the veterans organizations for a moment.

You remember that picture that we got a hold of from the police of the, the bad hotel, the benefit?

Yeah.

Shoot down the sand.

We sent it to all the veterans organizations, and they pump it out.

You see what happens.

This is why I don't want to have a loosey.

They run a picture with it.

That's the second one I'm seeing.

Of course, the average veteran associates that with the, with the covenant.

They see those kids out there.

Now they see the covenant with the kids.

They don't make a distinction.

This is why in detail they're hustlers.

Yeah.

Totally different than Social Security, where every single old person knows what he gets in a check.

Social Security gives me some excuses to do what I get.

I've got to get off of here.

What have you done, basically?

Well, I have.

By signing the bill.

I have.

By signing the bill.

Don't ever get it.

Just separating, taking Social Security benefits.

Take it all.

No question.

I think in the long run, we may have saved money, Mr. President, because family assistance with H.I.1 .

You know, the welfare issue is a very simple issue.

Anything the governor does to talk about minimum guaranteed income or more people getting more benefits runs contrary to the other side of that proposition, which is get people off of welfare.

And I don't care how he modifies his plan, whether it's changes it from $1,000 to $500.

He is still talking about more people getting more welfare.

Nixon, Colson & Bull on Watergate and Media Relations

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

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