Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 786-013
Date: Monday, September 25, 1972 at 11:49 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Spirtos, Michael N.; Tsaffaras, William P.; Chirgotis, William G.; Coffinas, Gustav; Leber, George J.; Korologos, Thomas C.; Karalekas, S. Steven; Bull, Stephen B.; White House photographer
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/786-013

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:01] Mr. President, Mr. Curtis.
[0:04] How are you?
[0:05] Good to see you.
[0:06] Good to see you.
[0:08] Right.
[0:09] Good, good, good.
[0:11] You've got your whole delegation here, right?
[0:16] Yes.
[1:07] Let's get a group photograph first, John.
[1:09] Let me see.
[1:11] Why don't we break them on either side of me this way?
[1:18] That's right.
[1:21] So we look.
[1:22] Let's look out.
[1:23] Excuse me a second.
[1:25] All right.
[1:31] All right.
[1:32] All right.
[1:33] All right.
[1:36] I got it, sir.
[1:38] Good, good.
[1:39] You've got groups.
[1:42] We'll give each of you a copy of this.
[1:45] You've got a good one for everybody.
[1:47] There might be a presentation.
[1:49] Oh, yeah, let's get that, too.
[1:50] This is the gold medal.
[1:51] For 50 years.
[1:52] We have to remember this in the offices.
[1:55] We'd like to present this with the presence of the American Marines.
[2:02] All right.
[2:06] Well, I don't need to tell you that, uh, that, uh, how strong we feel about it.
[2:17] So, so, uh, great background.
[2:23] You're okay.
[2:23] It's, uh, it's, uh, it's, uh, five and a half.
[2:30] Yeah, five and a half.
[2:32] I don't know if these folks aren't Alaskan.
[2:35] But when I find some of these boys and gentlemen, usually he's got a brief background.
[2:44] Or a little bit of Italian.
[2:47] The only thing you've got to do is to shorten those names.
[2:52] The only names that aren't Polish names.
[2:57] This is what we will do.
[3:00] We'll put this in the presidential library.
[3:09] I don't know if these will be properly displayed.
[3:15] I don't know if they think of 50 years and what has happened.
[3:20] I don't know.
[3:25] I was so much better at 50 than I am at 50.
[3:28] Hey, listen, 50 is the best years of your life.
[3:30] Nine years ago, I became 50.
[3:31] Sir, I'm going to write a World War I issue.
[3:34] And I'm going to give you a story of a church without a country, a world without a country, not what Greece has been through.
[3:55] They've had so much problems and so forth.
[3:58] But the main thing about the Greeks, it doesn't make any difference what their government is.
[4:03] I mean, it does, of course.
[4:05] Everybody has a choice.
[4:07] The Greek people are so strong.
[4:09] And they were doing great.
[4:10] The people's economy is going on again.
[4:13] That's right.
[4:14] Well, they're producing.
[4:16] They're working.
[4:17] They're strong.
[4:19] I mean, that's something that impresses me.
[4:21] I always look beyond governments and people.
[4:23] It's the people that matter.
[4:24] All Americans are being better than I am.
[4:30] Of course, they take very political places.
[4:31] I was in Greece in 1947.
[4:33] That was the time when there was a terrible fight between the communists.
[4:42] We were up there in the border.
[4:45] Basically, they were supporting the king.
[4:52] Actually, we were supporting it.
[4:58] I was in that grant .
[5:06] And there was a young state department .
[5:19] And we were chatting about it.
[5:20] It was about 5 o'clock in the afternoon.
[5:24] And I said, no, let me think.
[5:25] They said, well, the Greek snake will come.
[5:28] I said, no, never.
[5:29] He said, no, never.
[5:31] He said, let me show you why.
[5:34] He took me to the window.
[5:35] We stepped out of the balcony there and looked out in the square.
[5:40] And out there, there were perhaps
[5:43] There's a thousand people in that square sitting around having coffee and arguing all day.
[5:48] They said whenever you get a thousand people you get a thousand different opinions.
[5:54] They'll never go past that.
[5:57] It's the individuality which is the strength, the strength in this country to liberty-loving people.
[6:04] You love, that's right, and so you'll fight and argue and this and that and the other thing.
[6:09] Boy, they're gutsy people.
[6:12] As the president, I have a couple of silver medals that I'd like to present to our two friends.
[6:18] Good.
[6:18] Good.
[6:19] Permission?
[6:19] Sure, sure.
[6:20] I mean, they get silver.
[6:24] It's great.
[6:25] Hard work, sir.
[6:26] Thank you.
[6:37] Bill Rogers spoke at your class meeting.
[6:45] Yeah.
[6:46] I asked him to do it.
[6:48] We wanted to make it non-political.
[6:53] Now that's a good artist.
[7:03] Now, for you to distinguish, now, let me cut the presidential couplets.
[7:16] These are the seal of the flag.
[7:20] Thank you very much.
[7:27] This is the presidential seal.
[7:36] Did you see that?
[7:37] Yes.
[7:37] There.
[7:37] There it is.
[7:38] Thank you.
[7:40] Oh, your daughter.
[7:42] Thank you.
[7:42] Thank you.
[7:43] Thank you.
[7:45] Thank you.
[7:46] Thank you.
[7:51] Thank you, Mr. President.
[7:53] They did something wrong.
[8:13] Thank you.
[8:13] Thank you.
[8:14] Thank you.
[8:15] Thank you.
[8:42] Thank you.