Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 786-018
Date: Monday, September 25, 1972 at 12:22 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Bull, Stephen B.; Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Bull, Stephen B.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/786-018

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:01] I was going to say that I think there are 1,500 words, which means about thought, which is about right.
[0:21] The other thing is, it's right for buying 15 minutes of radio time.
[0:25] The other thing is, I think that the
[0:28] We ought to have some trademark for these jackass things like what we did today.
[0:32] We grabbed confidence the other day and so far.
[0:36] I think it basically is to have what I call the law of the word.
[0:40] Now, I didn't want to speak to you.
[0:43] I really didn't have the mindset.
[0:47] That can be done.
[0:48] Sure.
[0:49] It can be done.
[0:50] As a matter of fact, I think that, and I got to talk to her earlier in the shop about this.
[0:58] I think that the way we gas on and on and on and on, these messages that I send, I don't look at those, but I know that they run to seven or eight thousand words, so many of them.
[1:07] It's bullshit.
[1:08] I mean, it doesn't mean that much.
[1:09] It's laziness.
[1:11] Mental laziness.
[1:11] Too many people adding on and on and on.
[1:14] Do you get my point?
[1:16] Let's start, I'd like to get the trademark of great, pithy, quotable, memorable stuff.
[1:22] The reason we aren't getting memorable, pithy stuff out of our crowd
[1:26] is that they write too much paper.
[1:29] Maybe I'm wrong, but I rethink that race argument that, well, if you gave us more time, we'd get more in.
[1:35] You see, I don't buy that.
[1:37] I don't think that's the problem.
[1:39] Maybe an antidote.
[1:40] But the real thing about writing here is to write a very brief,
[1:53] If they have to write briefly, they're going to write hard.
[1:56] It's hard stuff.
[1:57] You can't make it work.
[1:59] Or would you agree, sir?
[2:00] No.
[2:00] I don't know.
[2:01] Absolutely.
[2:02] And I know that when I write, that's the way.
[2:04] If I have to write something for 10 minutes, God damn it, I find something.
[2:08] That's right.
[2:08] I think that's right.
[2:10] And I think you've raised the point.
[2:13] It's answered simply by saying, fine.
[2:15] If the 1,000-word maximum holds you down, then we'll change it.
[2:18] We'll make it a 600-word maximum.
[2:20] Now write your substance at 600.
[2:23] Now when that's done, now you have 400 words to play with.
[2:26] You can do a damn good series of anecdotes.
[2:31] That isn't that right.
[2:32] Proportionally, say 750, maybe 250 or more anecdotes.
[2:39] This has nothing to do with what I will do on occasion.
[2:42] I'll go out sometimes.
[2:44] I'll talk 30 minutes, 35 minutes, or as long as he's talking to some people.
[2:48] That's how he is.
[2:49] But the...
[2:51] Young Labor Group, that was relatively a long talk, but it was fine because it fit the mood of the occasion.
[2:58] The tempo of what you were doing, you have to do that sort of thing.
[3:02] But it was sort of a happening.
[3:04] But I'm not reading the speech.
[3:05] If I'm reading the speech, the goddamn thing shouldn't be more than 1,500 words.
[3:09] That's all we ought to do.
[3:11] 1,000 for that.
[3:13] 1,500 for the radio.
[3:14] And 1,000 for anything.
[3:16] If I'm reading somebody, 1,000 words.
[3:22] Right, yep, I should make something up.
[3:23] And they can say something that they'll remember.
[3:26] That's right.
[3:27] Plus they remember when the president came.
[3:28] That's all right.
[3:29] The president came, and he stands there, basically, and he reads something, and he doesn't try to get buddy-buddy with him, and he doesn't gasp.
[3:36] That's the point.
[3:37] I mean, I could give you that sci-fi speech.
[3:40] I tried to get cuts on it, and I decided to just... Because I knew he'd submitted it to so many people, and that's the problem.
[3:46] You know what I mean?
[3:47] I knew they probably had their pet minds on it.
[3:49] But the way to save it for the speechwriter, who is stuck with the problem of having to submit it to so many people, is to have the absolute 1,000-word max.
[3:56] And then the guy, when Schultz says, well, you've got to add this whole thing about this, he'll say, I can't judge.
[4:03] I can only do 1,000 words.
[4:04] There's no place to put it.
[4:13] We've got something.
[4:14] We're getting onto something here.
[4:15] Yeah.
[4:17] Well, that gets back to the basics.
[4:39] point, which is the day of the spoken speech being a means of communication as well.
[4:48] It's not really an action.
[4:51] That's right.
[4:53] All right.
[4:59] But I don't want that to not come up.
[5:01] I'm going to have to look at these three main ones.
[5:04] If I don't want that, well, we've got to take a lot of time.
[5:07] All right.
[5:07] Don't talk about pushing.
[5:09] What's called the better incentive?
[5:11] Oh, yes, I know.
[5:14] I don't think it's going to help.
[5:17] That's what you should do.
[5:18] You have a lot of time.
[5:19] That's right.
[5:20] Oh, we don't want to do that, sir.
[5:22] I hear you, sir.
[5:28] Except for the radio, I still think where speech has to be made.
[5:42] The radio really is for the president, not just in the campaign, but later on.
[5:48] When you get to a thing where we need to have a thing on, whatever it might be,
[5:55] Go on the radio and do it.
[5:56] And you can look at it.
[5:58] It's recorded so it can be replayed back to anybody who wants to.
[6:01] And the only people, the only people that they only have to change that, they can use the television only for great events.
[6:09] Right.
[6:10] Our crowd around here, of course, is on a whole lot of insisting that I go on television.
[6:15] It would be great if the president goes on television.
[6:18] It wouldn't be great at all.
[6:19] But like I said, it's only going to test a little bit.
[6:22] A veto of AGW is a thing to do, and that would be to do an unregulated one.
[6:25] A veto, and then make a little radio talk about why I did it, and that sets the record.
[6:30] It's all done.
[6:32] It isn't something that goes anywhere.
[6:35] I can do that with all people.
[6:37] What can you probably do?
[6:38] Because you want to explain why you did it.
[6:40] No, no, I'm ready.
[6:42] It may be worth doing that one to make the point.
[6:47] Also, there's a veto message
[6:52] Get them down and make it.
[6:54] I mean, you might even be doing three sentences once.
[6:58] Now that would be one hell of a thing.
[7:04] I'd be doing this and I'd set it back up.
[7:05] In other words, let's get our own trademark.
[7:08] We're gassing on just like everybody else is.
[7:11] You know what I mean?
[7:13] And they fret around about the language and this and that because it's worth a damn.
[7:18] Who's going to give us any credit for a long, long
[7:21] historic message.
[7:22] No one knows you did it.
[7:25] Huh?
[7:26] No one knows you did it.
[7:27] They can't give you credit because no one knows what happened.
[7:45] Maybe.
[7:47] All right.
[7:47] All right.
[7:48] All right.
[7:49] All right.
[7:49] All right.
[7:55] Thank you very much.