Conversation 794-014

Transcript (AI-Generated)

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 Do not cite this transcript as authoritative.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 Sunday, Sunday magazine, be sure.

This fall, be sure to hang us to her hands early.

When we went out of approval of the president, it went down.

I don't know why.

From 65 down to 58.

And disapproval went up from 26 to 29 on general approval.

I don't know why that is, because on Vietnam—well, it is.

Vietnam went down a little.

Vietnam went down 57 to 54.

But the disapproval didn't go up.

The disapproval went down also from 33 to 32.

And on economy, it went from 50 to 49, no change.

And disapproval went from 38 down to 36.

There's no good ending on that.

30 fairly serious.

Only 18 think it's not serious.

12 don't know.

In other words, it's an important problem.

Let me ask the site, any example of it, nobody, they weren't able to, only 5% could cite specifics.

And excuse me, 18% could cite specifics.

Out of those, very few had any effect on election.

Nixon 41, Governor 21.

See, this is basically Nixon.

But the point is, he hasn't picked up anything.

Let me tell you what the approval and disapproval, that does not surprise me.

And the approval and disapproval.

Always, remember I told you, in an election,

It's high enough.

Well, 58.

Disapproval is about 33.

29.

Very low disapproval.

The attacks, the attacks .

Also, if you want to remember that last week,

I was not very visible.

Yes, I was.

I was on assault.

Maybe I was visible on the parking lot.

It was assault.

But I mean, in terms of television, I was only on assault, right?

No other authority can hold me wrong.

And we know that sometimes it's just not being out of the awareness part.

We asked to be agreed with the charge that the Nixon administration was one of the most corrupt ever.

Fourteen agreed.

Seventy-two disagreed.

And then they say that, you know, this is a political charge.

A certain amount of corruption in every administration.

This was no better or worse than most.

One thing that this

would tell us that we were going to make a real way out of the trade deal.

First, we hit the Soviet Jew thing.

Of the 30 percent, they're only 30 percent aware of the Soviet exit tax.

Of those, 29, only 29 percent agree that we should hold up on our trade agreement with the Soviet Union.

Fifty-four say we should go ahead.

Fifty-four of the 29.

But 29 percent of 29 percent, or less than 10 percent, say we should hold up on our trade deal because of the hit tax.

But then we say, in general, do you favor or oppose?

and in favor of 23 opposed.

That's strong.

But then we say, if the U.S. were to increase its trade with Russia, and I'm not sure how good these questions are.

We've worked them out.

I'll give us a valid reading.

If the U.S. were to increase its trade with Russia, government subsidies would have to be paid to the shipping industry to make it competitive with foreign countries.

Would you favor or oppose such government subsidies to our shipping industry?

30 favor and 40 oppose.

And 30 don't know.

In much of this trade with foreign countries, the U.S. extends credit to foreign governments.

Should similar credits be extended to Russia for trade, we do with them not.

33 extend credit, 49 no credit.

My favorite name is the way we do it.

We ought to have, if we have to talk about those, we ought to try and change that around.

Talk about it in terms that we're trying to get the right, the same agreement that we're trying to get the other nations of the world.

I'll be sure you get that to Henry H. Schott and that to Peterson so that he understands that for God's purposes, that they should be the same as us.

trade agreement, it shows foreign policy progress, even though when you put an end to the trade agreement itself, it may not help with the elections.

I think it's all right.

It doesn't hurt, certainly, when we're moving along on these things.

It would certainly change, you know, like the China thing.

A lot of people would sort of like this or that, and they sort of trust the same government or anything.

Yeah?

What's the situation about having to return anything yet?

If I hit that even more.

Yeah, he's not coming back today.

The question is whether he comes back tomorrow.

When?

He started on Sunday.

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday are the meetings.

Today's Monday.

You mean he's going for the third day?

Yeah.

He's going for the third day.

The question is whether he comes back tomorrow.

Hey, just talked to Kennedy and said that as of now, their plan is to come back tomorrow, but they might possibly stay over to Wednesday.

He's going to play the game and go to Hanlon.

Well, I was thinking about that.

He was talking about it before the election.

I've been on a playoff with us.

It's wrapped up.

Even if it's wrapped up, there's some merit to requiring him to come home and report to you and then go to Hanlon.

We've got to let him go from Paris to Hanlon.

He can't go from Paris to Hanlon.

That's what he was talking about.

No, sir.

Get that message right away.

If there's any question about that, let's clearly understand it.

You need to have them report to you.

I can't go off and make some goddamn... No, sir.

Okay.

Well, Bobby, anyway, you know what his plan is.

You should go to Hamlet.

You should go to Seidel, and then Hamlet, and then back to Seidel.

And you can't do any of that without her coming here first.

There's another reason.

The event that does open this fest, I don't think, I still don't know the very best.

I honestly don't know the best.

I don't want it to come off this fest.

I mean, we're going to take some time to consider some of these things.

You know what I mean?

time getting back to him by themselves.

Because they've got to go to Pekin and Moscow.

Moscow and Pekin.

On the way back.

What about you?

Send a message to him.

Or is it necessary?

It's necessary.

He won't do it without me.

So I think it's a good idea.

I think it's important to help him.

Don't get him upset.

Yeah.

He'll read something into it.

He won't do it without a chapter.

They haven't sent in one in yet.

I'll check with them.

Because I feel like I should have one.

I've got to think about this.

Keep memory.

Like, where would you like it?

Yeah, yeah.

Well, maybe he dropped it, but when he was talking, he told me he might have to go to the sidewalk.

I didn't even call him.

I just told him he had to come back here.

No.

He was, because he specifically raised a point with me of whether he would come back here or just go on.

And the question that man could see, that's me.

And the question at the time, I'm questioning the north end and he's having a good weekend.

He's got to come back here.

By that point, I don't believe it.

I just wish it was possible.

It's too much.

No, you can't.

The decision is to report it.

That's the point.

I must make it.

That's the point.

You can't say, well, I made it up here.

We have three days to negotiate it.

See?

Yeah.

You could still do it.

Yeah, I know.

He had his instructions.

He carried them out.

He wrapped them up and went on with the next step.

But it doesn't look as good

Crucifixion and crucifixion.

You can't do anything about it.

It doesn't, you just always refresh the site.

It's not impossible to try to take a half an hour.

In other words, anything at this point in time.

Which is bad, too.

You could see, I mean, in terms of ceasefire or a certain thing, which gets us on.

Any quid pro quo.

It's likely.

It's like a Suez ceasefire.

Doesn't work on that, but it's better than nothing.

People are pleased, right?

Yeah.

Well, he would have seized fire.

We couldn't, we couldn't, we cannot just continue bombing in Miami without .

And with all the political stuff to be discussed after this is the end, the separation of the military .

That really is the ideal situation .

that you should take two up on the line that he is now peddling, which is that no Vietnamese settlement will be made except by the South Vietnamese, which was the line he was peddling to his Congress, his Senate, while it was there.

And he says what you should do is take him up on that.

the Soviet and China are providing, providing in terms of material.

You should go to the pre-Kennedy level of military advisors.

You should pull everything else out, stop the money, and pull out of the negotiations.

Right.

And tell two to go ahead and negotiate, and trade you with your prisoners.

He overlooked that completely.

That's what I thought I was going to do a long ago.

It completely, as I recall, it completely omits the prison question because basically that is the line that you could take that the United States will withdraw, as far as we're concerned, and support the mythology of the peace.

In their efforts to defend themselves, in other words, the war is Vietnamized, or it totally is.

It's like, what in the name of God do you do with the prisoners?

That's my point.

Well, then you're back to Montgomery City to go begging.

That's why you've got to continue that deadline, or something.

You've got to have some leverage in the room.

Good morning.

That's the one, I thought that spot is my own inclination.

That's what we're going to have to do sooner or later.

We just say though, if you stay, we'll support you.

United States and I was completed his actions.

You can do what you want, but the question is whether that brings him down.

If it does, then it brings him down.

That's not the way you have to face that because he's got to go and he's got to walk.

Yeah, right.

I talked to Rogers and he's all set.

Well, he said for press conference, he said,

I know he won't say anything, but I know that even if he wins, Henry will say, screw it, I won't.

He said, if you think I shouldn't have the press conference, that's fine, I won't.

He said, I see three possibilities here.

Number one, to do nothing, if not have the press conference.

I'm not doing that.

I'm not committed to it.

Number two, I can take the position of saying only repeating what the President said, that that was what I was going to do.

The negotiations are at a sensitive stage and I will have no comment on them whatsoever.

Number three would be to say that and then add that at a sensitive stage I will have no comment on announcements whatsoever.

I would say, however, that certainly this is no time

or any talk by anybody about throwing in the towel and leaving it at that, which would sink McGovern on this throwing in the towel.

And he says, as far as McGovern's foreign policy speech is concerned, which he talked about last week, he says, and I think he's right, that it's gotten no attention.

And there's a real question of maybe there's no point in taking him on.

I think this will only escalate it.

He said, I can't take him on on some of the other things, like his, you know, the Chinese

to take the responsibility for Asian stuff.

He says everything's going so well and the government's breaking them off in little pieces under this thing that there is a real question always as to whether we're better off keeping quiet or saying something.

So he said if you don't want me to do anything at all, I won't do anything.

That'll break Colson's heart.

That's the linchpin of his blasted government.

But I'll tell you what, with Henry

With Henry in Paris, the governor doesn't need to be trusted.

I think with Henry in Paris, you just gotta tell Colson that you're just gonna have to, it's just better than nothing to be said at this point.

You gotta take the risk.

So what, he should have no press conference or he should take the moment that the president said the moment?

I have one.

Wait and see what happens.

I think we have in this case .

I think that it's, I just simply put it on the basis that there isn't anything he can say to the press conference that might not be harmful.

In other words, he can say it will comment on it.

It's better to keep McGovern guessing than the press guessing.

Trying to figure out if McGovern's lying or not, he's making a terrible mistake.

He's got a great chance

What he should do is call a press conference this afternoon that delighted that Dr. Kissinger is staying over in Paris.

They're getting him somewhere and I have therefore canceled my plans to make a speech tomorrow night because I of course wouldn't do nothing to interfere with the peace negotiation in any way.

But he'd get more advantage out of that by far than he's going to get out of the speech.

It shows that he stays alive.

Pull him out of the mud.

Now, I simply think the danger is too great at this point.

Even if he repeats what I said about being in a sensitive stage, which of course I have said at one point, I just don't want that to happen.

I get that at this point.

This is as well, but I'm not ready for the rest of the day.

Mitchell asked me to get a reading from you on whether you would be, think it would be a political fuss to meet with GOTT, the U.S. Steel and Naval Steelworkers on foreign steel imports.

They would like to, and GOTT is trying to put it together.

Well, that's it.

That's the question.

And John Mitchell said also that he would assume there would be problems with other countries if he had ideas.

I want to invite you to

more people