Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 797-011
Date: Friday, October 13, 1972 at 11:45 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.; Colson, Charles W.; Bull, Stephen B.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/797-011

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:07] No, he was pushing it up.
[0:15] He said he was upset he wasn't invited to the press conference the other day, in the year.
[0:23] But I didn't.
[0:24] Well, I know that, you know, he thought he should have gotten the call out.
[0:29] Well, you want to do something for him?
[0:30] No, sir.
[0:31] No, sir.
[0:41] Well, he came into my office after the first conference.
[0:48] He got into the water game.
[0:50] I told him, I said, Clark, I know absolutely nothing about the water game up there.
[0:54] He went on about, you know, how to get the information to the right center of college.
[0:59] I said, you know, I said, Clark, you know, send him money.
[1:14] So he dug up my story about it, which I then had to deny.
[1:18] And it didn't get much credit.
[1:20] But I said that he had interpreted the remarks.
[1:23] He went through a 30-minute challenge this morning in the press room.
[1:28] And I just kept, you know, what are you doing?
[1:31] But that's because we're not in control of the press anyway.
[1:34] Yeah, that's true.
[1:36] I just hate it.
[1:37] I think my idea was to arrest him and try to cover him.
[1:42] And I think that's good.
[1:43] It's fine.
[1:44] No, but you can't run the risk at this point.
[1:49] There's no reason to get into a 30 minute crapping around about this stuff, which is exactly what it would be at this point.
[2:13] I cannot comment on the big stuff.
[2:16] We're having a press conference.
[2:18] It's a very important event.
[2:20] It's a very important event.
[2:50] What do you want to do?
[2:59] Announce it at the end of next week.
[3:31] You're going to get more than three weeks.
[3:34] I'm not worried about that.
[3:35] I just... Well, I don't like to see it not be in any of our papers, but the whole why is that?
[3:41] What is the shameful double standard?
[3:45] I just can't understand it.
[3:48] You never get it in any of the other kind of stuff.
[3:49] Is the white paper being prepared or not?
[3:52] That I've been requesting.
[3:53] You mean with the bookers?
[3:56] The white paper, I don't know.
[4:01] all the goddamn stuff, I mean, the Berkeley, the Berkeley stuff, the phone calls, most things, the way they did in our convention.
[4:15] Good Christ almighty, the Dick Tuck operation, what the hell, everybody was talking about that, thought, wouldn't that just fun, right?
[4:26] Yeah, he became a celebrity.
[4:49] Yeah.
[4:49] God knows about the pain thing.
[5:25] I can't say one word beyond that.
[5:28] The governor last night, what I have about our prime time in Minnesota for its first Q&A, and he said, I will make a flat pledge, without resolution, that the elected president and I will never commit a single group to Asia.
[5:46] Asia.
[5:47] Asia includes Turkey, Israel.
[5:50] I mean, that's a very... Oh, no, Asia is not Asia.
[5:53] You say Asian.
[5:54] Yes, sir.
[5:54] I don't think it's the abortion of Indies.
[5:57] It's Asian.
[5:58] It's the condemnation.
[6:00] Our Jews are going after it today.
[6:03] It's technically.
[6:05] Most people don't think of it that way.
[6:06] I haven't thought of it either.
[6:07] But you're right.
[6:08] Indies is the abortion of India Minor.
[6:10] Turkey.
[6:11] But then I have to force them to say, oh, I knew there was some progress there.
[6:17] Three seconds is now asking me...
[6:39] He'll be backing and filling up after we've backed and filled up time after we've backed and filled up prisoners' guides.
[6:46] The reports that I've been getting, they just get a bomb guide and they tell them to call the station.
[7:07] to know the Jerry Williams show that I was speaking about.
[7:11] Oh, I'm convinced that Jerry Williams is a left-wing, anti-war activist, and he's a bad guy.
[7:40] networks warned that if they use that tonight, they're subject to the possibility of being exposed as a fraud, in which case they have all sorts of MCC friends.
[7:50] That's been done, because I'd like to keep that off the networks, and it's powerful self-assurance.
[7:56] Well, I'm sure it's something you can all make up.
[7:59] You can be all right with that.
[8:01] But the networks, are they going to use it?
[8:02] Well, they didn't warn us.
[8:03] They didn't run a big risk.
[8:11] It's just like the crude books.
[8:13] He uses unsubstantiated, unproved material to make a point.
[8:18] And that's what we're seeing.
[8:21] We don't go with that.
[8:23] Some of the press are beginning to go with that.
[8:26] They're getting on it.
[8:27] But the travel experts are really beginning to get down on this because he continues to make these judgments and I'm saying, well,
[8:48] Yeah, Washington, Mr. President.
[8:51] Again, we've got to be careful.
[8:53] That is not playing at once.
[8:57] It is a Washington, New York story.
[8:59] It still isn't hitting on the country.
[9:01] Yes, conceivably it could.
[9:04] Yesterday, the day before yesterday, I felt the time.
[9:06] I'm not going to answer this, but I wish I did.
[9:09] That's it.
[9:16] Harris has a poll that I have for publication.
[9:19] It's absolutely devastating.
[9:21] It points out that the Watergate and the secret five churches have had absolutely no influence on people.
[9:28] None whatsoever.
[9:28] People like the politicians raised money.
[9:31] In fact, people like the contributors shouldn't have to disclose it.
[9:34] It's a hell of a poll.
[9:35] It'll cut the nuts out of those who are trying to build this issue.
[9:40] It'll help.
[9:44] But it's still Washington.
[9:58] fear to get all disturbed.
[10:01] Bullshit.
[10:03] We're not going to do it.
[10:04] This and this and this.
[10:06] God doesn't give up on the other side.
[10:07] He gives it to us.
[10:09] Nobody gets outraged when they talk about Christ.
[10:13] I sort of laughed about it.
[10:15] I said, well, that's pretty clever.
[10:17] They laughed about it.
[10:19] What the hell do they call this?
[10:21] I will keep
[10:28] ongoing operation in ABC and so does CBS NBC to find the spies that the other networks are planning in to get our news stories.
[10:37] The big game we have is at 4 o'clock.
[10:40] We try to keep secure of what our news stories are going to be because we're trying to compete with the other networks.
[10:46] And he said, we're constantly firing people for getting information out to the other side.
[10:51] The automobile company, for example, has a terrible, terribly effective spy system.
[11:03] The FBI has to.
[11:38] I think Pat Gray has already got a pretty good start.
[11:42] I think he's working on it.
[11:45] He's removed a hell of a lot of people.
[11:47] He's changed.
[11:50] He's done quite a clean sweep, as a matter of fact.
[11:54] Yes, sir.
[12:13] I bet.