Nixon, Ziegler & Haldeman on Public relations and Henry Kissinger

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I wonder if you'd see if, it might be appropriate if Dr. Chase might want to drop in.

He's a member of the American Department of Justice.

He just dropped in and sat down with my doctor and spoke off.

President, it's a nice gesture.

Did you go to hear that later, Pete?

No, I went over it.

I was going to tell you that one of the things that, I mentioned this before, I don't know if you can have anybody ever talk about this, but I heard you did an opening remark.

No, no, that's what I said.

Now what I'm referring to is I made about 15 minutes to talk to yourself about it.

free labor, et cetera, but it isn't covered in the suggestion notes.

But mainly about the history of the United States,

uh that labor unions were not recognized at the beginning like it's time so forth and so on i don't want you in the 30s but it's a it's it's it's a kind of thing you have any kind of a friend or press that would say no that's a hell of a damn good thing

We didn't have anybody there.

George Shultz was there, but he saw it.

I see what you're saying.

That's hot news.

I see.

No, I meant it.

Well, you put it on television, and maybe it was a good move to put it on.

I just thought, oh, there won't be anything.

No, I meant this as a kind of a thing sometimes.

I've mentioned it several times.

We do go out and do things like this.

It's a kind of a thing.

Dick Moore doesn't quite catch it either, because he's more of a sort of a .

This was basically a very thoughtful analysis of the relation between labor and government, and so forth and so on.

Is Kirkland the type who would understand that?

I mean, would you put up with him at all on this?

But you've got to agree, you see what I mean?

I mean, it's a kind of thing a political science professor would take a week to dictate on, which out of vast experience in this area, traveling and being interviewed around the world, I was able to put it in a way that needed to be said.

Anyway, I guess thinking of the future sometimes,

There's a, I know that it was Sapphire, and I asked him if he was already going to pick up the quotes.

They don't really pick up.

Sometimes I feel, I feel, I guess they can.

Or, better than Sapphire.

I guess everybody is oriented, though, toward the

The hot news and the clever line and the quip, that's about what it is.

Well, there's a reason that they are, which is a valid reason, which is that that's everything that we get.

You can get, you take the other stuff, you can work the hell out of it, and it's still, you may get it into Victor Lansky.

Some people will be, like, they'll pick up, they'll keep them.

Now, this is what Riesel, Riesel can make a hell of a story out of it.

Colson should peddle extra rice out.

That's where you can get some money.

Could I once suggest one other thing?

Could a client also, since it would help to RTT editors and so forth, that the radio speeches should be mailed?

Yeah.

I don't understand.

The radio speeches bother just, you know what it is.

Yep, they're fillers.

Yep.

But it lets people in.

You stop thinking about it.

I'm talking now about taxes.

And spending.

And the work ethic.

The work ethic should be, I just sent all of them, I'm going to have this thing on paternalism and I've covered crime.

I've got to have it.

We're really doing awful well.

You know what I mean?

When they said, why isn't he talking about the issues?

I've covered the issues.

Greatest of them went, oh sure.

That's why the radio famous is.

I still think it's a hell of a good device.

And it's a much better way to talk about the issues than to go on.

the road and start peddling them in phony settings.

But better yet was the way the thing got us yesterday.

Now that was a gold repeat though.

Well, I was a little... We do have a ziggler now.

Ziggler.

Now, I mentioned, on the horse.

I told him about it, but none of the press there told me about it.

I just gave those people a little lecture on the American labor movement, the labor movement in general, and senators and so forth and so on, which they did 50 years ago when they were in the classroom.

And they let ourselves see it in terms of hot news, the last three weeks of the election, and so forth and so on.

But I think you know that that's a, they hear that this is a,

They have brains, they have no depth.

Would you get that over to Colson?

Right.

Absolutely.

The analysis of the American experience, the new countries, the weak agreements, which most of them are, to different dictatorships, but that's their own findings.

I think it's correct when you have a person .

It's a very, very good thing.

It's something .

Well, you know, in the atmosphere, in the last few days, I think it is good to have had them there.

Well, that's right.

It also, you know, showed me working in the White House, very relaxed, remarks were good.

How did you get out of the White House?

It's the main thing.

uh what does this mean there's a breakthrough

I think it would be a great mistake to overplay this.

Just put it that way.

A great mistake to say this is a routine consultation.

Validate who's there and what the issue is going on.

It wasn't a huge issue so far.

I know it's on the ground.

Because I think routine...

I wouldn't put the routine in the announcement.

It would look contrived, but it puts it on its own.

In your guidance, you said this is just one of those regular consultations that you thought the municipal negotiations that you should do.

And so I thought we should have on both the military and General Abrams there, too, to get an assessment of the military and other stuff.

That's fine, sir.

But they will ask him if Abrams is related.

And I'd say that everything with Vietnam is related.

That's right.

They'd give and say that.

It is a coincidence that they're there.

And the president, they're a veteran.

The president, I think, is so very useful.

I wouldn't say coincidence because they're both going to win the CQ.

Well, obviously, I said he's going to say two, the C2, and I'll say yes.

Yeah, he will say that.

Is that the answer?

Not the answer.

I don't think you better say that you're not C2.

Oh, I'm sorry, excuse me.

Say what's good.

I'm not C2.

Or does he?

Yes, sir.

Well, it's true.

Well, it's true, Dan.

Well, that's all fun for us.

He will say it, because I read it.

Oh, yes, in fact, that's what he's posturing for now, for the meeting with him.

Just the other tight question that will come is, did Henry decide to do this after today's meeting in Paris?

Did the President ask him to go as a result of today's meeting in Paris?

No.

I would say no.

No.

The President, I think we better say that we made the decision a few initials.

The Senate hearing was over yesterday.

And the President, as you know, directed Dr. Kissinger to go at a time when there was some

work it out.

I don't think we should say we should do it.

If you say it's a result of the meeting, you're right out there in that window.

We don't want to be out.

Do you agree?

I agree.

I think he just goes right back to, this is a routine.

He's keeping up with the press.

Now the point that's going to be raised is, when did he decide this?

We don't want to say he decided it today.

No, he said, no, the president discussed this matter with Dr. Fisher before he left.

Now, they're also going to ask, is that the reason he went in the field?

I mean, as you say, it's a matter of fact, he already went to Paris, yes.

Of course, they'll say the other...

Right.

They'll say, well, Ron, you woke us up at 5.30 this morning and told us Henry's going to Paris.

Why didn't you tell us at that time he was going to Saigon?

Because we were... Well, there was a chance maybe the meetings would have extended into two days, but I don't know.

His instructions were, when he finished the meeting in Paris, to go on to Saigon.

And he announced that meeting at the conclusion of the meeting.

And we did not know when the meeting would conclude.

How does that sound to you?

It now looks like the meetings will be over today.

He will go on from Saigon, assuming that the meetings are concluded.

I can't tell you the time, but he will go on.

uh we learned today that it appears that it is likely we will conclude today and he will go on and that's that's the reason that's how that sounds good i think it is it's right but i think it's very important how we indicate you made this decision before he went otherwise breakthrough that's what immediately you'll get right so we just said to all the president and director as a matter of fact we discussed this matter uh

I don't think it was important to him.

As soon as he completed the talks that he had scheduled for Paris the day he was to go on to Saigon, the announcement of what was going on would be made as soon as we definitely knew the time.

And now, the nearest time will be that.

How's that sound to you?

On the automatic question which comes, does the President stand by and spray me a statement about the support of the Q?

I'm going to say they're absolutely sandwiched by that statement.

I didn't say this.

I put it this way.

The addition of what is involved

the support of the government of South Vietnam.

President Chu is the elected leader of that government, and the President stands by that government.

Does that sound convenient?

Right, Alan?

Yes, sir.

I don't want to put a... As the President said last yesterday, that he opposes the imposition of a common struggle by the people of South Vietnam against their will.

And you can read those two in context of the president.

We will not betray our allies.

Our allies, gentlemen, are the government of South Vietnam.

President Chu is the elected leader of that government.

So we stand by our allies.

But we're talking about the government of 17 million people.

We're standing by the 17 million people of South Vietnam, of which Governor Chu and President Chu is the elected leader.

I just wouldn't get into this.

The president stands by Chu.

Well, no, because isn't the senator who wants to say the president's

And there's no change, very clearly?

I think so.

If I get into this, it'll be too much.

The president has got no elaboration on the president's position.

He stated clearly, as he said yesterday, no change in that position.

Because I have said I stood by him before.

I said, are you willing to die for President Chu?

And he'd say, no.

What's your next one?

That's Al's right.

That goes as far as just you and him were dying.

President, you've stated your position on that.

President, I've stated my position.

My position remains unchanged.

There's no end as to what we can have to provide.

Okay.

I may ask you that it's at what price I want to, you know, not going to insist on the reserves going to Canada today.

We're going to castrate them.

I have to tell this to my parents.

What did I say to them?

Father, they'd never read the reading.

No.

Well, listen, because of the time, the sonography is terrible.

Yes, sir.

It's just a sterilizer.

They don't expect me to say it all now.

No, sir.

The meeting is to be turned over to the borough of the state.

We conceded an opposite view.

We'll continue after December.

We'll be back in less than two months.

Nixon, Ziegler & Haldeman on Public relations and Henry Kissinger

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on October 17, 1972

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