Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 826-001
Date: Tuesday, December 19, 1972 at 8:59 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Bull, Stephen B.; Butterfield, Alexander P.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/826-001

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:07] Good.
[0:08] That's all.
[0:09] He wants to request a couple points.
[0:11] I just don't get the promise.
[0:12] Yeah, we're working on it after the trade mission type thing.
[0:17] We're all in on that.
[0:22] Just so you know, we want to work something out.
[0:24] Don't get into the John Rawlings question, because there's a battle between Stans and Rawlings, apparently.
[0:29] Between Tom Evans and Stans.
[0:35] Rollins, it now turns out, would like to be finance chairman, if he is.
[0:40] But he didn't want to be asked by Dole.
[0:44] And I don't know whether we want to get into that.
[0:48] I'm trying to sort that out with John Mitchell and all the characters concerned.
[0:51] But we should get into what stands.
[0:53] Well, just let it stand.
[0:56] I'm just telling you.
[0:58] Oh, Christ.
[0:58] Yeah.
[1:00] Yeah, well, it's just how I, you know, all right.
[1:04] All the reports don't happen again.
[1:08] I want to catch it before he comes in and raise it.
[1:10] Unless you want to just raise it with him yourself.
[1:13] I forget.
[1:14] All right.
[1:34] Why is it possible to fix that up?
[1:36] It is.
[1:36] Let me tell you why I had mine.
[1:38] I'm going to be quite candid about you.
[1:41] I spent three-fourths of my time on the EOB.
[1:44] I use this office and I'm going to use it now only for formal purposes because I don't like, I don't like talking to people in here, you see.
[1:52] So I'll go over there.
[1:53] Not everybody else maybe wants to show their goddamn asses over here to prove their big shots, so I'll have them sit over here.
[1:58] You know what I mean?
[1:59] And I'll be over there.
[2:01] So it's just fine.
[2:03] And I realize, but you see, you've got, you've got a bench going out, you've got a rub stall going out.
[2:07] Who's coming in?
[2:08] Why, who fills our office?
[2:10] Ash and Schultz.
[2:13] Well, Schultz takes the line under our office.
[2:17] Weinberger got an office here.
[2:18] Oh, yeah.
[2:19] You know, I beat her up.
[2:20] There's always an office here.
[2:22] She should be in here.
[2:24] We'll put her in this room, in this office, this building.
[2:25] That's what I do.
[2:27] Right.
[2:28] What hurt?
[2:54] I think the woman thing, frankly, and this is a question on her part, thinking it means anything at all, she can give an answer, but it holds up.
[3:12] All states.
[3:14] You look at our case, it means something.
[3:16] You look at it on the basis of our income, which is really what concerns me.
[3:19] We're a hell of a lot better off to have her in the White House and have that word be out than we are to have a couple of George Shultz's assistants in the White House.
[3:27] Hell yeah.
[3:27] And that Shultz's assistant would be a hell of a word.
[3:30] That's really what a very good department or the EOB or anything like that.
[3:35] And if Shultz has a problem with that, then Shultz can put his office over to the EOB.
[3:38] Which he ought to do anyway.
[3:40] Where the counselors are.
[3:41] Sure.
[3:43] So, uh, I agree with you on that.
[3:47] Well, it really shouldn't.
[3:47] It's better to have that group in here.
[3:51] We're going to work the way we're talking about.
[3:54] But he doesn't need officers for assistance.
[3:56] She doesn't want a big office or anything.
[3:58] She said, just get us, she said, just put a cubbyhole in or something.
[4:01] Well, you can't do that.
[4:02] Well, you know you can't do that because you're going to have somebody else down there.
[4:05] Well, but she's got to, when she has people in here, she's got to look like she's in a decent office.
[4:09] She can't put her in a closet somewhere.
[4:10] Yeah, that's right.
[4:15] No, they were gonna, they had a plan for changing the stuff around up there to get their own supporting staffs in.
[4:25] They don't need that much.
[4:26] They were gonna go to conference room and do this and do all that.
[4:30] Shit.
[4:34] Now go over to the OV for their conferences.
[4:37] On your own, okay.
[4:37] They're all quiet.
[4:38] You can use your offices for a conference room.
[4:44] Kevin got through us a number of times.
[4:46] You told him to use the cabin room for some of this.
[4:48] Okay, keep your phone on the side.
[4:53] Good.
[4:54] Pete, tell him to tell him that.
[4:55] Because I know this office correctly.
[4:59] I listen to everybody.
[4:59] I said, I have this little place and that little place and that little place and an aide here and a secretary here and all that asshole stuff.
[5:06] Well, it isn't just awesome.
[5:07] It isn't awesome.
[5:09] A lot of it is.
[5:11] Believe me, I did say it.
[5:18] uh the uh it's rose in here yet but go ahead and see get those two checks that i suppose that i asked march about last night if i have any
[5:46] I was just trying to plan something upstairs to put her in there.
[5:50] I just want you to be calm about that.
[5:53] I was going to be without bothering you with it, but I was going to blame it on you because that's the only thing I can do.
[5:59] That's why you've now said it.
[6:00] I only said it.
[6:01] She didn't raise any religion.
[6:03] I said she'd talk to you about it.
[6:06] I don't know if it can be done, but if it can, she thinks it would be awful if not.
[6:10] Well, the argument the other way, which I came down, as I said, I was in the process of doing that this morning, but the argument the other way is that the other three counselors will be over in the EOB.
[6:24] I mean, it doesn't make sense, but she's totally different.
[6:28] That's right.
[6:28] She's a full-time counselor on the White House staff.
[6:31] The others are part-time counselors.
[6:35] Now, the others are actually in a totally different situation.
[6:40] That's my point.
[6:40] That's why she's not here.
[6:42] That's my point.
[7:56] Thank you.
[7:57] Well, I don't know what you're saying, but the president did not commit it to her.
[8:02] He wanted her to have an office, and we've got to work it out so she doesn't.
[8:10] That's pretty hard to say she shouldn't.
[8:58] Thank you.