Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 831-018
Date: Wednesday, January 3, 1973 at 3:05 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Johnston, J. Bennett, III; Johnston, J. Bennett, III (Mrs.); Johnston, J. Bennett, Jr.; Johnston, J. Bennett, Jr. (Mrs.); Johnston, Mary; Johnston, Hunter; Johnston, Sally; Allums, Betsy; Allums, Bill; Timmons, William E.; Atkins, Oliver F. ("Ollie"); Bull, Stephen B.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/831-018

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:02] Thank you.
[0:04] Thank you.
[0:31] Well, just a good time to start.
[0:36] You're 14?
[0:37] No, 13.
[0:37] This is my nephew, Bill Allens.
[0:40] My name is Betsy Allens.
[0:43] I would agree.
[0:46] They all were there, and they all got seats in the chamber.
[0:49] We didn't have a chamber there.
[0:51] There are not many seats there.
[0:53] We had incredible luck.
[0:54] We had written all the other senators and got about 40 seats.
[1:00] I wanted to make a speech, but I know I didn't.
[1:02] And this is mine.
[1:03] This is Charlie McBride.
[1:05] Oh, you're an administrator.
[1:07] That's correct.
[1:07] Have you been here before?
[1:09] Yes, sir.
[1:10] I was with Secretary Long.
[1:11] Secretary Long.
[1:12] Oh, you're right.
[1:12] I thought, well, you've got the experience, man.
[1:15] That's great.
[1:16] You were with Russell Long earlier.
[1:20] Oh, yes.
[1:21] He's been training Russell with smart phones.
[1:26] That's right.
[1:29] We thought we'd try a few pictures of you and all.
[1:32] My first is Senator and me together.
[1:34] I think it would be a good idea.
[1:39] Let's see.
[1:39] So the last time I congratulated you on your side.
[1:43] Thank you.
[1:44] There's a license over.
[1:45] All right.
[1:45] We're going to make copies of each of these.
[1:49] Now we're going to send it to his wife.
[1:52] Are you going to post them?
[1:54] That's the way we'll do it.
[2:03] The little girls, I think, if you stand in front of me, honey, you want to stand next to each boy on the side, like that, and look out.
[2:10] Look out.
[2:11] Now, smile at those kids.
[2:18] Now, all the rest of you, you children, come out, and we'll have the rest of the kids have you.
[2:25] Now, I'm going to get you on the side, from that side.
[2:32] There we are.
[2:33] I'll look out here.
[2:36] Mr. Atkins was the White House Secretary.
[2:43] He was very famous.
[2:45] He was the chief reporter for the Saturday Post.
[2:50] I find him so good.
[2:51] He'll make copies of this.
[2:54] When you see that each person gets a copy, that means that each one has one.
[2:57] I'd like to thank you.
[2:59] You've been
[3:08] And that's all that I've got.
[3:09] And President Truman left the office.
[3:12] He didn't have them in his library at the time, so I didn't know.
[3:22] A few years ago, a couple years ago, I went out to see him.
[3:35] Well, as the British artists saw it, back in 100 years ago, before the wings were gone, when the river was much closer, the river used to be very close to the White House, you see, and then they changed it to another channel.
[4:10] I can't fight all of them, but you two would if I lived to a, to the Friday night or something.
[4:23] Friday night.
[4:24] You know, I'm a great singer.
[4:28] You guys know that.
[4:29] You haven't always been a, but that ain't a lie.
[4:31] That ain't a lie.
[4:33] That's a, we'll take this question to some other party.
[4:42] Oh, that's a beautiful thing.
[5:14] That's what we're gonna do tomorrow.
[5:47] I'll be up in a minute.
[6:20] He is an amazing man.
[6:22] Oh, he was.
[6:23] He had convinced me all the time that he was a strong man.
[6:31] Right before he died.
[6:34] Because he had a tremendous campaign face.
[6:37] Great history.
[6:39] He never really thought of any other.
[6:40] That's the thing, he was a road starter.
[7:02] I don't know.
[7:32] She was making it during the 68 campaign, which indicated she was confident we were
[7:58] And then she gave it to me in the morning.
[8:01] And I showed it to the television.
[8:03] Yes, we saw it.
[8:04] And what she did was that they were so much interested, she gave it to the good husband or something.
[8:12] And they took it around the country and displayed it.
[8:17] And they raised over $100,000, you know, getting out the kit, selling the kits for Girl Scouts.
[8:24] It's alright.
[8:25] You can buy one of those kitsch arms you're giving to the girls.
[8:27] Well, anyway, good luck.
[8:29] And happy years, and happy retimes for all of you.
[8:34] You'll like winning, of course.
[8:37] You won't for a while.
[8:39] Because, you know, it's sort of hard, but you'll do alright.
[8:44] We like it so much.
[8:45] You'll do it.
[8:45] Oh, yes.
[8:46] Patrick, well, you'll like it.
[8:48] It's a big weight to throw.
[8:49] You've got to risk it.
[8:54] Thank you.