Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 846-015
Date: Thursday, February 1, 1973 at 2:58 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/846-015

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] I will not sit in this meeting unless you think I must.
[0:05] I think it's important that the point of focus be Ken.
[0:08] Sure.
[0:09] And to the extent possible, if you can wean them all from anybody else to him, it will enhance his effectiveness.
[0:21] They're going through a transfer time now where I think whatever signal you give them about Ken will be important.
[0:30] He's taking hold well, and I think it's coming nicely, but this will cement it.
[0:36] Yeah.
[0:39] I have to do a CE again at 4 o'clock.
[0:42] Right.
[0:42] These guys don't expect a long chance.
[0:45] Oh, no, no, no.
[0:46] They have a tightly prepared meeting, and you just turn it over to Tantus, and he'll moderate it, and he'll keep it moving and heavy out by the time you want to be up.
[0:56] Should I say something at the beginning about him or at the end?
[0:59] I think so.
[0:59] Either way.
[1:00] Whichever — well, they'll want to talk to you about intergovernmental relations.
[1:09] That's one of the two agenda items that they have.
[1:11] The other is politics.
[1:12] Bush should come first because he has to leave right away.
[1:16] So I think if you were to say nothing at the beginning, but respond to their presentation on intergovernmental relations, which would be the second and last item on the agenda,
[1:30] They probably don't realize he's never done that thing.
[1:37] That's right.
[1:37] Except for bringing complaints.
[1:39] That's right.
[1:40] They call over here.
[1:41] Yep.
[1:41] That's what I'm going to tell them.
[1:46] I said, Cole's in this office all the time.
[1:51] You'll say that.
[1:51] That's all I need.
[1:52] That'll do it.
[1:53] That'll do it.
[1:54] That's perfect.
[1:56] Quite a bunch.
[1:57] Yeah.
[1:58] Great game.
[1:59] Great game.
[2:02] Well, actually, you really wonder...
[2:23] is important.
[2:26] They really, the governor has a lot of purposes.
[2:30] They don't have the Washington, Blackburn, and all the senator and the rest, but a senator and a congressman really lives in the green.
[2:42] Pretty shoddy way of comparing to the governor.
[2:45] The governor's got a car, he's got a servant, he's got a house.
[2:49] The governor, though, is like the senator.
[2:51] He needs to run on digits.
[2:53] Even the governor?
[2:58] Yep.
[2:58] Incidentally, the speaker totally disgraced the Congress last night at this time.
[3:05] No, not really.
[3:06] He gave the most.
[3:09] Intemperate.
[3:11] and ill-considered speech I ever heard.
[3:14] It was just a, it was an unmasking of the weakness of the leadership of the Congress.
[3:19] You spoke when you made the speech?
[3:24] Yep, yep.
[3:24] How many were there?
[3:27] Five hundred.
[3:28] Where the hell was it?
[3:29] The National Portrait Gallery.
[3:31] Was it publicized?
[3:32] Oh, sure.
[3:34] I guess I can see lots of variety, but no time magazine.
[3:40] We have Time Magazine's 50th anniversary.
[3:43] Very fancy dinner.
[3:45] And they called up Scott and Albert as the principal speakers.
[3:50] Scott was witty and light, and Albert was a demagogue.
[3:53] And then Jerry Ford got up with two or three other congressmen for two-minute talks, and Ford carried the day.
[4:01] How did he carry it?
[4:02] He was wise.
[4:03] He was moderate.
[4:04] He was brief.
[4:06] And he was very well organized.
[4:08] Just lightened me up.
[4:11] He was, he was... What's the trouble with him, John?
[4:19] Yeah, I was just going to say, he's got a sense of inadequacy, I think.
[4:24] Yeah.
[4:27] Waved his arms, yelled, hollered, overstated the case to the point of being ridiculous.
[4:32] No, about how great the Congress was, how diligent the Congressmen were, how bright they were, how reform-minded they were, how they were meeting the nation's challenges.
[4:42] At one point, he was going on and on.
[4:44] Peter Lissinger, who was there, broke out in a laugh.
[4:50] If I had been a congressman, I would have been so embarrassed that I would have walked out.
[4:54] As a religious man, what do you think of your co-religious, Mr. Hatfield, and that of the performance?
[4:59] I don't know if you noticed it during the applause after, I guess, you called him.
[5:07] You mentioned with the piece in your hand, Hatfield stood there, or sat there, never quite a piece in your hand.
[5:15] Well, but that's...
[5:19] That's shabby.
[5:21] He did something.
[5:23] They say he was quite a time at his best.
[5:27] I didn't notice that, but I wasn't watching him at that time.
[5:31] But a real shabby performance.
[5:34] And I think noticed by a lot of people.
[5:38] Archer was good.
[5:39] Archer put a lot of work into it.
[5:40] Oh, sure he did.
[5:43] Archer does help, but he's very helpful.
[5:47] It was an interesting job.
[5:48] Archer's got a panel, so he didn't make a mistake.
[5:51] You want to check to see if they're waiting?
[5:57] Yes.
[5:57] I think they are.
[5:59] I think they're waiting.
[6:00] I think they're waiting.
[6:02] I think they're waiting.
[6:04] I think they're waiting.