Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 853-017
Date: Thursday, February 8, 1973 at 3:07 PM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Morton, Rogers C. B.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/853-017

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:01] Number one, this morning, I'll have to wait until the American people understand common sense that they're going to always be with us.
[0:08] And rest assured, we're going to make them understand what you're doing, correct?
[0:12] Second, how many of you are going to do this?
[0:16] I've got, I've been taking my physical exams regularly for the last 10 years and I did exactly one for the last one but they've had a little lump in my prostate and I've been in, I went to John Topping, that's why I was not in coverage.
[0:34] No, but they want to send me out to tell out to Stanford to see Dr. Dyson.
[0:36] They decided that radiation is what has to be done.
[0:38] And I'll be out for about five weeks before the rumors are out.
[0:39] And it started, I hope, not working again.
[0:40] Let me say, though, that being an amateur doctor is no problem.
[0:42] I hope you're not worried.
[0:42] No, I'm not.
[0:43] Because I've talked to people about the thing, the prostate thing.
[1:06] And people, you're lucky to have a leader your age.
[1:08] Yeah.
[1:08] That's right.
[1:08] You realize that operations are 70% or 90% successful.
[1:10] I know they're off, but they think you can do it.
[1:11] They bring in Dr. Banks, who apparently is the leading authority.
[1:26] work, I guess, on this out there and work with Hopkins.
[1:30] And they think that my particular cells or whatever it is will respond better to radiation than they're going to try.
[1:37] And it's just .
[1:38] Well, are you going to announce it?
[1:39] Well, I'm going to have to.
[1:42] You have to go for about four or five weeks.
[1:45] You have to go every day, five days.
[1:46] What do you think you should say?
[1:49] There's no way that I can say that .
[1:53] I don't think there's any way to get out of here.
[1:54] Oh, sure.
[1:55] That's a lovely place to be.
[1:55] Well, I've got a lot of work down here.
[1:56] See, we've got an office up back.
[1:57] I've got a great man called Bob Hitt.
[1:58] Bob Hitt is a fellow, and he is a fellow.
[1:58] Yes, he's your... You can leave that in the air.
[1:59] And then I'll be on... How many things are you going to be up?
[2:23] that you will, uh, have already perhaps already included in that.
[2:25] That's, uh, we're working on that.
[2:25] Yeah, we've got all that going on right now.
[2:26] All right.
[2:26] We're way up on top of that.
[2:27] All right.
[2:27] And, uh, think of a thing, mostly, in your department, for example.
[2:39] Well, the thing about it is, I think we're going to have to just say something to each other.
[2:42] All I can tell you is, well, I'm not going to specifically know where I'm going to go.
[2:44] The point of that is, I'm anticipating it will be sometime in March.
[2:59] Well, we don't know.
[2:59] Well, some guys in the college center, as they say, well, I like driving, but they have to work in.
[3:01] And I will be there to make the arrangements today.
[3:02] And he said it will probably be about two weeks.
[3:03] Well, I don't know.
[3:04] I don't know what you're saying.
[3:04] I don't know what you're saying.
[3:28] put it on a base that I heard should be built
[3:38] You could have postponed it for a while, but so this is the time to do it.
[3:40] You work with them and they do their part in this.
[3:41] You also need to be available there if you're working on it.
[3:43] How's that sound?
[3:43] Great.
[3:43] And we do that.
[3:43] And how long do you want to take the kids?
[3:44] Do you take them every day five days a week or four or possibly five weeks?
[4:01] Now, that frustrates me, this one thing.
[4:05] This is a new deal, very high quality.
[4:08] Now, I was going to say, that test and the process is wonderful.
[4:12] The cost goes every man could take every year.
[4:16] You have every year.
[4:16] All you have to say is, every profit's amount.
[4:18] Well, you know, they just come down across the coast, you know, and they, you know, you bend over, and I'll stick it up a bit.
[4:24] All you have, you know, they have it.
[4:29] And then, finally, Dr. Kerrigan on the Hill said, if you want another opinion, this might be the time to get one.
[4:32] So I said, well, I want to just sell one and buy the other.
[4:34] I'll never forget speaking at the .
[4:59] And I didn't want to discourage something that's other than that.
[5:00] And it was a must study from Jerry Lynch, who studied it.
[5:02] There were a couple of us that went back there.
[5:03] Five years with a physical attack.
[5:04] But they got to almost two later.
[5:05] Did you get it with them?
[5:06] No, that's what they say.
[5:07] You're lucky.
[5:07] That's right.
[5:08] So if you've been through something, Jerry, you've got no problem.
[5:10] No problem.
[5:11] That's what they say.
[5:11] They say it's, you know...
[6:19] should the president do what the Congress wants, or should he fight higher taxes?
[6:24] We're going to tell the people who are going to put us in the Congress, and we'll get them.
[6:29] That's all I started to say.
[6:31] Bye.
[6:31] Goodbye.
[6:34] We'll see you.
[6:35] I'll say nothing about this.
[6:38] I'll let you know all the time.