President Nixon met with RNC Chair George H.W. Bush and Janet J. Johnston to discuss Republican Party strategy, personnel, and upcoming electoral goals. They reviewed internal leadership races, specifically addressing tensions between Clarence J. Brown and Robert H. Michel, and discussed the President's stance on intervening in internal party contests. Additionally, the group strategized on recruitment, focusing on potential party-switching candidates in Virginia and the broader political implications of recruiting high-profile figures like John Connally to the Republican cause.
On March 9, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Thomas Hart, Janet J. Johnston, and George H. W. Bush met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:15 pm to 12:30 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 874-010 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding AidConversation No. 874-10
Date: March 9, 1973
Time: 12:15 pm – 12:30 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Thomas Hart.
President's meeting with Janet J. Johnston and George H. W. Bush
-Oliver F. (‘Ollie”) Atkins
Johnston and Bush entered at 12:15 pm. Members of the press and the White House
photographer were present at the beginning of the meeting.
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
(rev. June-2010)
Conversation No. 874-10 (cont’d)
Introductions
Photographs
Anne L. Armstrong
Lonnie Baker [?]
Republican National Committee [RNC]meeting [?]
Cabinet meeting [?]
-Bush, Johnston’s attendance [?]
[Photograph session]
-Suggestion of candidacy for Congress
Press release
-Background on Johnston
-Age
Hart, the White House photographer, and members of the press left at an unknown time after
12:15 pm.
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[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
RNC
-Johnston’s role
-Contacts with White House staff
-Armstrong
-Bush
-Popularity
-Staff
-Size
-William E. Brock, III
-Work with Bush
-Kenneth S. Rietz
-Clarence J. (“Bud”) Brown
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
(rev. June-2010)
Conversation No. 874-10 (cont’d)
-Work with Bush
-Candidacy for party leadership role [?]
-Robert H. Michel
-Gerald R. Ford
-Father
-Aid to President
-1946 election
-Present job
-Importance
-Candidacy for party leadership role [?]
-Deal with Michel
-White House intervention
-Qualifications for job
-Role in RNC
-Republican fundraising dinner
-Michel
-Rietz’s appointment
-Alaska Congressional election
-Donald E. Young’s victory
-Rietz’s appointment
-“New Majority Campaign”
-Samuel L. Devine
-Meeting with Bush
[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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Congressional relations
-President’s meeting with Freshmen Republican Congressmen
-Devine’s Congressional caucus
-Meeting with President
-Support for vetoes
-Tennessee
-Leslie C. Arends
Jacob K. Javits
-Conversation with Nelson A. Rockefeller
-Meeting with President
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
(rev. June-2010)
Conversation No. 874-10 (cont’d)
-Invitation
-Bush
-Timing
-Trade bill
-Shultz
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[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
William T. Cahill’s New Jersey campaign
-Rockefeller [?]
-Bush’s conversation with John N. Mitchell
-President’s endorsement
-Primary
-Charles W. Sandman, Jr.
-Internal Revenue Service [IRS] investigation
-Mitchell, John D. Ehrlichman
-John E. Hunt
-Support for President
Primaries
-Endorsement of White House
-Role of RNC
-Virginia
-Linwood Holton’s support for Mill Godwin
-Harry F. Byrd, Jr’s, [unintelligible] Smith’s influence
-Jack March, Stets Coleman
-1974 election
-Democratic leaders
-Richard Obenshain
-Candidacy for lieutenant governor
-Democrats
-Switch to Republican Party
-Obenshain
Republican Party
-Connally
-Switch from Democrats
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
(rev. June-2010)
Conversation No. 874-10 (cont’d)
-George Christian
-Virginia Democrats
-Timing of switch
-Louis Welch
-Mayor of Houston
-Switch from Democrats
-Calls to Connally [?]
-Importance of switch
-Candidacy for President
-Texas
-Need for support of Republican Party
-Bush’s candidacy for governor [?]
-Candidacy for President
-Republican primary delegates
[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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Johnston and Bush left at 12:30 pm.This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.