Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 890-016
Date: Friday, March 30, 1973 at 11:30 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Cavanaugh, James H.; Johnson, Donald E.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/890-016

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:01] Sorry.
[0:04] Sorry.
[0:26] Thank you.
[0:38] I don't know if it's possible to word that out.
[0:41] I mean, you know, whatever that is.
[0:44] But I just want to say that at the outset.
[0:47] Now, as far as what we say publicly about that thing, I think we can just say that I wanted to be sure after my speech last night to get a first-hand report from Donald Johnson with regard to all the things we're doing for veterans, generally in Vietnam veterans.
[1:04] I received it last night.
[1:06] It's a hell of a good thing.
[1:10] Well, I think, uh, I think if we, uh, respond rather than to the needs of the Vietnam veterans, then certainly no more effort has been exerted for any generation of veterans than there has been for this whole journey of that.
[1:22] That's the thing, I agree with that.
[1:25] That's the thing, I agree with that.
[1:33] That's the thing, I agree with that.
[1:35] That's the thing, I agree with that.
[1:39] or asleep right now.
[1:41] And he's also, and he does, he should be.
[1:44] And second, he's better off as a guy that got down and didn't go.
[1:49] What I meant is, the guy particularly from the lower level income, it's not a guy that's going to be a lawyer, a doctor, so forth.
[1:55] He lost three years.
[1:57] But the average guy, who's a better, you know, 18, 19-year-old,
[2:08] He's a hell of a lot better man for us if he didn't come.
[2:13] Don't you feel that way?
[2:14] Absolutely, yeah.
[2:15] Even for the fourth of those who may have suffered some injury.
[2:19] Oh, they come.
[2:20] Look at the tiger.
[2:20] It gives them a certain amount of motivation.
[2:23] Motivation.
[2:24] Injury is part of life.
[2:25] I mean, sometimes they're physical, sometimes they're emotional.
[2:29] Sometimes they're mental.
[2:31] But people that go through agony and suffering like those POWs, they come out strong in that.
[2:37] They're very impressive people.
[2:38] Aren't they great?
[2:39] Oh, just, I just have to say this.
[2:41] Of course, I have to admit, as a grown man, I had tears in my eyes when Captain Denton stepped off that plane.
[2:46] Oh, boy.
[2:47] Well, I've only met four of them individually, because they were here, and Denton and Rice were in two letters between them.
[2:55] Their wives were even, but Denton and Rice were in the same department.
[3:01] They're even more impressive in conversation than they are in their discreet statements.
[3:05] They're deep, deep men, they are.
[3:08] That said, the fine seagull was only tempered by a lot of heat, and boy, they had to eat it.
[3:16] The fellow I was referring to last time, Rice, said it then, because he wasn't sure at all about Rice.
[3:36] I want to say we have to be prepared for psychological and psychiatric problems.
[4:05] Yes, sir.
[4:06] Because they're going to have a letdown once they get back.
[4:10] And they come back.
[4:11] Life here is hard.
[4:12] They'll come back and they'll find the kids swallowing and squealing and things ain't all as good as they thought.
[4:17] It's as romantic as they thought.
[4:19] America has its problems.
[4:20] The budget has its problems.
[4:22] And they're heroes today.
[4:23] They're usually forgotten in about two or three months from now.
[4:26] It's going to be some terrible work.
[4:27] But be prepared to take care of them.
[4:30] And also like the example of...
[4:32] Just some numbers.
[4:32] I noticed that they made a whole lot of money out of the fact that one guy came back in and within a month had to divorce his wife.
[4:41] And I made a big story out of it.
[4:42] I would take all these veterans.
[4:45] and get the figures for the national horse races.
[4:48] My figures, I think, is one out of three get the horses.
[4:51] And my guess is that out of these 400, it may be 10, 15, or 20 that you could find out.
[4:57] Well, they did have a lot better than the national.
[4:58] It'd be an interesting figure to get out.
[5:01] See my mic?
[5:02] We can't hold these guys to a standard that's higher than they were than other people.
[5:07] One other thing.
[5:08] Of course, we estimate now about 80% of the field evidence from the state and military.
[5:12] That's good.
[5:13] That's good.
[5:15] And our big effort at the moment are the MIAs.
[5:23] But we're going, we're our people.
[5:25] And incidentally, every man that goes out to go to that family, as soon as the DOD declares it, has been a POW himself.
[5:34] The man that we sent was a POW in World War II or Korea.
[5:40] And there's a certain
[5:42] And you can assure them that the president, as I said last night, I'm being tough as hell.
[5:48] He's got that confidence.
[5:51] We'll continue to be right where he may have asked every time.
[5:54] I can't say everything he's right, but we're asking for it.
[5:57] They aren't going to give us anything.
[5:59] We're not going to get much in my name.
[6:03] Don't hold out.
[6:03] I have a lot of hope.
[6:05] Just say it.
[6:06] The point of what we've gone through to get out is that December bombing.
[6:10] That was the purpose of that.
[6:12] And you're welcome to break that deadline.
[6:16] But beyond that, right now, we're insisting on that.
[6:19] They have a focus of work that we're working on.
[6:23] And we're not letting the communists get away with those things.
[6:27] We're trying to get the international groups in.
[6:29] We're working with them.
[6:30] If they're gone, they're gone.
[6:36] just say words that i that we will never give up until we get the full reports then what we do is make sure that we follow through with what all of the nations they should get the extra amount because they've suffered so much well we've uh gone through a great deal of reorganization
[7:04] I want to say that a lot of people don't understand that.
[7:09] There's a young man who headed up your veterans' campaign at the re-electing committee by the name of Frank Naylor.
[7:15] He's a Vietnam veteran himself, one of the earliest.
[7:20] Just a tremendous young man.
[7:26] Really helped to put the organization together.
[7:29] That's a damnable bureaucracy, and probably more spread than any other in the government, with the number of stations and all that.
[7:36] I don't care what their goal is, however good it is they become.
[7:44] They defeat each other.
[7:45] That's why guns.
[7:47] It isn't that we get it too big.
[7:50] That's fine.
[7:51] It's just going to be better to get the goddamn stuff.
[7:56] dispersed a little more, get the power.
[7:58] I'm sure state legislators might have a tendency to be less confident and more crooked than national congress legislators.
[8:04] But all the while, I'm not sure.
[8:06] But the main point is, isn't it better to have it done in Iowa than it is in Washington?
[8:11] It certainly is.
[8:12] At least the mistakes aren't as big.
[8:15] We make a mistake, as I told that to the peers.
[8:17] It affects 210 million people.
[8:21] California, the biggest state, doesn't make a mistake.
[8:23] It only affects a tenth as many.
[8:27] California and Florida are receiving many of these Vietnam viruses.
[8:29] The influx is just tremendous.
[8:30] They want to live there.
[8:32] They want to live there.
[8:33] Well, that would be wonderful.
[8:36] Well, anyway, we appreciate what you've done.
[8:41] In fact, you're right up to the hill.
[8:43] It's tough.
[8:44] You've got to get along with Brian and John.
[8:49] He was a good personal friend of mine when that happened.
[8:53] I'll do my best to help you on this if I can.
[8:58] Well, Mr. Gordon wants to work, too, with him.
[9:00] And, of course, he's under heavy pressure.
[9:02] He's all part of the ballgame right now.
[9:05] That's right.
[9:08] I just talked about something that's strange.
[9:10] I think it worked out.
[9:12] You worked on the strategy.
[9:16] I'm sure that could be done, but we'll make it real quick.
[9:18] Well, we really got to give them a crack at the next shot, you know what I mean?
[9:25] And that's the deal, basically.
[9:26] But my God, if they do, they got to play the ball now.
[9:32] Oh, they're great.
[9:34] You've got a marvelous family.
[9:38] Thank you so much.
[9:39] Remember that time you had to check the Hoover Library?
[9:46] Yes, indeed.
[9:47] That big thing?
[9:48] Senator, President Hoover's 100th anniversary is the 74th.
[9:53] August 10th, the 74th.
[9:57] They probably want me to go.