Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 895-004
Date: Friday, April 13, 1973 at 8:49 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Timmons, William E.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/895-004

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:15] I think it went well last night.
[0:17] The guys appreciated it.
[0:18] I've seen them enjoy it.
[0:20] Sort of gilded the lily a little bit.
[0:22] Yeah.
[0:24] Speeches were pretty good.
[0:25] They were.
[0:26] Do you think that all should help them, though?
[0:33] Now and again, I really believe it does.
[0:35] They feel they're recognized for what they did, and I think that helps you in the future.
[0:44] Take that occasion though to lobby their favorite projects.
[0:48] Oh, sure.
[0:49] That's right.
[0:50] Also, it's a way for them to see me and do it.
[0:52] They should have the opportunity to say, well, I mentioned it to the president.
[0:56] Mm-hmm.
[0:57] Good.
[0:57] Good.
[1:01] Well, it does give them a feeling of some team fighting together, boys and girls.
[1:07] The thing about it is you've got to watch them to make it common.
[1:11] That's right.
[1:12] covered by the White House will then come to the White House again and so forth.
[1:15] One of the things I want to talk to you about now is the church and so forth and so on.
[1:19] I think we're probably hitting a little too much repetition at the moment.
[1:28] What I mean is that the leaders have to come.
[1:31] But as far as others are concerned, once a year is as much as the traffic will bear.
[1:35] You know what I mean?
[1:42] I'm going to have one more church thing, and I'm going to have one there for you.
[1:50] And I'm going to have it on the 29th, right after Easter.
[1:55] What I'd like to do there, though, is to pick up people.
[1:57] If people are invited and rejected, then they should not be invited again.
[2:01] If they invited and they're out of town, they could be invited again.
[2:06] But if, for example, people have been to an evening, they shouldn't be to a church.
[2:11] Now, let me ask you this.
[2:14] Have all the Republicans, House and Senate, been invited to something?
[2:19] Yes, sir.
[2:20] And with the exception, they all asked, with the exception of Wachowski.
[2:26] They have all been invited, frankly, they've been invited, virtually all Republicans, there might be one or two exceptions to that, to both a church service and an evening.
[2:36] Because we've had those four worship services and four evenings.
[2:40] And we've covered really good.
[2:42] But a lot of them haven't come.
[2:44] There have been just Republicans.
[2:46] Most of them have come.
[2:47] That's not so low.
[2:48] I haven't seen Brooke there.
[2:49] I don't think I've seen Mathias.
[2:53] They have both been invited.
[2:55] I'll check those two.
[2:55] What about all the Republicans in the House?
[3:02] They've been invited.
[3:05] First, I haven't seen him.
[3:07] He's been invited.
[3:07] Okay.
[3:13] We keep pretty detailed lists on those guys.
[3:16] Starting from the very first reception you had.
[3:18] All right, how about the Democrats?
[3:22] I don't know what we should do there.
[3:24] I don't think there's a hell of a lot in it for us to invite anybody but the 60 or so potentially good Democrats.
[3:33] What do you think you should invite?
[3:37] But it sprinkles some liberals in too, some responsible kind of liberals.
[3:41] Al Ullman from people like that.
[3:44] We have not included the Dellings and the Hapshicks.
[3:47] No.
[3:47] There are about 100 members of Congress that have not received any invitations.
[3:52] Frank Hulse we haven't had back for anything.
[3:54] Teddy Kennedy we haven't had down.
[3:57] I see the reading now.
[3:59] Muskie we haven't had.
[3:59] And in the House, some of the Wilding guys we haven't had down.
[4:03] But there's only about 100 of them.
[4:04] I wish we had Muskie.
[4:04] I wouldn't have him.
[4:09] Well, look, if we had a husband, I was thinking just making it for members of the Congress.
[4:14] I mean, we don't want to do that.
[4:16] We've covered him so well, we could certainly have an Indiana delegation.
[4:21] No.
[4:21] Well, yeah, but I don't want to do that.
[4:24] I don't see any purpose.
[4:25] You know what I mean?
[4:29] Now, the Congress doesn't return until the 30th.
[4:32] Oh.
[4:37] If they haven't advanced, I know a lot of them will come back to that one.
[4:40] But it's just the members of Congress who probably had a hard time getting a full house.
[4:45] Well, basically, let me ask you this.
[4:47] I was thinking that, like, Penley was telling me yesterday that it'd be nice if I go down on the floor sometime and visit some of the guys that didn't vote with us, because we're adulterers, and we're invited to this.
[5:00] And that would be Republicans, of course.
[5:03] But that wouldn't be a hell of a lot of guys, only about 28 guys visiting.
[5:10] Well, he had been once another.
[5:13] We don't expect them to be with us all the time.
[5:14] They shouldn't feel burdened.
[5:17] They could be invited to something else.
[5:20] Well, that's all right.
[5:21] A little different group when you had the Peace with Honor reception.
[5:24] Not a lot, many of the same people, but a little different.
[5:27] A little different last night.
[5:28] And sometime in the future, if there's some hard place and you stand up and you have another reception, it'd be a maybe a little different group again.
[5:41] What would you think, if you want to have a...
[5:51] In other words, as far as church service is concerned, you don't really have any candidates at all, is that right, Bill?
[5:57] We have 30 that haven't been here, or at least didn't find it.
[5:59] So a church, pardon me, would be more naked.
[6:01] Mm-hmm.
[6:11] Now we can go back to the list and see those that legitimately regret it because they're out of time or something.
[6:19] And go back and try and make sure.
[6:32] Yeah, we're about six foot.
[6:54] What do you think, at the moment, of Congress?
[6:56] Is there anything?
[6:58] There's not much more we can do.
[6:59] They're in there pretty good.
[7:00] We've got to be... You see this new rule of leadership.
[7:04] We just want to be able to kind of, as you know, I'm going to stack the goddamn room every hundred, I guess, but rather than eight wild cards, have ten.
[7:12] Go enough.
[7:12] And then that'll force the leaders to go back and first perform a little better, too, isn't it?
[7:19] It does.
[7:19] I mean, it's great.
[7:20] Just right.
[7:21] And we just filled the room and let other staff people come in and the rest.
[7:26] We have two of those coming up this week, next week.
[7:35] Energy on Wednesday and MFN on Thursday.
[7:37] The Thursday one, it was going to be, I want to get some relatively small tests.
[7:46] uh, basically, uh, meet just the top five.
[7:49] Five, three?
[7:50] The two Jews in Jackson.
[7:52] And I think the Foreign Affairs Formal Relations Chairman.
[7:55] Oh, yeah, they want to come.
[7:57] Yeah.
[7:57] Because that's where the committee, that's where it will be.
[7:59] Is MFN in there?
[8:00] No, it's in the, the trade bill is for ways and means of finance.
[8:05] Oh.
[8:06] To be more real.
[8:06] Then maybe let's skip, let's don't have, uh, Foreign Affairs.
[8:10] You better go back to finance ways and means.
[8:13] Or not have that at all, either.
[8:15] Actually, Jackson, and Rivercroft, and Judds are the guys that are behind this movement.
[8:22] And you could, I think, get away with just those three of the five big leaguers.
[8:26] Have them here in the office.
[8:27] Sure.
[8:29] I think so, because we will have had the others so much, they're going to be tired.
[8:33] All right.
[8:35] Big five plus the three.
[8:36] Yeah.
[8:36] That's right.
[8:37] Center.
[8:42] Good.
[8:44] And you got out for breakfast Monday, so you got a full week.
[8:48] Good.
[8:51] And I think as far as stroke goes, most members should be satisfied.
[8:54] We want them to be.
[9:01] What else we can do?
[9:03] See, we're labor working now.
[9:03] We're getting something.
[9:04] We'll have something about every week, and either bipartisan or the other.
[9:11] That's the way that you can grow a lot of weight.
[9:14] And when they're, when they're basing the concession on it, then see, they'll be going to do a campaign.
[9:18] You're gonna go bipartisan on the 30th, go that way.
[9:24] Right?
[9:24] I have some little memo in to you suggesting that you might want to take another look at that.
[9:28] We, uh, I never felt that we should have a tax message as such.
[9:34] Uh, I think Schultz and Irwin agree that that kind of escalates the tax problems.
[9:39] Alright, fine.
[9:41] But we've already had the, uh, trade with them.
[9:44] Yes.
[9:46] So we don't, we won't have a white party.
[9:52] We're going to stay in the world at some point.
[9:56] Well, we'll go back to parties and meetings in May, and then shall we march?
[10:33] Why don't I go back and check the records real carefully and see what, how many members have legitimately regretted abortion.
[10:52] People we might go back to now, on the 6th of May, maybe.
[10:56] On the 6th of May, or maybe.
[10:58] Maybe.
[11:00] Maybe.
[11:03] Well, they don't want to bring all their kids.
[11:06] Maybe the sixth.
[11:14] Okay.
[11:16] You might need to check it out, though.
[11:18] All right, sir.
[11:19] We can probably put together a pretty decent group, I think.
[11:22] All right, for sure.
[11:23] It's not a deal.
[11:24] And we can find an excuse.
[11:35] I'll tell you what you're doing on the wild card thing.
[11:38] There's where you can take care of some Republicans.
[11:41] You know what I mean?
[11:43] If I do that on the wild card thing, I want you to go overboard now on getting that.
[11:50] I know, but give a killer receipt.
[11:52] I'm going to give a killer receipt about that.
[11:54] I don't like killer receipts, but we don't need to have to say go on every time.
[11:59] I think what I think is pick up a couple of liberals and go wild card.
[12:03] I wouldn't say group of people.
[12:04] You know what I mean?
[12:06] The decent ones.
[12:06] Would you do that?
[12:08] Yes.
[12:08] People like that.
[12:09] How about that?
[12:11] Good.
[12:11] This one next Wednesday, we've got a little problem in that there are three committees that are concerned.
[12:16] Fill it up.
[12:16] Fill it up.
[12:17] But then you almost have to invite the healthy, innocent people.
[12:20] Right.
[12:21] But we still have a few that we can add on.
[12:25] So that rocket science, I guess.
[12:27] Yes.
[12:30] And, of course, on our partisan meetings, too, we can take care of other Republicans.
[12:34] That's what I meant with the partisan Republicans.
[12:36] I just wanted you to be sure to mix in some letters with that, as well, if you do that.
[12:43] Sure will.
[12:45] I usually work with Jerry and Hugh on those wild cards so that they feel like they're kind of part of it.
[12:51] Yeah.
[12:51] But just say if you'd like to get some of it.
[12:54] Yes.
[12:55] I don't think it's the decent guys.
[12:58] I'd like to have Case into something now.
[13:00] I don't think he's ever put this, but he's an old friend and all, and there's no reason to just keep him out.
[13:06] I wouldn't bother if he died, so I wouldn't really press much on that, but Brooke ought to be in when Eric's out of communication.
[13:13] Are you ready?
[13:13] Yes, sir.
[13:14] I sure do.
[13:15] I don't think I'd do much with Percy, would you?
[13:18] Oh, it probably wouldn't hurt to have him down at some point.
[13:21] All right.
[13:22] I'm just going to let him keep him.
[13:23] All right.
[13:26] I wouldn't have it in person, you know, something like that.
[13:29] But we're thinking about that among the senators and among the decent.
[13:32] Of course, the House members, there are only about 30 of those, and they really aren't that influential in the House.
[13:37] That's true.
[13:38] That's true.
[13:39] Marbet, she mentioned, is a member of the Lindsay Club, a jazz-responsible guy.
[13:44] He's been doing some good things for us.
[13:46] He's been helping us on this aid to North Vietnam.
[13:48] He's trying to move around, tell people to be quiet.
[13:52] I don't know.
[13:57] They seem to be pretty active last night.
[14:05] Oh, yeah, that's right.
[14:06] They love to sit around.
[14:10] Well, they like the speeches.
[14:11] They like the booze.
[14:12] Of course, they enjoy the chance to shake hands with you and whisper in your ear a little bit.
[14:18] Well, I like it, too.
[14:19] I can have all four of them.
[14:25] What do you do about the, I guess you get it, requests?
[14:28] They don't feel particularly cut off today.
[14:34] No, I think they do, Mr. President.
[14:36] They were frustrated on some of these terminations of programs, but I think they agree with it.