Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 895-016
Date: Friday, April 13, 1973 at 11:41 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Gaylord, Edward King; Kennedy, Donald S.; Webb, James E.; Draper, Stanley C.; Goldman, Sylvan N.; Everest, Harvey P.; Ingram, Charles C.; Ellison, C. D.; Williams, Garland R.; Pate, Stanton S., Jr.; Pate, Margaret F.; Jarman, John; Friedersdorf, Max L.; White House photographer
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/895-016

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Mr. President, Congressman John Charman.
[0:03] Good morning, Mr. President.
[0:07] How do you see it?
[0:08] Yes, I know.
[0:09] Yes, I see.
[0:10] Thank you.
[0:10] It would be very nice if you could give this honor.
[0:13] Well, let me step over here so you can see.
[0:17] Come on, step over here so we can take a picture before the flag.
[0:22] Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, do this man.
[0:23] Just the two of us here.
[0:33] All right.
[0:34] All right.
[0:37] All right.
[1:09] Yeah.
[1:09] Yeah.
[1:28] All right.
[1:33] Well, that's a great offer.
[1:46] This is a standard rate.
[1:47] It's brilliant.
[1:49] It's brilliant.
[1:50] Don't get excited.
[1:51] Don't get excited.
[1:55] Don't get excited.
[2:01] Is that all right?
[2:25] I don't know
[2:55] You're always welcome.
[2:56] Just saying, Mr. Webb, he's been in his office many times, and his service as former president, he's always welcome.
[3:06] Thank you.
[3:06] There are some people you know in government that we don't think are Democrats or Republicans, and he's one of them.
[3:13] That's right.
[3:15] We should talk about Oklahoma.
[3:16] That's right.
[3:18] I'll get the center here to the picture.
[3:24] Let me see.
[3:25] Why don't we put you next to me?
[3:27] I think that's better.
[3:28] I'll take it.
[3:28] I want a little of your secret as long as I can rub it on me.
[3:34] Oh, John, you should be in this one.
[3:45] Yes, sir.
[3:51] Thank you, Mr. President.
[3:53] Well, I want to say that I know President Eisenhower many years ago tried to give some support for the great work you've done, and I'm glad to follow suit to this.
[4:16] We often, when we sit here in government and are talking about
[4:20] John and I who did this last night, whether we hold a budget of $268 billion or so, you don't think much of what people do in their voluntary capacities.
[4:32] And here you've got a group of people that are helping hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands in a voluntary way.
[4:41] And that's really the heart of the American system.
[4:45] The government can do a lot, but even with that $200
[4:49] I was thinking that $268 billion, that's only one-fifth of what this country produces.
[4:55] So for every dollar that government produces, if it produces our spends, we have to realize that people in their individual capacity produce five times as much.
[5:07] And particularly in this field, where it'd be so easy to say, well, that's the government, and it's impersonal.
[5:11] It doesn't have it.
[5:12] But if you bring that impersonal quality to it, you inspire young people, and they'll go on to
[5:18] shall we say, to the frontiers of science and any other fields.
[5:29] So I just wanted to express my congratulations.
[5:33] I wish you good luck for 100 more years.
[5:34] I'm impressed with Mr. Kaler's speed for all of us.
[5:37] Sure.
[5:37] Sure, indeed.
[5:38] Mr. Kaler is always welcome to speak.
[5:41] I do recognize for any amount of time you want.
[5:45] Thank you.
[5:50] Well, we deeply appreciate it, Mr. President, the honor of doing the Frontier to Science on this occasion.
[5:56] It's a sort of a climax to the publicity we've had for the past 18 years.
[6:02] And we feel that we've helped a great deal in the stimulation of scientific study and the number of students that have gone into scientific pursuits.
[6:15] We feel that it's been a great thing.
[6:17] We deeply appreciate what you've done today in recognizing this.
[6:25] Well, I want to say, incidentally, that one of the reasons I like to give you support is that I had a fairly good record in school that science was one of my poorest subjects.
[6:39] I remember my daughters years ago, they were attending preparatory school.
[6:54] They came in and wanted me to help them with the man, and it's the new man.
[6:59] And I said, look, I couldn't even understand the old man.
[7:01] I want to give you something that's of a matter of these people that contributed their time and get nothing back from it.
[7:11] These are the presidential convicts, and they're colored.
[7:16] the seal of the President, which is on the flag over there.
[7:18] I gave you the first one, and this is my old one.
[7:22] Thank you for having us.
[7:24] And so since ladies can't wear coverings, here's the seal and the floor.
[7:28] And up there, there it is for you.
[7:34] So if you... And incidentally, just to show you that it's totally...
[7:42] The crab apple blossoms are in the rose garden here, and it's the most beautiful time of the year, actually, with the tulips.
[7:53] I just took some jack-o'-lanterns out of the shop.
[8:05] It's sunshine today.
[8:06] Yes, it is cold.
[8:07] Oh, there it is.
[8:10] Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[8:13] I just, I haven't been down to the basin, but I knew where my helicopter was.
[8:21] It's so cold.
[8:22] Remember when I spoke to the editor-in-chief many years ago in Oklahoma City?
[8:31] We haven't changed a bit.
[8:33] Well, goodbye.
[8:35] Goodbye.
[8:35] Thank you very much.
[8:40] Bye.
[8:47] That's right.
[8:48] We took over all of it.
[8:49] That's what I do.
[8:50] Thank you.
[8:51] Can we hand it over?
[8:52] Yes, sir.
[8:53] You did a great job.
[8:54] Thank you.
[8:55] Good to see you.
[8:58] You know, we put up the satellite that showed you to a billion people when you were in the...
[9:04] I can go.
[9:05] We did that against the opposition of everybody else in the country.
[9:11] Because the military notice said we don't need them.
[9:13] Is that good enough?
[9:15] Yeah, they wanted to use the property, the U2s and all that.
[9:18] No, they don't use the private access.
[9:20] Oh, yeah.
[9:20] Oh, yeah.
[9:21] We've been mad at you.
[9:22] I see.
[9:23] I see.
[9:23] You're over my head already.
[9:24] All right.
[9:25] I'm glad you did.
[9:26] I, this morning, listened to your schedule.
[9:27] I mean, I'm glad you did.
[9:28] This is a job for our...
[9:35] Either R or D or I.