Conversation 906-025

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I decided to go one night, probably on the clock.

Yeah, yeah.

All right.

I'm still to take that on.

I'll make it 45.

I'm going to keep you posted.

And, uh, uh, we did write it on the basis of the draft.

It's got to be on the draft dead fast.

It shouldn't be too long.

Uh, maybe not as much of that stuff as we had.

Uh, we believe the benefits are all in here.

And they don't mention it.

And don't mention me in it.

Don't mention any of the names.

Yeah, just don't mention any of the names.

Oh, I see.

I thought you meant to say...

I even have an assumption.

I haven't worked it out yet, but the assumption would be that I would have that.

Now, what are we doing?

At this crunch, I don't know, but it is my present plan.

to go tomorrow for Sunday papers.

So that one's not on a high plateau.

Left me in a swell of a while.

And I'm gonna have to, and I'm just gonna deliver a, I've got to deliver a letter to him.

In the cave, as he, there's another woman there who I can't leave with absence.

I'm missing her chances and so forth.

But I'm placing him on leave of absence.

Also, I've asked my partner to send me

You get the point.

Now that's just a scheme.

You don't get to a price.

All that's going to be done Monday.

My plan is to go up here now and just go into hibernation and try to think of what they ought to talk about and what to say and how to say it.

And try to say it as well as I possibly can.

That's about it.

How does that sound to you as a plan?

Sound all right?

No.

Yes, sir.

I'm precipitating an invention.

I'm moving it up.

If I seem hesitant here, you had asked the question of timing, and that was what I was sort of reviewing around in my mind.

Part of the problem here is that I think the more time goes on, the more the situation now, before the President speaks, grows.

I think with Gray having gone now,

and this stuff coming out and the kind of shit-ass speculation that you got from Hersh.

Right, right.

Is they going to run that story?

We're doing everything.

Well, no, they can't.

I mean, we're on that.

And Woodward, Woodward had said he had it behind us, our sources, too.

What do you think he's got his run?

Well, Mr. President, there's so much floating around.

Who knows?

That's...

You know, lawyers are involved.

Associates are involved.

It's just that maze, which... Let me say, we can have confidence so the president isn't involved.

Yes, sir, we know that.

Yes, I do.

I absolutely do.

On the world, one person, I bet you, isn't involved.

But I've got not to be involved.

You know that.

I know, but you're not.

Boy, if John Dean, if he wants to play that line, I'm trying to...

He can say the president is involved in this thing, which his lawyers are saying this and that.

I think maybe your point that he is not believable is, but we would have to move on and destroy that.

Oh, of course.

So that would have to suggest that you'd like to go to that help.

And David, no, you shouldn't go up there with me.

you're going to be like the other time I think I think I think I think I would be better served I'm pounding Ray pretty hard and I've spent about an hour and a half with him and you got some of the points across all of them about the higher standard about the receptive I told him those people who are interested in the presidency of the United States the preservation of the presidency of the United States Ray

He's willing to take responsibility, but he is not going to wallow in the ashes of self-piety, pity, and atonement because, I said, the people who are interested in the presidency of the United States don't want that from the president.

They want him to be firm.

They want him to take responsibility for things that have happened on his staff.

But they don't want him to say, please forgive me, my people, for what I have done.

No, sir.

I cannot do it, and I won't do it.

No, and you shouldn't.

And if Ray is at that, maybe you've got to get him off the stage.

We're moving him, and I'm working on him now.

That's why I say stop.

I dare you to leave.

Hershey fell ahead in something.

He's a great guy.

those letters of resignation written and so forth.

He didn't have a speaker.

No, sir.

Now, one way to do this would be, and I mentioned this before, a good counterbalance, I think, and we could charge these guys, I can give them Ray charged up, would be to have Buchanan and Ray for once work as a team.

And they may be a good counterbalance to one another.

Do you think?

How about work as a team?

Now, Ray's all hung up in what I'm pulling them out of, but I want to raise it, because you're going to be thinking about this.

He's going through the voluntary leave thing and so forth.

I said, Ray, the time to stop thinking about that is when the president makes a decision.

The president has made the decision.

It's voluntary leave.

And incidentally, let me say, everybody's going to say it isn't voluntary.

He doesn't even worry about that.

That doesn't make any difference.

But then he gets into, well, the timing thing, which we were going through.

I just want to get this out of my mind so you have it.

The question we were just going over is, if it is a voluntary leave, and when is the appropriate time for the statement of new tone, new direction, and so forth, accepting responsibilities we discussed, is that now, before the grand jury hands down,

Or at the time of the grand jury later.

Excuse me?

I think, I think, I think, Tom, I think we're going to have a second thing at the time of the grand jury.

I think we've got to take two bites of this apple.

You do?

Yeah, I do.

I think we can get, we can, we can indicate this at this point, at this point, that it's time for, you know, for this and that and the other thing.

But we've got to take two bites of the apple in terms of, as the grand jury moves, and I've got to get it to the attorney general, for example.

I've got to do.

Manolo, let's talk over and have something to eat over here.

I understand that you had a lot of time.

Yes, sir.

I'll be right over.

And tell them to hold the helicopter until 9... Oh, 9.15.

9.15.

Yes, sir.

Well...

I understand.

I'm hopeful, and I'm concerned.

I can settle it and talk to her, but I don't think that in the middle of the lead thing you could quite do it.

I think what you've got to say here, mainly here, is by God, this is the, you know, that's the price of being made.

I take the responsibility.

I make the...

I don't, I mean, I don't want, I'm not, I'm here to blame.

I didn't, who is to blame?

I think it would be to be here to say to blame the campaign manager, blame somebody in the Senate, so on and so on.

But the responsibility for all of this government is in one place, in one place, and that's on the shoulders of the president in this case.

I take responsibility.

In this case,

We haven't held an action today.

So, now, I'm taking responsibility to first receive those guilty, are, uh, are struck to, those guilty are, are, are, are, are, are, and, uh, also,

and those who are not deserving to serve, and those who deserve and currently no longer serve, and are responsible also to take steps so that this kind of thing will not happen again.

And the important thing,

Because the most important thing in the world is to be sure that the people of this country have faith in the integrity not only of the president, but of the White House staff, of his family.

And that I can assure you that I have that confidence and I stand on that.

I can assure you that only those who deserve that confidence will be in this White House as long as I am here.

That's my responsibility.

Because we have great things to do.

We've got to move forward.

The hopes of the whole world are here in this text for peace.

We're going to be with this.

We're going to be with that.

America can be strong militarily and strong in anything, richly enough.

But we must also be strong in our conscience and strong in our moral fiber.

And that is also responsible.

And I would dedicate myself these next three and a half years, not only to peace or prosperity and so forth, but also to attempt to restore a new sense of

If Bob and John do this tomorrow,

Would you release a letter?

And is that along the line of the Buchanan letter?

I've given them.

They're working on it.

They're going to work on the letter.

I don't know.

I told Bob I have a letter.

He goes in to see John.

They talk to the lawyers.

By the time they get through, I don't know what the hell they're going to come up with.

What'll happen is that both of them write.

They'll write a letter to me and they'll help write a return letter and they're going to bring them up.

There's no way they can't pay the TV tomorrow and do it.

And then we would announce it tomorrow.

Release it.

We would release it tomorrow.

And not Dean.

Not Dean.

He himself.

I understand.

I'll tell you what.

I don't argue with Dean and I don't see him again.

And you remember he said, I'd like to talk to you about the chronic flea.

Well, I had talked to

I may ask you to carry on a message to Garcy with our friend, uh... Peterson?

No, no, no, no, no.

Garcy.

Garcy's the guy that's going to have to do the hammer there.

I don't want to see him.

No.

Peterson said that only he was the one who could talk to, uh, to Dean about, about, uh, you know, any kind of effect of, uh,

What would you call it?

And therefore, that I would be in a very good process.

And therefore, there could be no discussion with me, and there could be no discussion with Carmen on that.

And that I, the president, would love to be there entirely with you.

That's what being a spiritual being.

And Carmen should say to the president, he's trying to treat everybody fairly.

And he's terribly hurt in the city.

And all of the men in the city, you know, he's being hurt.

He says, John, he says, John, he says, John.

And then, but the way the letter.

And then, but the way the letter reading him would be different rather than having him.

He, after they would do it, may submit one itself.

That's what he ought to do, but he probably won't do it.

He probably won't do it.

That's what he ought to do.

But he probably won't do it.

He probably figures that he can stay.

Figures that he can stay.

But do you know, there will only be a 24 hours.

And the following morning, Monday morning, he figures that he can stay.

And the following morning, Monday morning, he figures that he

I'll eat and I may get a call from him in which I will not take it.

I'll say, well, I can't talk at the time of the speech.

Then if he wants to submit something, I'll say, well, I can't talk at the time of the speech.

Then if he wants to submit something, let him submit.

But it runs in a different side of life.

It's what I'm looking to do.

I hereby place you on leave.

I hereby place you on leave, and I've asked my department to assume the duties of the consul during your absence.

But we don't move on this until... To assume the duties of the consul during your absence.

But we don't move on... To assume the duties of the consul this until...

Until we hear from you.

What happens on that?

But we don't move on this until... Until we hear from you.

If they move tomorrow, what happens on that?

Well, of course, we kind of haven't got it.

If they move tomorrow, which I hope to Christ you do, which I hope to Christ you do, it's going to be better.

It's going to be better.

If you've got, uh, if you let Ray go for a while now, they're all done early.

You don't know what you see.

If you've got, uh,

You let Ray go for a while, and I come over to meet that professor.

So late, I've got to kill him.

Come over to meet that professor.

We'll talk over there.

Tell Ray you'll catch him later.

Yes, sir.

And he did.

So late.

If they move tomorrow, which I hope to Christ you do, it's...

I've got to kill him.

We'll talk over there.

Tell Ray you'll catch him later.

Yes, sir.

He wants to meet me.

I need a draft.

If you've got it, tell me not to.

Can you let Ray go for a while now and come over to me?

I'll see you later.

What do you want?

It's so late, I've got to... Tell Ray...

Yes, sir.

I need a draft by 79.

I'll see you later.

If he wants me, I need a draft by 79.

I'll see you later.