Nixon White House Tapes — Conversation 908-003
Date: Tuesday, May 1, 1973 at 8:13 AM
Participants: Nixon, Richard M. (President); Timmons, William E.; Baroody, William J., Jr.
Recording device: Oval Office
Source: https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/908-003

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 Do not cite it as authoritative.

[0:00] Oh, hi, how are you?
[0:02] Sit down.
[0:02] I want to see what both of you are doing in regard to the street.
[0:16] Support for our position.
[0:27] And so we were in Congress last night.
[0:28] I'm going to go again this morning to stand out.
[0:33] I thought they were behaving well.
[0:36] Most of our loyal Republicans are.
[0:39] Scott Ford said good things last night.
[0:41] The Democrats are not.
[0:43] Some of them are special prosecutors, and they're not satisfied.
[0:47] But I mean, they've had their rug pulled off a little.
[0:52] But I'm tired of this.
[0:54] Richardson has the responsibility.
[0:57] He can appoint a special prosecutor if he wants, but I don't go to hell.
[1:02] But our gas is standing pretty good, Mr. President.
[1:05] It did last well.
[1:06] Don't put it that way.
[1:07] It'd be more positive if we could just get down there and get off their asses and start fighting.
[1:12] Is that clear?
[1:15] They should have had a good reaction last night.
[1:17] They'll probably hear the talk.
[1:20] Probably not.
[1:25] They're such a lot of lightweights.
[1:27] Right?
[1:27] But, uh, Scott Ford came out pretty good last night, and we'll get more of him today, I'm sure.
[1:31] I talked to Betts after the speech and told him that it's positive.
[1:36] But you don't have the Democrats, of course.
[1:37] Some of them are just going to be raising hell from now on, regardless.
[1:41] And there'll be such...
[1:43] uh the uh um the key thing i did last night was uh with respect to labor leaders and and ethnics uh got together with
[2:09] How did they get along?
[2:10] How were they observing?
[2:12] I did not connect with them last night.
[2:13] I got a list from Mike McDonald for getting in contact with them this morning to get some statements.
[2:23] What kind of reaction did you get?
[2:38] The reaction I got was very good, but very minimal.
[2:40] We did not call.
[2:42] We did not call out and ask people to call in.
[2:47] And by virtue of that fact, we did not get.
[2:50] No, no, they don't respect me.
[2:52] They don't think that's true.
[2:53] They couldn't, because we didn't have any calls in here.
[2:55] I could be big on myself.
[2:58] But you're on top of it, right?
[3:05] Yes, sir.
[3:06] Let me ask you about your status.
[3:08] Dick Howard and any of the others, you know, that you have, if any call them, don't let them get caught.
[3:16] You understand?
[3:17] Yes, sir.
[3:18] Tell them to just step right up and say, look, we want to move out, you know, and do something else or something of that sort.
[3:27] I think he's a wonderful guy, but hell, if he knows anything about this goddamn thing, you understand what I'm talking about?
[3:34] Yes, sir, I do indeed.
[3:36] Do you have any, do you have in mind any people like him?
[3:40] Uh...
[3:42] I know you know him.
[3:43] Right.
[3:44] You were convinced.
[3:45] Yes, sir.
[3:47] Um... No, I don't, uh... What, any?
[3:52] Except...
[3:52] Except Dick?
[3:54] Except Dick, and I don't know of any, uh...
[3:57] Except Dick?
[4:00] I, as far as, I don't know the Pope X on Dick, but I, I will, uh... Have a hard talk with him?
[4:07] Yes sir.
[4:08] Yes sir.
[4:09] I will do that this morning.
[4:28] The main thing, you guys have got to be not coming in with long faces.
[4:33] I never want to see a long face around here.
[4:35] You've got to be upbeat.
[4:36] Is that clear?
[4:36] Yes, sir.
[4:37] You understand that, Bill?
[4:38] Yes, sir.
[4:40] It's going to be tough.
[4:42] No, I mean, I never want to hear watery disgust again this morning.
[4:47] That's right.
[4:49] I'm sure of it.
[4:50] And all the rest of you are just a bunch of assholes.
[4:53] Now I'm going to give you a process.
[4:54] You've got to have your interests at stake.
[4:56] You've got the power to find the right prosecutor if you want to see him in.
[5:01] That's up to you.
[5:01] You can't hurt him if he gets a damn bad grand jury.
[5:04] Otherwise, it's extended for six months.
[5:06] We've all got a bit of challenges ahead of time.
[5:08] We've just got to go ahead and tackle these problems.
[5:10] That's right.
[5:12] We're going into the big thing now.
[5:13] All right, boys.
[5:14] We're counting on you.
[5:15] OK?
[5:15] Yes, sir.
[5:15] Tell all your team that you don't care about the poor crowd.
[5:18] OK?
[5:19] That's OK. OK?
[5:21] And so we're going to go to Congress last night.
[5:34] We're going to go again this morning to stand out.
[5:50] They're behaving well.
[5:52] Most of our loyal Republicans are.
[5:54] Scott Ford said good things last night.
[5:57] The Democrats are not.
[5:59] Some of them want special prosecutors, and they're not satisfied.
[6:03] But I mean, they've had their rug pulled off.
[6:08] But our tiger, Richardson, has the responsibility.
[6:12] He can appoint a special prosecutor if he wants.
[6:15] He's got to go to hell.
[6:18] But I guess it sounded pretty good, Mr. President.
[6:20] They did last night.
[6:21] Well, don't put it that way, President.
[6:23] It'd be more positive if you just get down there and get off their asses and start fighting them.
[6:27] Is that correct?
[6:27] Yes.
[6:27] Yeah.
[6:27] They should have had a good reaction last night.
[6:31] They'll probably hear.
[6:33] Probably not.
[6:33] They're such a lot of lightweights.
[6:38] Right?
[6:40] But our, uh, Scott Ford came out pretty good last night, and we're getting more of him today, I'm sure.
[6:47] I talked to Betchev after the speech and told him it was positive.
[6:51] But you don't have the Democrats, of course.
[6:53] Some of them are just going to be raising hell from now on, regardless.
[6:57] There'll never be such John Moss.
[7:00] That's what they're after.
[7:02] Moss resistance.
[7:04] Fine, fine, fine.
[7:06] Fine.
[7:06] Now, what have you done?
[7:16] The key thing I did last night was, with respect to labor leaders and ethnics, got together with them.
[7:24] How'd you get along?
[7:25] How were they?
[7:26] How was everything?
[7:26] We didn't get, I did not connect with them last night.
[7:29] I got a list from Mike Bogdano for getting in contact with them this morning to get some statements.
[7:36] How did you get along there?
[7:48] What kind of reaction did you get?
[7:54] The reaction I got was very good, but very minimal.
[7:56] We did not call.
[7:58] We did not call out and ask people to call in.
[8:01] No, that's right.
[8:03] And by virtue of that fact, we did not get.
[8:06] No, no, they don't respect me.
[8:08] Yes, sir.
[8:08] They don't get through, and they couldn't, because we didn't have any calls in here.
[8:11] I could be big on myself.
[8:14] But you're on top of it, right?
[8:22] I think your staff, Dick Howard, and any of the others, you know, that you have, if any call them, don't let them get caught.
[8:32] Do you understand?
[8:35] Yes, sir.
[8:36] Tell them to just step right up and say, look, we want to move out, you know, and do something else, or something of that sort.
[8:43] I think he's a wonderful guy, but, hell, if he knows anything about this goddamn thing, or...do you want to tell them what I'm talking about?
[8:49] Yes, sir, I do indeed.
[8:51] Do you have any, do you have in mind any people like him?
[8:56] Uh...
[8:57] I know you know him.
[8:59] Right.
[8:59] You were convinced.
[9:01] Yes, sir.
[9:02] Um... No, I don't, uh... What, didn't he?
[9:07] Except...
[9:08] Except Dick?
[9:09] Except Dick, and I don't know of any, uh...
[9:13] Except Dick?
[9:15] I, I, as far as, I don't know the Pope X on Dick, but I, I will, uh... Have a hard talk with him?
[9:22] Yes sir.
[9:23] Yes sir.
[9:24] I will do that this morning.
[9:43] The main thing, you guys have got to be not coming in with long faces.
[9:48] I never want to see a long face around here.
[9:51] You've got to be upbeat.
[9:53] Is that clear?
[9:54] Yes, sir.
[9:56] You understand that, Bill?
[9:57] Yes, sir.
[9:58] It's going to be tough.
[9:59] I never want to hear watery disgust again in this home.
[10:03] That's right.
[10:03] I'm sure of it.
[10:06] and all the rest of your business after all.
[10:08] So now I'm going to give you a process.
[10:09] You've got to have the resources.
[10:10] You've got the power to find the right prosecutor if he wants, and he may.
[10:14] That's up to you.
[10:15] I can't hope that we get to have that grand jury here.
[10:19] Otherwise, it'd be extended for six months.
[10:21] We've all got a bit of challenges ahead of time.
[10:23] We've just got to go ahead and tackle these.
[10:24] Right.
[10:25] We're going into the big thing now.
[10:26] All right, boys.
[10:28] We're here to count on you.
[10:29] OK.
[10:29] Yes, sir.
[10:30] Tell all your team that you don't care about the poor crowd.
[10:33] OK. That's OK. OK.
[10:36] Good job.