Conversation 917-033

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in the country, and...

The Germans.

Yeah, up in the Dutch land, on the plains, we had all these issues.

And we took it up again, decided we'd do it, and we got a very punchy statement about faith in the future of America.

We deplored Watergate, we had faith in you, that you had done tremendously important things for this country, and we wanted to work together to support...

The whole point is, as we know, we're spending money in the right sense, that's what I mean.

I couldn't acknowledge such a silly goddamn thing, because I'm not that stupid.

Let's forget the binoculars.

I'm not that stupid.

Well, you know what really interested me, Mr. President?

There was nobody there who really was emotionally upset about it.

No.

They felt badly.

Well, they were upset because they felt badly for you, the child.

Well, they don't do such things, do they?

That's right.

But there was no... And we altered the position, and they asked me here again just now whether I thought this one hurt the Republican Party.

And I said, frankly, no.

Did you?

Yeah, I don't.

Well, they did here, but not in the next election year.

None of us thought that it was going to happen.

Well, it'll hurt right now.

You'll have a lot of pressure on now.

But within a year, they get tired of the story and they get on with the next story.

These days.

Yes, I do.

Remember they had talked about that one, what was it, some damn prison act or something?

I heard it well, but I remember everybody was talking about that goddamn thing and I said, oh, bullshit.

Let me just tell you, as far as that's concerned, whether you did the right thing

Well, you did right.

And in the end, and in the end, and in the end, you will be indicated.

And in the end, by 1934, now some people stand and wonder what the hell it's about.

Except that the Lawyers Guild of the ADA is still not in place.

Oh, screw it.

Tell me about your project.

I understand you're underway.

We're underway and very grateful to you.

I've got an armistice on the side of it.

That's all right.

She does quite great, too, isn't she?

Also, she's pretty.

That's right.

I knew her husband when he was there.

I knew his little boy.

Down at the King Ranch.

Hell of a nice guy.

Oh, you knew him?

Oh, yeah.

Tobin Armstrong.

You met him?

Sure.

Big talk.

Yeah.

He's a man's man, isn't that right?

I got that from the big Texas saw.

Yeah.

Just a perfect guy.

He's great, and she's in and out.

We've been keeping in touch with Ken.

russ is uh executive he's doing executive committee and jim's been sitting on this thing while the rest of us are trying to get to us a little legislation and a few other things but uh we wanted to get out i met with mike mansfield and um they were both enthusiastic going up to see you to see the two minority of the case so we get

And what we hope would be the ideal, I think, and we're talking to Ken and to your hands on it, would be to have them sort of execute, you know, not voting numbers, but to make them feel important and ask for a deal that we want.

We'll report to you and to them.

Right.

Let me suggest two areas that I was, uh, in a kind of curve.

There are two areas that I've done many years and I think that we ought to keep.

One, one check to move to get this one out of here.

One of the area personnel we've brought on, you know, is, is, is, is,

You've got to keep everything in the cranny.

You made that point up there.

And Dave, remember, you said, I don't want to be responsible for this.

Because I'm on one of these committees, and I'm an attacking committee.

Now that you've said it.

Which they do.

Yeah, well, that's right.

So I told you then.

That's right.

I said to the press out here, we had a good meeting.

Sorry, about 20 minutes out of paper.

It's like a little shoot.

Oh, thanks, sir.

Have a good meeting.

I think it was no, and then they remembered the commission back.

Oh, the first commission.

No, no, no, one before that.

I had an idea.

Oh, yeah, the Rockefeller Brothers fund.

Oh, the fund.

I was back in the 50s, Mr. President.

I was back in the 70s.

Yeah.

That's right.

And there were also people, Mr. President, who sort of stood out as being citizens, which is something that doesn't

I was going to say, finding names of great promenaders is almost impossible.

There's great names like Atchison, Dewey, Debra, Russell Stegg, Cloyce Lowe.

What in the name of God do you find?

I mean, quite a few get dated, Rockefeller, I mean, a few like that.

But then, no, really, it is hard to get names.

Who are the big men of this country?

Who in the name of God are they?

And that's why...

We've been having trouble, and we're trying to find, by having meetings with groups, who are the people who have ideas.

So it won't be as common as before.

That's what we need.

The brains are out there, but once the person gets up, once the lady gets going up, the press is not really so eager.

Most of the public, I think, in the conservative area, I think,

That's a little bit too far, but maybe you had to hit the guard.

That would have sounded very good.

to be the editor and the manager of the first panel on The Nature Man.

He's very enthusiastic about it.

And he made an interesting point, which really adds very much to the same vein.

He said, don't get too broad a spectrum or you'll get such a compromised result.

He said, stay in the middle.

You should stay in the middle.

He said, then you can get a consensus that will be meaningful in terms of thinking.

And I thought that wasn't too bad.

all of his many books.

No, you can get different people to write their concept.

Yeah.

See, and then he will edit those.

Then you come down and find out what are the common threads and themes that go through this so that you can maybe come down with some stuff.

I'd love to even see your new friend, Mr. Monsi, come write a piece on it.

Okay.

The nature of man.

I mean, he told us about John Monsi.

I think we can get some excitement in an action.

Now, who's the fellow who wrote the book on neither Jesus nor Rav Morris?

I can't remember.

Well, I don't know.

Henry Malraux?

Oh, Ravel.

You could get Malraux.

He's too old.

He's also had a stroke.

That's right.

That's a good suggestion.

And it really isn't a question of age.

We've sat down and we've sat these over people so that I think that you get the great minds on some of these subjects.

But I think the one that's going to be the most meaningful to the people of this country, I have to get to the philosophical ones, nature, man, goals for improving the quality of life of mankind, which sort of makes our universe, then what are a projection of the trends in the major countries and areas of the world, economic, military, political, social, protecting those to 76 and 89.

And some of these trends, when you take this energy, this oil and gas and the foreign exchange, it's going to absolutely rock the people of this country.

I don't think they really get real on this.

Yeah, your good friend Bob Anderson.

of rich and loyal.

That has happened.

In the Mexico Bar.

He has got a little bit of income out of Russ.

So we met.

He's trying to do the same thing we are, only he's trying to raise money from foundations.

And we were talking about energy.

And he says, I think we've got to come to a point where this country can't afford to raise more than 2,000 pounds.

Because, he said, we can't afford the gasoline.

This is an oil man talking.

And he said, if you went to that, this is just a lie.

He's not recommending it.

He's just thinking.

If you went to that, he said, you would lose a million jobs in America because the whole America is geared to the automobile industry.

He told us how he and Eric Johnson had come to see you about planning for the future.

And he... Eric from Texas.

And he said that...

I heard the CEO, he said, please tell the president that he backs what Governor Rochford is doing here.

He thinks that that's a good solution to the problem that he had discussed with you earlier.

It's just a curveball to have words here.

Would Bob be a good name?

No, because he's a business-based person.

He's a business-based person.

Virtual, absolutely.

I put him on.

And I follow two men who made a great impression for the government.

One was this fellow, Bridges, is that his name?

The General Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy.

He made the report on the trends in energy.

And if you haven't seen him, he's present sometimes.

If you haven't had time, he's got these little models and shows that are fascinating themselves that depict where America's going in this energy picture.

And the fact that we waste more than half the energy

that we consume, it's lost onto the atmosphere.

Whether it's gas being heated or whatever it is.

And the problem we're coming to, which is the $25 billion foreign exchange gap by 1980-85.

No, no, don't talk about that.

We know you want to be here.

Yeah, this is...

I want to test that.

All of you guys got to stay home and do your business.

Don't you think that they have to be present?

We'll win 76-20.

Right, Ross?

Yes.

We're going to win 74-2 after we go through the accident.

You know, one thing about life, you've got to figure two things out.

I haven't had quite as few works as I have.

I've had some.

I was going to say, yeah.

You know, I have two boys, Mr. President.

Can't be married.

Excuse me.

Life is tough.

John, let me say that every experience you go through just has to make you a little stronger.

You know, it's rough.

That's right.

This bad thing is hard for me for reasons that are very...

But you still want your best friends.

That's true.

I love John.

Why would John get caught in something like this?

They're crooks.

They're cheap crooks.

God, why did we catch them on the way out to John Irving and do it?

I read about it in the paper.

That's an attractive jar.

You can keep the baskets over here.

Yes, sir, sir.

I'm charging them that, John.

They've got everybody in John Irving's oven.

Of course, he hasn't been there in my house for five, four, since I've been here.

Well, you know what I mean?

That kind of crowd.

You know, they even tried to get George Sanders.

I mean, it gave him a retainer of $150,000.

I just learned this a couple of days ago.

And it blows my mind that a friend got a hold of George.

And I'm like, goodness, lucky Chris.

turn the money, so you can turn it into a trade.

Because we've got Georgia, just a little bit of buy area, turn in time.

But then for $20,000 that you'll, in March, we'd need the money in 72.

Well, that, you know, Mr. President, that's what the public say.

That's what the public doesn't understand.

They say that he didn't need the sum.

That's really the interest.

The interest, frankly, you know what I mean.

And the world, I never saw a tribute from after the election.

That's ultimately the rule I have.

And particularly the membership of the Chiefs.

Right.

And I saw my hand in some of them.

Well, this is usually the last time I see them.

Yeah.

Well, also, they play big games.

The trouble is, they've got to be investing in the power in heaven.

Dr. Oliver, let me say to you, aren't you supposed to be confident in one thing?

Why, this office is clean.

I'm simply saying we are dragged in by the fact that this fall did this, and this fall was aware of that, and this fall was aware of that.

For crying sakes, if I get involved in this kind of crap, I'm going to do it on a big scale.

I'm going to do a bunch of stuff like this.

Otherwise, I'll do it if I can screw with our Vietnamese or Chinese, Russians, but not here.

Well, it's just like every time anyone goes to a political rally,

You don't know whether some mobster is in the business.

You never know in political life.

When right here say you're going to be associated with something, we'll get back.

So I just think that I've had a lot.

I have quite a few foreign friends.

And they are very interesting, Mr. President.

They say, why is the United States so excited about this?

They say this kind of thing is going on all over the world.

And they cannot understand.

really why this has become such a big issue.

I mean, put all these people away.

In the middle of this, I'm very... Let me tell you this.

I'm going to go all the way.

I mean, it isn't a question of helping you.

But you're going to help the nation to get the nation thinking.

We have to make it positive.

The problem is, one of the part of this, one of the key things in this search is that the press

Because it's their way.

That's right.

Nelson, why do they always have to emphasize the negative?

Because there's so many little things that we want to do, good things that we want to do.

Good God, do you think of the year 1972, the trip to China, the trip to Russia, the end of the war in Vietnam?

That's right.

My God, those are the great events.

Right.

Absolutely.

Good God, why don't you help me, Mr. President?

This is, and a year ago, this is all.

As far as Watergate is concerned,

and that's a bunch of crappy things where good people got in, and what's your evaluation?

And you're setting up there to eat these days before you go.

Well, I think people are confused on the outside as to about it all, but I don't think they are as concerned about that as they are about the prices of food, the state of the economy, and inflation.

That's the thing.

That's why we don't have an answer.

You've got a good answer.

You want to get with the reverse today and start to stop inflation.

I saw you with Dwayne Andrews today.

Yeah, he's putting soy beans into the hot dogs.

I mean, the hamburgers.

Yeah.

He thinks that's good.

Well, it's better to be arguing with me about the price of hot dogs and everything.

And they're all as I was trying to tell them all the time.

That's true.

Well, that's it.

And at the moment, the next time they go, it'll be Watergate because they've been talking about it so much.

Although there, it's hard currently to get people terribly concerned about it.

It doesn't affect, it isn't seen from them.

A lot of people seem to think, at least in the polls I've read, that people have been talking to that it is one of those things that happens in politics.

And quite an addiction, but I'm starting to get it.

Yes, Lisa Spoon.

If it travels back too many feet, the president is not going to be happy.

You're a politician.

That's right.

I think this thing is... We all do this.

But it's going to go by.

It's going to be rough.

That's right.

You just want to know it will be rough.

You're going to hear about it.

The president must have known.

Hoppity had known.

Coleman knew.

Hoppity had known.

Johnny Berling knew.

I don't know.

Well, John, John's got such a bad right here.

He's in charge of what was a terrible thing.

You remember the time when all these papers were leaking out there at our National Security Council?

But we had a major effort for the purpose of stopping the leaks.

We had to do it.

And we did everything.

I got the FBI, you know, we got our own operation.

But I wouldn't be irresponsible enough to.

I don't know how they put it back, saying it's a terrible thing.

What I thought was very nice today, Mr. President, just a little personal thing for you, and that is that both Mike Mansfield and Speaker Carl Albert spoke very well.

Discuss these problems.

I'm surprised you kept off.

Well, that's good.

That's good.

I'm surprised.

Thank you, sir.

Goodbye.

Yeah.

Okay.

You bet.

But I would be irresponsible not to.

I don't know how they feel about it.

You know what's the funnest thing about life?

You've got to figure two words.

Let me say that every experience you go through just has to make you a little stronger.

You know, it's rough.

This bad thing is hard for me for reasons that are very different.

But you're one of your best friends.

And they talk to you.

I love John.

I hear John on the street.

Why would John get caught in something like this?

They're crooks.

They're cheap crooks.

God, why did we catch them on the way out to John Irving to do it?

I read about it in the paper.

That's an attractive jar.

You can keep the baskets over here.

Yes, sir, sir.

I'm charging them that, John.

They've got everybody in John Irving's oven.

Of course, he hasn't been there in violence for five, four, since I've been here.

Well, you know what I mean?

That kind of crap.

You know, they even tried to get George Sanders.

I mean, it gave him everything but $150,000.

I just learned this a couple of days ago.

And a big deal that blows my mind is that a friend got a hold of George.

And I'm like, oh my goodness, lucky Chris.

turn the money, so he could turn it into a trade.

Because we got Georgia just a little bit by Harry's attorney in time.

But then for choice, John Mitchell and Morrison, we'd need the money in 72.

Well, did that be the point?

No, Mr. President, that's what the public's saying.

That's what the public doesn't understand.

They say that he didn't need this stuff.

That's really the interesting part of me.

You know what I mean?

That's the point.

I never saw a tribute book after the election.

That's always been the rule of life.

And particularly the membership of Chiefs.

Right.

And I saw my head in some of them.

Well, unless Coochie laughs.

Well, also, they play a big game.

The trouble is, they've got to be investing in the power.

Let me say to you, aren't you supposed to be confident of one thing?

My God, this office is clean.

Well, it's just like every time anyone goes to a political rally,

You don't know whether some mobster is in the business.

You never know in political life.

When, by hearsay, you're going to be associated with something, we'll get back.

So I just think that I've had a lot, I have quite a few foreign friends, and they are very interesting, Mr. President.

They say, why is the United States so excited about this?

They say, this kind of thing is going on all over the world, and they cannot understand it.

really why this has become such a big issue.

In the middle of this, I'm very... Let me tell you this.

I'm going to go all the way.

I'm going to help you.

I mean, it isn't a question of helping you.

No, but you're going to help the nation to get the nation thinking.

We've got to make it positive.

The problem is, part of this, one of the key things in this search is that the press...

because it's their way.

But Nelson, why do they always have to emphasize the negative?

Because there's so many little things that we want to do, good things that we want to do.

Good God, when you think of the year 1972, the trip to China, the trip to Russia, the end of the war in Vietnam.

My God, those are the great events.

Right.

Absolutely.

Good God.

Mr. President, this is, in a year, this is awesome.

As far as Watergate, there's a bunch of crappy things where good people got in and

What's your, what's your evaluation?

And you're saying that they're taking the heat these days with the world economy.

Well, I think people are confused on the outside as to about it all, but I don't think they are as concerned about that as they are about the prices of food, the state of the economy, and inflation.

Actually, they weren't confident.

That's why we don't have an answer.

You don't have an answer.

You want to get the truth first today as to how to stop inflation.

I saw your friend, Blaine Andrews, the other day.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, he's putting soybeans into the hot dogs.

I mean, the hamburgers.

Yeah.

I think that's coming up.

Sure.

We saw some shots of the bolster study, which showed a year ago about Vietnam as the main strength of America.

Sure, it could handle the emissions, obviously.

Sure.

And you've got to get great satisfaction out of that.

Well, it's better to be arguing with me about the price of hot dogs.

There's nothing better to do.

They're all the same kind of problem all the time.

That's true.

Well, that's it.

At the moment, the next time they hold the Watergate, because they've been talking about it so much, although there, it's hard to permanently get people terribly concerned about it.

In fact, it doesn't seem, from then, a lot of people seem to think, at least in the polls I've read, that people have been talking to, that it is one of those things that happens in politics, and quite an addiction, but I'm sorry to get...

Yes, Lisa Spoon.

If it travels back too many feet, the president is not going to be a politician.

That's right.

I think this thing is.

We all do this.

But it's going to go by.

It's going to be rough.

That's right.

I just want you to know it will be rough.

You're going to hear the God damn mischarges.

The president must have known.

Hoppity had known.

Coleman knew.

That's right.

Hoppity had known.

Johnny Burling knew.

That's right.

Well, John, John's got such a bad right here.

He's in charge of what was a terrible thing here.

Remember the time all these papers were leaking out here at our National Security Council?

But we had a major effort for the purpose of stopping the leaks.

We had to do it.

And we did everything.

I got the FBI, you know, we got our own operation.

But I wouldn't be irresponsible enough to.

That's wrong.

Now they go back and say it's a terrible thing.

Thank you, sir.

Goodbye, sir.

Yeah.

You bet.

Goodbye.