Nixon & Haig on Economic policy and Price freeze

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Hi, officer.

I'm having some session in two hours.

All of them are getting freezed.

Well, they were going to take this because I'm presented in a way that you're going to appreciate too.

We've got this.

Paul Hall and Frank Fitzsimmons said, you've got to do something, roll back the press or something, and they were both speaking as politicians.

George H. said that he talked to a number of the Democrats that had voted for this other case and never had their second thoughts, which of course was...

So I took a little air out of the balloon in regard to what I told George and the boys this morning.

I met with George and got along with Simon afterwards.

And George and I, they didn't ask me to deal.

And I said, well, present the whole thing to me tomorrow when I see this whole package.

The point is, George, we've just got to do something that is dramatic.

I don't know.

I don't know why.

I never trust me.

You know, jump, do whatever you do.

Absolutely.

But in terms of doing something dramatic, you've got to have the freedom to agree.

You have no doubts?

No, I haven't.

And if you're going to do it, why not 60 rather than 30?

I believe you're doing it to 60, and I believe you're having a little threat there that if labor gets out of hand, it's going to get the same thing.

But you do it in a constructive, constructive way.

And then, constitute with a follow-on in a way that zeroes in prior

On the, and this is the one thing that I don't know whether they got, I know they're all talking about the industrial prices and huge bureaucracy.

Concentrate on the food price problem.

Doggone it, we've got to concentrate on that problem.

That's just the heart of it.

And the industrial prices will fool around here and there.

But it was a good meeting.

It was a good meeting to participate in.

I took it for two hours.

Well, I think that these men have

You just don't find it hard to be irresponsible after you've talked to them.

It really pays off to do that.

Oh, I...

It really is.

No, no, it is the pain.

Yeah, I've done many things.

I delight in doing things, you know, like presenting to the world.

That's what my time is for.

Well, it's been a long, brutal session.

Yeah.

Now, I don't want to talk with Bryce, he just left.

I don't want to talk with Richardson's man.

who I know well enough, Cook, or Johnny Martin Moore, he's got the message, if there's any more trouble, it'll surprise me.

What he's got is just a little embarrassing for us to pick up the paper and read some talk on it, or I don't know what.

And Richard said he's got some discipline in the press, and I'm not going to have that.

Well, I told him to do more action.

He understands.

Even on the ITT thing, he said that Elliot just made a hell of a mistake.

I was pressed on this thing.

Why don't we go ahead and re-touch that darkness over again?

It was already accurate.

They've been around the track of the dog on that.

Eat a beer and all that nonsense while you go around the track on that thing again.

Well, apparently Eastland's been arrested.

He's never told me anything.

So if he's supposed to, what he should do is to go talk to Eastland and sip a bourbon or scotch.

Well, anyway.

Well, I said, for God's sake, this is the last time I'm going to be surprised.

I said, we can't do this.

I said, hell, they don't like me as the president.

Elliot's taking an admission.

It's a vital report, Scott.

I said, how do we know?

Our press secretary didn't even have him.

The question, though, I said, it's just not going to happen anyway.

Now it's a way to end up in relationships, but, you know, they were all set to have no dealings with anybody in the White House.

There'd be no more dealings, except they'd come from you directly to Elliot Richardson.

And I said, ha, poor shit.

Never mind, I couldn't talk to him.

Well, let's take care of it.

You're going to talk to him, is that right?

Absolutely.

I think you're the one rather than me.

Let's keep this one out of our shop.

Yeah, because this involves the counsel's office and the domestic side.

We'll take care of it.

Well, that's good.

Now, on Bryce's case, he's been out of practice.

They gave him another chance.

And he said, it won't even be necessary for you to ask, but it would be great if you could tomorrow call him and thank him.

Sure.

Just to say thank you.

Tomorrow or the day?

Tomorrow.

All right.

I'll do it.

Now, the other thing is, he came in and he said, now I think this emergency that was involved in migrating to Cosgrove is different now than Nelson.

And I said, that's not so.

I know we know it isn't, but nevertheless, we can always use another great player.

That's the point.

It's like having Sonny Jurgensen.

The other moment, right?

I think he is.

In fact, I said from my perspective, I don't know who the president is.

I think it's even more important to get out and bounce on first.

They should be here.

Bounce on first.

Also, take the vice president.

We can just give that to him as one assignment program.

Get that one out of your ear.

I told him, George Bush.

I think you can see Bush as much as Bush can feel.

I'm trying to ensure that someone who does see the President is connected.

Basically, Rice will be the political man at the White House.

That's why I told him, we won't use that term.

But that's, we're going to put all the political appendages under Rice.

That's the, we're going to be operating with communicators, the minority group guy, the special interest group guy.

All he wants to do is

is to be asked one more time and to be sure that you feel what you want.

And I don't know if I should ask you today or tomorrow.

I think maybe we could do it either tomorrow or Thursday.

I don't know.

It doesn't have to be before you.

That will help.

All right.

I'll call Proctor to the Apple and thank him and then call Bryce and say that I talked to him and I'm just glad he's coming forward and letting me announce it.

Well, now, the announcement, I think the best time would be Saturday.

And he wouldn't have to be here, but we're going to have the announcement, and we can try it again Sunday.

Because there will be no other day this week that you'd want to do it, because tomorrow you're on Vietnam, Wednesday you're on the hotel Vietnam tomorrow, the hotel Vietnam.

And then Thursday we don't have the energy ready.

I talked to Payne.

I think he's coming.

I don't know.

I don't know that it's right.

Gosh, they'll all say it was opportunistic and the rest of the folks.

There's no way that you could go another round or two of bad statistics having done nothing.

And then there's no way that you could sell the present program that George has sold.

George and Herb could not sell it.

If we had Conley and Herb, he probably would have just talked it through with the present program.

And we don't have Conley.

So I think we go...

That's the other thing.

You've got to stand, you've got to platform around.

And I really believe in the light of Watergate and that exercise of presidential power is quite important.

You know?

Yes, sir.

And I can't, I don't mean it in terms of damaging Watergate or anything.

Oh!

Well, it is.

We got a call from President McCain of Kansas State.

and ask them to call me to tell you that Kansas is 100% behind you.

To offer an impression about the area, see the University, you know, about Miracle, Great Leap Forward, and anything else.

It's kind of wonderful to talk to you.

I'll send it in.

Talk about meeting with a group in Florida.

And they're great.

This is important for me.

I like to see them.

I don't really have such a part.

I've just got to go through this thing.

Boy, it was our children, my business wife, that got me sick and crazy.

I didn't want to let them suffer.

I just wanted to see what it was like with God.

But God, most of the time, I sort of hate to see somebody pulling through my, you know, I go to things, you know, who's going to suffer, who's not going to suffer.

Well, you know, you're right to bring it up.

Stop it.

The only reason for that, sir, is that that's one of the things being a legendary hand.

There's nothing damaging it.

Nothing.

It's only selected through.

I don't know.

You know, there's a couple of political things.

I get the line out on this, and he's right.

My cell phone, he said the right thing in the newspaper.

He said, there's nothing that you could be at least embarrassed by.

Nothing.

And I would let you see him.

I did it for...

I went through my... You understand, Al, whatever his pressures are and so forth, I don't want him going through my other bodies.

I know.

I just can't have it.

I cannot break that down because...

He knows that.

I told him that I wouldn't consider being able to do it, that there's no way that anybody can do it, and that it's just going to be held as a sacred trust, and that's it.

And I said, it never should be raised again.

So they're not thinking in terms of breaking a line on that.

If they are, it's

It's seemingly impossible to convince him.

Where are you going tonight?

No question.

How about another boat ride?

Would you like that?

Oh, I can... No, I... Do you have a...

I have a... Oh, good.

I have a... No, no.

I...

I... We've been... We've been... We're actually good.

I'll tell you what I've been doing.

I have an outside call for dinner.

I postponed it twice.

Great.

So...

He's letting off some good stuff, and I like to keep him at work.

Well, the whole dean of business is just insistence.

Because, frankly, we didn't know what he's got.

He's, of course, he's put out, he's putting on virtually everything he knew about files and so forth.

He's doing a terribly disruptive thing.

It's unbelievable how that man could walk the streets after this.

He could never be the client again.

Never.

Oh, he should.

He should.

But he's now, frankly...

He's got a jam, that's what he's doing.

Yep.

And he's still in the room, and he's still hanging out in the room.

I'm sure.

I don't fucking get it.

He gets it, he gets it.

He has it all true.

Or he gets it.

I don't know.

He'll get it.

Pretty late in the game.

So then they get it to him now.

I wouldn't be, uh, shocked by it if it did, Ellis.

We've expected that.

Sure.

And we've weathered that.

But it's harder than it'll be harder, because he'll... get up there and he'll be... three, four days of birds and geese, and then he'd say that...

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

I have no support, Mr. Chairman.

That would be the biggest fizzle that we've seen.

I think it would be a fizzle.

Well, fizzle or not, we don't care.

We just gotta keep fighting the good fight, that's all.

We're doing it.

That's what the country is.

You know, it's funny.

I haven't talked to anybody in the last week, minute, or two.

And on the first week here, my God, all I heard was calamity at this, calamity at the other.

It's kind of a big hit, but I'm considering it.

It'll rip up again.

It'll rip up a little bit.

Maybe the same way.

You don't think so, Bruce?

No.

You know what?

The shocking revelation has come.

It's the charge of the president.

President told me to pay off this commitment.

Told me to raise as many dollars as I could.

Nixon & Haig on Economic policy and Price freeze

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on June 11, 1973

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