Nixon & Kissinger on Leonid Brezhnev and Watergate scandal

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Hello, Mr. Bennett.

Hi, Henry.

How are you?

Could I ask you to sign this for the Chinese ambassador to fast forward?

I'm going to call him to be in the morning, and it's super.

Instead, we can move the other meeting back to four.

He's very tired, but he needs a rest.

That way, we can run to four at six, and just drop over and support you right after.

All right.

That's fine.

I think it's a good idea.

And the only question is, do you want to take everyone who's at the meeting on this employee?

You take six on each side.

On our side, it will be you, Rob, Joe...

Why don't you just look at that?

Me?

See, why don't you?

Rogers, Kissinger, Schultz.

That's how he's at it.

I don't know, I don't know.

I think he might eat him.

We could take Blanigan.

No.

You want Blanigan at the meeting in the hallway?

Yes, yes, anything like that.

Good guy at the door, all of that.

Uh, I think the smaller group is better, so it isn't, uh, by the game, it's just mine.

All right.

They just drive shots.

They like to, like, pretty much be, uh, just the elitist.

Absolutely, they can easily do it.

that uh unless they want some very high-ranking person if you could have anybody you want here well you could pay as many as 10 but that's the maximum 80 10. but it's wonderful

He's playing great on television.

He's put on quite a show, you know.

The guy's got enormous energy, doesn't he?

Yeah.

Whether the show is live or not, you'll be asked.

All right, good, sir.

All right.

Saying that we will not engage in any sort of move with the social union.

But I thought it might be good to put it in the form of a letter from you.

That can be sent on any issue on which the sign has been provided.

There you go.

Well, I think the written piece feels pretty good.

Call me, call me.

They're all delighted.

They feel that... Gosh, he threw so much time on that damn line that he threw a lot of luck.

But that's all right.

That's the way he wants to do it.

He made everybody have a heck of a time.

He worked his tail off.

And your guests were really thrilled.

I hadn't seen anything like that.

Well, they also feel that something major has been accomplished in the press.

Well, that's all right.

I believe you're all saying it's a very important meeting.

That's what he's saying.

I wouldn't say again it's the most historic meeting.

It's just too dangerous with our allies, with the Chinese.

But in the White House, that's all right.

Yeah, but in any event, that is what had the press so excited.

What had the press excited was the general mood.

That's what worries me, because if it's plated to a nuclear non-aggression treaty between them and us, then we're going to pay a fearful price to the Allies and to the Chinese.

I've got myself back here, and he's going to brief it.

I've got the British and German positions to support it in NATO.

And I think we're in pretty good shape.

Well, you've done a lot of good work on that.

Well, it's a very clever agreement if it's understood properly.

We can use it as it is great.

On this meeting this afternoon, if there's much I should know, I've given you...

I've got shelves of papers.

I've given you one.

I've got a few general things which you might consider saying on MFN and on GAN projects and so forth.

The major thing that President needs to hear from you is the

If you just say that you will push, put your authority behind long-term projects, you don't have to be specific, that will help him with the Politburo.

He's got another long speech on this subject.

So, he's got about a 40-minute speech on this one.

You know, it's interesting that the two networks, you've got still that damn Ervin committee, ABC and CBS,

Well, you know, I know Cox, Mr. President, and you know... Cox will come after you, I know Cox.

Well, he's a dramatic liberal Democrat, and all of his associates are fanatics.

It's another one of the things that Richardson...

I mean, for this job, what should it take somebody like McCloy?

I mean, not McCloy, sir, but...

who has a national interest in us, and who knows that you do not smear the President of the United States apart from his participation.

You do not do this to the country.

Well, Cox says it.

We'll survive it.

Of course you'll survive it.

But you shouldn't have to go through it.

I think after the Dean testimony, first of all, I think the summit puts you into a much different

I mean, you just can't watch this tell you this.

I mean, I thought this morning, you have this wiker mumbling around, and there you are standing with a wiker.

That's right.

And that's what he said, because we ought to look at the presence involved in the attack.

No, the system is strong enough to have hearings, and the legislative is bound by anything, but totally irresponsible.

I thought, Mr. President, you might consider next Tuesday night or Wednesday a television report of the...

I know it's going to be the day when they throw a lot of dirt, but...

But if you are there doing your job... Well, actually, I've got to do a press conference sometime, but I don't want to do it until Dean is through.

Then I don't want to see it.

Well, I...

But I can't do it next week.

No, no, but you might consider a report of the nation.

next week on the summit.

It's perfectly natural.

You've done it after every other summit.

And you'd be the man who's doing his job.

And after Dean is off, I've thought maybe a press conference where you recognize the nastiest sons of bitches and let them look as if they're harassing you.

That's what I'd like.

And treat them with respect.

I was planning to go up next Tuesday, actually, if they want to have a theme.

Which is a perfect time, but...

Well, we just heard about this thing.

They haven't got a gun.

There's nothing wrong.

And they've got a dude trying to save his ass and running off.

And they all know that the president wasn't involved in this damn thing at all.

They all know that up there.

And it's just disgusting.

Absolutely good.

Well, the whole attitude we have, we have a unique opportunity.

We'll never get the combination again.

of an aged Chinese leader, a Russian leader who wants to go down in history as having brought peace, and a president who has put so much money in the bank internationally.

And these bastards are trying to wreck that.

And for what?

I mean, the basic facts on Watergate are now out, whether a few more refinements come out or not, are history.

What national interest is served by that?

Well, only if they're gonna try to change it.

They're gonna try to use Dean, who's a goddamn liar, to save his soul.

And everybody, when they get all of them out, they're gonna kill Dean.

Colton's gonna kill him.

Merlin's gonna kill him.

Moore will kill him.

Yeah.

Colton was pretty effective yesterday on CBS News in the morning.

Well, they'll be out in July.

That's the trouble.

We're hanging on and on and on.

But in July, the people may get tired of the damn thing.

It hangs out there, you know.

God, you know, the one of the most disgusting things ever is the pusillanimous attitude of our Republicans, Senators, and Congress.

Because, God, did they give an outrageous amount of every word, every beat.

They never, they never earned a damn, let's face it.

They never supported you when you needed them on anything else.

You've got, you know, labor and whining around.

They have to support you when they go, you know.

You have to come to the White House with them.

Yeah.

Disgusting.

They come through the line, whining, fishing, and everything.

Mr. President, I think it puts you, again, in the public mind as the man who is running the country.

And who has all these trade agreements?

That's why the press keeps pissing on us.

But they're not even pissing on us.

They're moving on us.

Well, they've got all these agreements that they can't piss on us.

They can say, well, let's move.

But they know other things are coming up.

They don't know how to control big countries now.

You've got to let the tax companies sign those shelves.

And we'll have the civil aid agreement now, too, done this way.

I would simply ask to bring them to the L.E.

line on the damn thing.

Don't get it more than ten.

I'll call them.

About the jet, we can ask, but I don't want any...

I would say... Well, let's just add in one more from each side.

One more, and if you don't do it, we can have eight.

It's fine.

John, if we're getting back early, we'll leave.

But our plan is to pick up...

He's no more than an hour and a half to the property, two hours and three quarters to go down the river, get in the helicopter, come back, drop him off, he's on the end of a nine, really much something, he's back to a nine, and he leaves.

He's dead, tired, tied, and he asked me last night about this, push the other baby back to the border, and he's dead.

Can we do that?

Sure.

Easy.

I guess we've got time to get back to the Foreign Relations Committee and get an action back on order.

Well, the Foreign Relations Committee's coming to plan on us, so it's just even better for them.

Yeah, but can I suggest that you'll still watch that?

Oh, yes.

I think we've got action to be working on where she puts a lot out on us, doesn't she?

What we're going through is a good time.

I don't know anything to do with Mr. President.

He's hot.

He's studying about subpoenaing and indicting the president.

Well, let it go to him.

He can't do it.

There's a lot to do, but we're going to kill him.

I would fight Mr. President.

I think.

I think you should wait until all of them are driven, and then testify, and then you should do something about them, and then they'll do it again, and say it's not proper, not right.

Yeah, and just... We have a quiet center, but I've got to wait until they get on it.

You can't do it until they've done it.

Until they've been on it.

Yeah.

You can say you've leaned over backwards, you haven't got them doing it, but they are not systematically what they're trying to do.

The dryers, some of them, they're not trying to do it with...

Yeah, I don't know.

I can't believe it.

Good God, it's a shame.

There's some bitch in the house or something that doesn't stand up and say that.

It's awful.

I don't know.

I didn't notice.

Well, just the little boys that are not experienced.

On that sort of thing, because, you know, they're social things.

He used to run all that, uh, Oscar show.

Well, the, uh, the dragons were floating on air this morning.

Great.

They were thrilled.

Great.

And you'll specify if they came up for this.

Left them to him.

Right.

Yes.

Now, I've got it.

Nixon & Kissinger on Leonid Brezhnev and Watergate scandal

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Nixon Library Finding Aid

Also recorded on June 19, 1973

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