“Compassionate, Bold, New, Courageous…. Zest for the job (not lonely but awesome). Goals–reorganized govt. Idea magnet…Mrs. RN–glamour, dignity…
Open Channels for Dissent…Progress–Participation, Trustworthy, Open-minded.
Most powerful office. Each day a chance to do something memorable for someone. Need to be good to do good…The nation must be better in spirit at the end of the term. Need for joy, serenity, confidence, inspiration.”
“Foreign policy=strength. 1. War is difficult–But our successes are hidden–and ending war will be denied us. 2. Must emphasize–Courage, stands alone…. Knows more than anyone else. Towers above advisers. World leader.
Restoration of Dignity. Family man–not a play-boy–respects office too much–but fun.
Extraordinary intelligence–memory–Idealism–Love of country–Concern for old–poor–Refusal to exploit.
Yet must be warm and personal.”
“They must recognize that our interests are basically pro-freedom and not just pro-Israel because of the Jewish vote…. What all this adds up to is that Mrs. Meir, Rabin, et al., must trust RN completely…. He will see to it that Israel always has “an edge.”…. But he must carry with him the 60 percent of the American people who are in what is called the silent majority, and who must be depended upon in the event that we have to take a strong hand against Soviet expansion in the Mideast…. We are going to stand up in Vietnam and in NATO and in the Mideast, but it is a question of all or none. It is time our friends in Israel understood this. This is going to be the policy of this country. Unless they understand it and act as if they understood it right now, they are down the tubes.”
“The moment U.S. credibility collapses, the Jews can check out of Israel and go back to Germany.”
“I think sometimes we go too far in insisting on a very competent person when someone else who might not be quite as competent could do the job with adequate backing at lower levels. I recently told you that one out of five such appointments should be from the minority groups. It probably ought to be two out of five. Set that as a goal and then we might end up with one. Basically what I want are more Poles and Mexicans…. Certainly we don’t want to be in a position where we are not putting qualified Negroes into jobs, particularly since we are removing so many from positions in OEO [the Office of Economic Opportunity]. However the first priority should go to the groups I have mentioned above. The Blacks already have a disproportionate representation as far as minority groups are concerned and no matter what we do in this area we seem to get very little credit.”
“Went through his whole thesis re: blacks and their genetic inferiority and the hopelessness of any early change in the situation. Have to wait for in-breeding–in the meantime just take care of them and help the few good ones to rise up.”
“I would like one brief paragraph, 100 words or less, on the reason we intervened in Vietnam in the first place. I am not sure that I will cover this point but I want a paragraph or two submitted to me for my consideration….”
“Is it possible we were wrong from the start in Vietnam?”
“Above all don’t let them break through and see what kind of man new RN is–Maintain mystery–don’t be common…. Best qualities 1. guts to stand alone, 2. intelligence, 3. leadership–world experience…. Great need is to stand firm for American values. Don’t give way….“PoliticsNixon was his own campaign manager, and he loved to sit around and talk politics and precincts with his aides, who wrote down his monologues in undated notes.
“The Democrats are trying to move over to the center, keeping us on the defensive on the economic issue. Even a screwball like McGovern is racing towards the center. We have to force them to repudiate the left or else to take the left…Permissiveness is the key theme. All this permissiveness started with the goddamn Supreme Court…. Seventy-eight percent of the American people think the courts have gone too far towards permissiveness. Kick ’em on this….
On the kid thing–strong against bomb throwing…. Let others say that life is hard for the little bastards, that we should listen to them….On abortion–get the hell off it. Just say it’s a State matter and get the hell off it. And stay the hell off Israel. Not a goddamn vote in it….
Don’t appeal just to the people at $500-a-plate dinners…Fund-raising audiences are the flattest of all. They’re rich and fat and drunk and dumb. You want to get on TV with the real people, not those sodden-looking old bastards. Walter Judd, the congressman, used to say, ‘You have got to make love to the people.’ It’s always been a very difficult thing for me to do, but you must plunge into the crowds. You have to show you care, and you must care.”
“The opposition line will be:
McG’s mistakes lost it and not his views and not RN’s strength,
The low vote proves no one liked either candidate,
RN let down his party.”
