Our Nixon Page #3

---

He emerged as a shrewd political

manager, with a

chance to be remembered as a

consummate politician, in the

mold of Woodrow Wilson or

Franklin Roosevelt.

Nixon-- the supremely

disciplined and

introspective loner.

His mind--

methodical, cautious.

Given to worry?

Yes.

But never, never let

the worry show.

Control--

the byword for every

public appearance.

Calculated non-flamboyance.

Make up to cover the beard,

special hair tonic to cover

grey at the temples, and a ready

smile to cover worry.

One year does not make or

break any president.

A first year does

set directions.

What the past year has proven

is that the principal

directions of the Nixon

presidency are--

cutting back commitments

abroad, reforming the

machinery of government at home,

and laying political

foundations that will have

Republicans replacing

Democrats as the majority party

in the decade ahead.

HR HALDEMAN [OFFSCREEN]:

President Nixon's primary

focus, his own personal

attention, was almost totally

dedicated to ending the

war in Vietnam.

Nixon tried to move into his

committed areas of welfare

reform, some areas of economic

reform, and all that.

But the one factor which really

totally overrode all of

those factors was Vietnam.

DWIGHT CHAPIN [OFFSCREEN]: I

had been the office, in the

president's office, several

different occasions where he

had a handkerchief out, and was

wiping tears out of his

eyes, and he'd been there

writing notes to parents of

kids who'd been killed.

So I came from it, that the

president was doing the very

best he could, and that he

was trying to end it.

And that he-- so I, I didn't

have much compassion for the

people in the streets.

I respect their right to

demonstrate, because that's,

that's, you know, that's what

the country's about.

But, I mean, I was of the

opinion that the demonstrators

prolonged the war.

They didn't help us get out.

They made it worse.

And that's just how I view it.

[music playing]

MALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]:

What do you want?

CROWD [OFFSCREEN]: Peace.

MALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]:

When do you want it?

CROWD [OFFSCREEN]: Now.

MALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]:

What do you want?

CROWD [OFFSCREEN]: Peace.

MALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]:

When do you want it?

CROWD [OFFSCREEN]: Now.

MALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]:

Good evening.

Marching behind flags, and

banners, and picket signs

demanding peace now, at least

200,000 anti-war protesters

jammed the streets of Washington

today, in what was

probably the biggest peace

demonstration to be held since

they began six years ago.

Despite the huge crowd, no Nixon

administration official

spoke at the rally or appeared

on the capitol hill platform.

[MUSIC - JOHN DENVER, "THE

STRANGEST DREAM"]

MALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]:

What do you want?

CROWD [OFFSCREEN]: Peace.

MALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]:

When do you want it?

CROWD [OFFSCREEN]: Now.

MALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]:

What do you want?

CROWD [OFFSCREEN]: Peace.

MALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]:

When do you want it?

CROWD [OFFSCREEN]: Now.

-What is important is not just

that we are here today,

because we have been here

before, you and I. We've been

here before and we've

been other places.

And what we have to decide is

that we're going to keep

coming back until

this war ends.

MALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]:

Yeah.

-Good evening, my fellow

Americans.

A few weeks ago I saw

demonstrators carrying signs

reading, "Lose in Vietnam.

Bring the boys home." Well, one

of the strengths of our

free society is that any

American has a right to reach

that conclusion, and to advocate

that point of view.

But as President of the United

States, I would be untrue to

my oath of office if I allowed

the policy of this nation to

be dictated by the minority who

hold that point of view,

and who try to impose upon

the nation by mounting

demonstrations in the street.

And so tonight, to you, the

great, silent majority of my

fellow Americans, I ask

for your support.

I pledged in my campaign for the

presidency to end the war

in a way that we could

win the peace.

I pledge to you tonight that I

shall meet this responsibility

with all of the strength and

wisdom I can command--

in accordance with your hopes,

mindful of your concerns,

sustained by your prayers.

Thank you, and good night.

[interposing voices]

[music playing]

RICHARD NIXON [OFFSCREEN]:

World War I?

Right?

-Right.

RICHARD NIXON [OFFSCREEN]:

Well, we're grateful

[inaudible].

Thank you for coming out.

Very grateful.

BILL GILL [OFFSCREEN]: It was

Irish night at the White

House, a salute to the visiting

prime minister of the

Emerald Isles with dances

from Castle Shannon.

Yet the crowd could hardly wait

for the truly big event

of the evening.

The president and Mrs. Nixon

ended the suspense in a

lighthearted mood.

-I understand that I'm supposed

to make a surprise

announcement.

[laughter]

-The difficulty is that every

time I'm supposed to make a

surprise announcement, I find

that some way it's leaked

before I get to make it.

Even though the information may

have leaked out, until I

say it, it's not official.

[laughter]

-And so tonight Mrs. Nixon and I

are very honored to announce

the engagement of our daughter

Tricia to Mr.

Edward Cox of New York.

[applause]

[music playing]

-And now to commemorate this

event, we have as our special

guests tonight the Ray

Conniff Singers.

It's very difficult

to describe them.

Most of you have heard them.

And if the music is square, it's

because I like it square.

[laughter and applause]

-President Nixon, stop bombing

human beings, animals, and

vegetation.

You go to church on Sundays,

and pray to Jesus Christ.

If Jesus Christ were here

tonight, you would dare drop

another bomb.

Bless the Berrigans, and

bless Daniel Ellsberg.

Two, three, four.

[MUSIC - RAY CONNIFF SINGERS,

"MA, HE'S MAKING EYES AT ME"]

-"The New York Times" began

publishing a partial text of

assiduously prepared study in

the Pentagon relating to the

origins of American involvement

in Vietnam.

Five days later, "The Washington

Post" began

publishing excerpts from the

same Pentagon report.

On June 22, "The Boston Globe"

joined the "Times" and the

"Post," and published

additional

material from the study.

The documents printed in the

papers were classified, which

means, according to the

government, they were not to

be made public.

[music - ray conniff singers]

-A single name has been

mentioned most prominently as

the possible source of the

"Times" documents.

Daniel Ellsberg, a former State

Department and Pentagon

planner-- and of late something

of a phantom

figure--

-I think we cannot at all let

the officials of the executive

branch determine for us what it

is that the public needs to

know about how well,

and how, they are

discharging their functions.

[music - ray conniff singers]

[music - ray conniff singers]

[applause]

-The Pentagon report is only

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes