Our Nixon Page #4

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the beginning in itself, an

incomplete history.

There will be much more.

The temptation will be great

for a witch hunt, the

unmasking of villains, and the

manufacturer of scapegoats.

-The president was furious.

Kissinger was furious.

It was very intense.

It--

it was a little like walking

on eggshells.

I mean, it was just a

tense, tense time.

-The irony of the Pentagon

Papers is that they were not

critical of Nixon.

They were very critical of the

Johnson administration.

But Nixon was committed to the

proposition that classified

documents, secret documents,

ought not to be stolen and

given away.

Some of these documents actually

did get into the

hands of foreign governments,

as well as part of them

getting in the papers.

And the president and Kissinger

were very upset that

this man would be doing

these kinds of things.

-You were so mad at Ellsberg.

This dirty guy.

I don't have to tell you or

anyone else that the-- that

the, the anger and resentment

toward, toward Ellsberg was

near hysterical levels

in the White House.

-This didn't develop into any

pathological hatred of, of

Daniel Ellsberg.

It developed into a rather

coldblooded, and in my, uh,

view, uh, uh, misguided, uh,

attempt to discredit Ellsberg

in the public eye.

Because at the time Daniel

Ellsberg was being made a

public hero, and there was an

effort to try to show that

this man was not necessarily

the, the great savior of the

nation that, that many were

portraying him as.

JOHN EHRLICHMAN [OFFSCREEN]: I

think I changed during the

time I was at the White House.

I'm not sure whether it

was for the better.

But it probably was not at the

time that I was there.

When you first go in there, at

least when I first went in

there, I asked a lot

of hard questions.

Why, why are we doing

it this way?

What's the, what's the

justification for this program?

Why are we spending

this money?

Uh, why does this fellow

work here?

You know, those kinds

of things.

After a couple years, I, I felt

like I was defending the

status quo rather than

challenging it, and trying to

get it changed, and repaired,

and made better.

And that

was not satisfying me at all.

I had a very clear sense that

I was becoming part of the

problem after a while, rather

than the solution.

And I remember one day thinking,

I had just moved

that pile of firewood from

over there to over here.

And today I was going to have to

move it from over here back

to over there.

And thinking to myself how

strange it was to be coming to

this historic place, and dealing

with these great

issues, seeing the President

of the United States two or

three times a day, and feeling

like I was just in the

business of moving

cordwood around.

And I thought to myself, well,

if it's come to that point,

[LAUGHING] it's time

I was out of here.

Uh, I let Nixon and Haldeman

talk me into staying.

-Good evening.

I have requested this television

time tonight to

announce a major development

in our efforts to build a

lasting peace in the world.

I sent Dr. Kissinger, my

assistant for national

security affairs, to Peking

during his recent world tour

for the purpose of having talks

with Premier Zhou Enlai.

The announcement I shall now

read is being issued

simultaneously in Peking and

in the United States.

Premier Zhou Enlai, on behalf

of the government of the

People's Republic of China, has

extended an invitation to

President Nixon to visit

China at an appropriate

date before May 1972.

President Nixon has accepted the

invitation with pleasure.

MALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]: For

two decades every American

president has been presented to

the Chinese people as the

archenemy, as the

personification of hated

capitalism and imperialism.

Most Asians recognize this

development as a momentous

step that can change the

whole complexion of

this part of the world.

DWIGHT CHAPIN [OFFSCREEN]: I

found out I was going to China

from Bob Haldeman.

I was the acting

chief-of-protocol for that trip.

And, uh, it was one of the great

mountaintop experiences.

I-- the, the thing--

the thing about the flight to

China was-- one of the things

was-- that it was just

kind of surreal.

The plane was taking off to go

to China, and we've got a

television set there watching

us take off.

I mean, everything about that

trip was televised.

I mean, it was a production

from start to finish.

MALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]: The

president will journey to

Peking in the dead of winter, a

season especially severe in

the Chinese capital.

Following the joint

announcement, issued at 4:00

AM, Peking time, the White

House news secretary

reemphasized Mr. Nixon's stated

purpose for becoming

the first American president

to visit mainland China.

-As President Nixon has pointed

out on a number of

occasions, he shall try in the

meetings with the leaders of

the People's Republic of China

to seek a new direction in the

relationship between our two

countries, and to end the

isolation of our two great

peoples from each other.

MALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]: Four

hours after his arrival, Mr.

Nixon is taken to meet Chairman

Mao Tse-tung.

The fact that Chairman Mao

arranged an immediate meeting

with the American chief of

state in his home is

considered significant by

diplomatic observers.

MALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]:

Included is an evening at the

Peking Opera to see a ballet,

"The Red Detachment of Women,"

that depicts the overthrow of

a cruel landlord by female

communist partisans.

MALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]: The

skies have been somber in

Peking all day, and in

the afternoon a light

snow began to fall.

In the city streets, men and

women with brooms began

sweeping it up almost

flake by flake.

And it seemed to have no dimming

effect at all on the

exuberance of President Nixon

and Premier Zhou Enlai in

their third long conversation.

FEMALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]:

Sir?

FEMALE SPEAKER [OFFSCREEN]:

Thank you.

DWIGHT CHAPIN [OFFSCREEN]:

We all have little kit--

kids the same age.

I mean, people have ice

skating parties.

There would be--

we have just all kinds

of things.

And we're in our 30s, and

we're, you know, living.

There were pranks.

There were these incredible

friendships.

And it was our, our senses of

humor and our personalities

that it made it all,

you know, nice.

-The illegal bugging apparently

was one, uh, aim of

a team which broke into the

Democratic National

Headquarters in Washington

during the weekend.

And the political backgrounds of

the men charged in the case

have kicked up a storm.

Barry Serafin has the story.

BARRY SERAFIN [OFFSCREEN]: The

Watergate Apartment Hotel

office complex in Washington has

a fortress like appearance

that is noted for

its security.

But the burglars penetrated that

security to break into

the sixth floor offices of the

Democratic National Committee.

Material from files there was

found in their possession.

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