I
CBS NBPS 2020 M Stree t, N. W. Hasbinglo·: , D. C. 2003G
as broadcast over the
CBS Tc levis i. on Network
and tlle
CBS Radio Ne b·i'Or k
Sunday, October 27 , 1968·- 6:30-7:00 P!'·J. EST
GUES T:. RIGIARD M. NIXON Republican Candidate fo.1~ President
NE\•;6 CORR"ES PONDENTS:
Martin Agronsky CBS Ne'i·iS
David Broder 'l'he v7ashington Post
,John Hart CBS News
DIREC'J.'OTI: Robert Vi ta:re lli
PRODUCE RS: Sylvia v7esterman an::'l Prentiss Childs
·.:
NOTF: TO EDri'ORS: PJ_ease c recl:it any rruote s or excerpts from this CBS R::Jd:io and T~·d evis ion pro9ram to "Face t he Nation."
P RESS CONTACT: Ethel Aaronson - ( 202) 29G-1234 , 1
.0 you .0 1 HR. AGROF:SKY: l"i:C. Nixon, President Johnson today accused ( '1 co N ,...... 0 2 of making ugly and unfair distortions of An:3r i can defense po.,. N 0 N 0 0 own pcace-rnak.ing efforts. Do you feel that, 3. 3 sitions and of his 0 c 0 .S!a. 4 despite your own moratorium against i t , tl1e peace negoti ations
5 };ave now been brought i nto the polj tical c ampaign?
6 MR. KIXON: I c ertainly do not , b ecause I made it very cle2r
7 that anything I said about the VLetnam negotiations , t hat I
8 would not discuss wh at the negotiators should agree to. I
9 believe that President Johnson should have absolute freedo:11 o f
10 action to negotiate what he finds i s t l!e proper ~~ ind o f settle-
11 ment. And, under the c ircumstances , no one on t he outs ide
12 should s a y that he should agree to this or tha t. 1~at would -J :::> a.<· 13 wean that the enemy would wait for the president i a 1 candida tc
14 to be elected rather than negotiate with the President vie 've
15 got.
16 ANl'JOUNCER: From CBS Ne\v York., in color , FACE THE NATION , a
17 sponta ne ous and unrehearsed news interview with Richard N.
18 Nixon, Republican Candida te for President. Mr. Ni.xon vii 11 b e
1 9 questioned by CBS Ne\·;s Correspondent Joh n Hart, David Brode r ,
, and CBS N 20 Nationa l Political Re porter for The Hasl; ington Post 0 8 N u 21 News Cor respondent !1ar tin Ag r ons ky. ci c 0 0c 22 ;-5 NR. AG RONSKY : Mr. Nixon, t he President obv ious ly fee ls that ui 23 ;i
~ ~ 24 when you raised t he possibili t y , though you said you did n ot ·,:;; ll ~ 25 be lie ve it yourself , that the psace negotiations \•:ere being 2
oO •'> 1 lin!-::ed to an effort to elect Hubert Humpbrey , that the "i co N ,....,..:> 2 President clear ly feels thut , in raising that , you yourse lf N 0
·0~ ne {J oU.a ti ons in to tll e ~", 3 ended your moratorium on bri n 5 MR. NIXON: I would respond to it by pointing out that the 6 President reads the nev-1spapers , as I do, and t here has been a 7 grea t deal of discussion ~- in f~ct , there was a UPI r eport 8 frCY.n 'V·7ashington indicating tl1at there Y.ias a lot of s peculation, 9 that there were insiders on the White House staff ,,,h o v-.re!:'e at- 10 t empting ·to \• 7 ork out some sort o f a settlerr.ent and tbat the 11 Pres ident was going to be used for t hat p urpose . It wou ld 12 seem t o me that I was be:ng quite rc~spons ible in naj_Jing tl:;at 13 and making it cleur that I did not share t he vie\•iS o f thos e 14 that thought the President would use tr·ese negoti.a t ion::; po- 15 litica lly. Incidentally, I d on 't. I thin~ President Joh nson 16 wants to bring t his war to an end. I thi nk he would like to 17 have a b omb ing pause, providing it isn ' t going to cos t Arne rican 18 lives , tha t it will s a ve l ife rather than cos t it. I don 't 19 go a l ong with thos e that think that he is going to play politics N t hat stateme nt and I would think the 0 20 with this. I made 0 0 N u 21 Pres ide nt would be thanking me rather than at tacking JT,e . 0 22 HR. BHODER: Mr. Nixon, you referred , in tha t origina l state- 23 ment , to unnarr.ed top officia l s , and now you say '-':;l ite House 2 4 insiders. Hho are you t alking al?oul? ~ 2 5 t11~ . NIXON: ·· o h , I a w t a l king about the peopl e within t he i·Tn ite 3 oD House s t a ff wlJO a r e sup p o:; ed to b e p r ivy to the various ne gotia-- "'N l "'!" co N ,.....oD 2 tions that a r e g o i ng on. I u.m no t goi ng into any de t a ils wi th N 0 N c 0 .$ 3 rega rd to tl1e me n tha t a J~ e inv olved . I am only r e ferring to 0 c 0 -" "- 4 the r eports tha t h a ve b ee n made . I am n o t g oing to ma ke any 5 c h arges a gainst any of Mr. J ol1ns on ' s perso na :)_ s ta ff. It is 6 appaxe ntly quite \\'e ll kn Oi·m tha t U .e y do supp ort Hube rt 7 Humphrey, perl 1a ps more enthus i a s tica lly tha n }-e doe s. 8 MR. HAR T : Mr . Nix on, you h ave r e pe ate dly, in your c an,p.:d .gn, 9 soid tha t you wo u ld n o t d o o r s a y anything to pull the rug out 10 from unde r Nr. Jo,ms on during the ne gotiations. And this wee k 11 you CJ.r·cused Hr . Humph r e y of h a ving the fu. s test and looses t. 12 tongue in Ame rican politics, saying that he is unable to mind · <(! 13 his tong ue while ne gotiations are going on. •1'\.;o cluys a f t e r you 0 ~< 3: 1 4 said that about Hr. Humphre y , you reve ale d thCJ.t part of tre 15 ne goti ations Mr. J· ohns on was now enga ging in conce rne d a 1 6 possible c e CJ. se-fire. \';'ell, if you \•iere Preside nt , would you 17 cons ider that reve latibn a kind of rug pulling? 18 MR. NIXO! 19 knO\·i, Hr. Hart , from rc<'lding t he p a pers and listening to CBS Ne ws , the c eas e-fire had been talked about for \·,-e eks before. "'0 20 8 N 0 21 Everybody kno;,,;s the reports out o f Par is , from .t-1:c . Barr iman and ci c' 0 j 2 2 the rest, t he two things -- t hey were talking about tie possi- i ~ ui 2 3 bility of a bombing halt and a possibility of a cease-fire. I z . ! . 2 4 \,l;as qnly re pea ti r1g ''iha t I hacl _he_ard on CBS and read in the Vl :..<: ~ 25 pa pers. 4 1 HR. AGR01-1SI ,...... 2 discussion on raisin<] this business of conne ctinCJ t}-e peace N 0 N "0 ,$ 3 ne gotia. t :L ons v-;i th the election o f Hr. Humphrey by as l\::Lng you ...c 0 ..c 0.. 4 this : VJhy , if you dic1n 1 t b e lieve it, did you raise it at all? 5 t.m. NIXON: Be cause it seen·,c c1 to me that , with all the specu- 6 lation that v;a.s going on, the sp2 cu1ation that there was about 7 to be a b6mbing pause and that it would be negotiated for po- 8 litical reasons , that it was i mportant for the roan most 9 inlimJtely involve d, I \·10uld be the man I suppo.s e who \·ias 10 suppose d . to be h armed by a bomb ing pause , a l thou~h I am not 11 sure that is the c ase . . It \•ias impor tant for me to nai l it once 12 and for all. After-all, if the President is going to be able 13 to negotiate a settleme nt here , the ene my must not get the 14 impression that he has to n e ~otiute for political reasons. That 15 reduces his ability to negotiate. And , incidentally, talJ~in 16 about this loosest tongue thing, that John Hart referred to a 17 mon,ent ago, \vith regard to Hr. H1.imphrey, he has said that be 18 is for a bombi.ng pause without cond:Lt ions at one time , with 19 conditions at another time. He was for tl1e Vietnam peace plank N it at another time . of 0 20 at one time , against If that kind 0 0 N vacillation that I think c reates in the minds of t he men in 0 21 c 2 ~ 2 2 Hanoi the'imptession"if they will only wait t~ey ma.y get a ;~ ui 2 3 better dea l from the next man, and that is why I h ave been z 2 4 consistent throughout. I h ave made it clear Uat , as far as I ~ 25 was co ncern~d; President Johnson was our President , he is the 5 <> ..0 at this time , and that I would support N 1 man that must negotiate ~ c:) N ,...._..0 2 b iw, pr ov idcd he n2 gotia ted a bo!11bing pa usc on the very has is N 0 N 0 0 :.S 3 that he said be would insist upon. 0 c 0 I -" 0.. 4 HR. W\R'r: Nr. Nixon -- l 5 pR. BRODER: Hr. Nixon-- excus e me. 6 L.l~. NIXO~: Either one. 7 ~1R. BHODER: In your radio speech for tonight you say thut you 8 vi l l support the President if he decic1es that a bombing }lalt 9 v,;ould speed peace and save American lives. And , yet , not very I 10 l ong ago you were criticizing Mr .. Humphrey for saying t hat he 11 wo1.1 J d a l so ris f<: a bombing halt under tJ ~ ese exac t same s t i puJJ<- 1 12 ti ons. -' ::::> <1: 0.. l l re1rember t hat Nr. c6 1 3 1'-R. NIXON: Yes , b ut , Hr. Brode!: , you wi 0 CX: · < 3: 1 4 Lu11phrey -.,.. it depended o n wh i ch news re l ease you r ead . 'l'he 15 first wi re re l ease t hat came o ut , t he f i rs t re l ease t hat came 16 off t he AP wire s aid that Mr . Ht~phrey was f6r a b omb i ng ha lt, 17 period . Three hours l a t er , t hrough a bacl<.gr o under t r.ey in- 18 d i cated t here wou l d be certai n c onditions . And~ thenJ thr ough- 19 out Nr. H um~1rey 's d i s c ussi ons s i nce t hen, ori one da y h e has "' 20 been f or a bombing ha lt, period , ·:J. nd on other occasions 1-:e 0 0 0 N u 21 said he i s f or a b o.~bi n g halt pr ovi ded it i s n ' t going to c os t 0 c' 0 c; 22 Amer i can l ives . ~ J: ~ w 23 !:JR . BRODER: V-:e ll, r eading -- z 24 MR. ~IXON : My point is t hat ~ t h i nk we ougr t to b e .£onsistent ... 25 o n this , and I t hink President Joh nson has been c ons i s t ent . I .. 6 1 have been consistent. Mr. IIumpl•rey o ugl~t to CJCt in line und be ,...... 2 with his President for a change. 0 "'('I c 0 $ 3 .HR. BRODER: \·.:ell, reudinCJ back lhrouCJl: some of your recent 0 c 0 ..r. Q. 4 statements on this subject, I noticed in an in tervi~w in 5 Pi ttsbursh, on September 8 , you suid -- and I r:uote you -- "I 6 have constantly said we must keep the military pressure on, 7 that i s \vhy I , for example , vJOuld oppose a borrbing pause , as vie 8 make clear to the enemy that ' "'e '~.-i ant to ncgotiute. '' Does that 9 represent a change of viewpoint on you~ part? 10 HR. NIXON: 011, not at all. The whole purpose of that state- 1 1 ment is to maJ:e clear , as I bad made cle 12 the v1hoJ.e speech , and I am sure you did -:..·· 'tvha t 'I was pointing 1 3 out is t hat \ •Je had to have a ne gotiated end to the war. r.i'he 14 bombing halt is tr.e major c ard ,,;e have to play i n o rder to bring 15 the enemy to negotiate o n SOine J:ind of te:rms . You don ' t give 16 it away by simply saying , 11 \A.'ell, · I v.:ill have a bomb:Ln'] h a lt," 17 then hoping t he enemy will negot:Late. That means you may not 18 get a negotiation. I t h in!< President Johnson has bee n 19 absolutely correct in saying that h e will not have a bombing g 20 halt unless we get something in return. That is the position 0 0 ('I <..! 21 I tried to take in Pittsburgh and that is my posi tion now . 0 c 0 g 22 ~·lR. HART: l·1ay I repla.y a , ..;ord , if I c an rerr;e niller correctly i ?;.: ui 2 3 what you said earlier, and that is that in regards to the z 2 4 cease- fire provision, there has been speculation o n CBS ~: e,vs . Vie .. . ) l is that correct 1 what you said this evening? ,.... 2 MR. NIXON: Yes , as far as my ~~n recollection is -- ('I 0 ('I 0 0 HAR'r: All right. v~ll , then, what you s~id l ater , i f you .$ 3 HR. 0c . 0 -"' =these a. 4 . "~•iill permit rr:e to go on, was th<: 5 \reports \•;ere true. N01·1 , this i s the first time any public 6 official, certainly, or any p2rson of your stature ; had con- 7 firmed that a cease-fire was connected with t~e current nego- 1 ; 8 tiations; and that goes back to the point of my original I 9 ruestion, which was would this not underline or ·would it, in I 10 your mind, undermine any kind of negotiations with Mr . Jor!ns on~ 11 ~y co~firming that this was pa1·t of it? I 12 111R. NIXOH: Let me rnake one thing very clear . ~'7e have to 1 3 eparate President Johnson from people within the 'V-7hite House 1 4 J taff and others who may represent a. different point of view , I 15 because it is comrnon knowledge that U-.ere are some - - nat 16 President Johnson has divided opinion o n this particular matter 17 within his administration. That has been reported also on .CBS 18 News , as I am sure you know. But in t his particular ins t ance .19 you will find that President Johnson has·~lways insisted that . H~·;e ver , the c ease- fire ('I 20 the bombing halt is a separate ma'i::ter 0 0 0 ('I u 21 is sol'f'ething that I would assume the administrati on wou ld also 0 22 want , if t hey could get it. 23 i':IR. HAR1' : v!ell, n ow , you c onfirmed· that, sir . You said that e · 2 4 you had confirmed that t h ose reports were true . cil ,, 2 5 !·1R. NIXON': He 11, I think the reports \·ie re true. In the .. 8 .0 1 "'N administration there h as been discussion of a cease-fire, and ,;, 5 MR. HART: Fine . Hell, then ·- - .6 MR. NIXON: There i s no ques tion about it. 7 MR. HART : - - my question is is that confirma tion, if you were 8 President, would you consider that to be some kind of rug 9 pulling , if you were in the middle of negotiations? 10 MR. NI~ON: Absolutely not because, after all, who has backed 11 the Px-esiclent in this particular instance? I f:a·.;e. I am not _, 12 the o ne that l1as even suggested we s h ould have a bomb ing halt ::> <0.. 13 \vithout conditions , that is Hubert Humphrey. I have been the n 0.: . < 3 111 one saying that the President is absolutely cm:rect in se:1ying 15 we shall have a bombing halt , provided it is going to result 1 6 in saving American lives rather than costing ll.merican lives. 17 That is a sound position. I back him up and I only wish t h at 18 Hubert Humphrey now would button up his l ip and stick with t}:e 1 9 Preside nt on this. g 20 MR. AGRONSKY: Mr. Nixon, to take another facet .of the 0 0 N ~ 21 President's remarks today, he objected to your contention tr·at 0 2 2 the United States was not rna i ntai ni ng clear s ur:e rj ori ty over 23 the Soviets in nuclea r weapons. As you kno\•i, his Secretary of 24 Defense , Mr. Clifford, has said tl ~ at v;'B a re maintaining parity ~ 25 with the So;_liet Union. Do you have infotmation that indicates 9 .0 .0 N 1 that the contention of the President and t} .e Secretary of 'i C() N .0 ,..._ 2 Defense is incorrect in this area? N () N s"0 .3 I MR~ NIXOI\i: Oh , I don 1 t knm·l \vh e t her they are incorrect, but I c" . I 0 -" 0. 4 \do have information bacr:ing up w.~at I said. And , incidentally, 5 ry information comes directly fr.om the Senate Preparedness 6 Conun ittee. You may recall-- and this was also widely reported 7 pn CBS and in the various newspapers represented here. The 8 enate Preparedness Commit tee , of which Senate Stennis is the 9 fhairman , and the m2mbers include men lU;:e _Senator Jacl\.son 10 1nd Senator Symongton, who are highly recognized as defei1Se I I 11 expc:c 1:s, they said just in the latter part of September that I i 12 it vias quite clear that the Soviet Union in certain areas -- and I am quoting them exactly --"l:ad now surpe1ssed tl1e United I 14 States in certain nuclear capabilities." They pointed out, as I . 15 I! did in my statement. . , that we viere still o vera ll ahead, but 16 they also pointed out that the Soviet Union vias making alarming 17 gains in this respe ct. NO\v , if t he Senate Preparedness 18 Committee , controlled by Democrats, with leading De mocrats all 19 unanimously signing it, says that, t hen I think we ought to N 0 20 pay attention to it. 0 0 N 0u 21 HR. AGRO~!SKY : Gentlemen, · we must interrupt here, I regret. v7e 22 will continue t"he intervie•t? in a moment. ..; 23 z 24 MR. AGRONSKY: Mr. Nixon, this is a long cruestion but I think ' 25 t he only way .I ca.n put it to ym,, is to maJ:e it long to make it .. 10 1 fair. 2 !-1R. NIXON: I am used to long ques tions. a g sir. The Ne\·7 Yorl-~ Times , in editorial ;$ 3 1!·1R. AGROt-:SKY : All right, 0 c 0 . \ .c 0. 4 ;y esterday , made two s erious ~llegations against your running ! 5 \mate , Governor Agnew . The Times said, and I. quote , "His 6 lssociatio~ with the C hesapca~ Nationa l Bank involves clear 7 and repeated conflicts of interest. It would seem higr.ly I 8 tmproper ," the 'rimes g02s on, · 11 f or the Governor to continue as 9 a director and s tock.holder. 11 It notes then, when Mr. Agne\v 10 las asked about his relationsU.p with t h i.s bank, two years ago, 11 ·wl1en 1-}e was in his gubernatoria l campaign, tr.at he had explaineC: I . . . 12 he j ~ nheri.ted the b~:mlc stock. from his father. The Tinv2 s then 13 1bserves it v1as subseqm.:! ntly l earned his father hac] died a 14 ~ea r before the b ank. openedr tha t ., in fact, Jvlr. fl.gnew had pur- l 15 chased the shares himse l f . And it cone]_ udes, "Nr. Agne·w has 16 demonstrated he is not fit to stand . one step a'i·lay from the 17 Presidency ." Hhat is your comme nt on these allegations? 18 MR. NIXON: I don't think my anS\·ler needs to be quite tr ~ a t long. 19 And, incidentally, Martin, I do appreciate the fact that you N 20 did state the whole c ase, as you ~id. Now, the New York Times 0 0 0 N u 21 is a great newspaper. David Broder used to \\'Ork for the Time s. ci 22 The l:'e~·i York. Times has on its mas the ad a s ta terre nt , ''All the kind of gutter ui 23 news that's fit to print." 'rhis is· the lo,,ve st z . 2 4 poli i;ics that a great newspape r . could possibly engage in. It 25 is not news that is fit to print, ·and I will tell you why . 11 1 These charges are stale. They \ie:ce made h.'o years ago, when ,..... 2 N Governor Agne\v was running for Governor. Tl:ey \·iere ansvJered 0 N "0 .$ 3 then. The charges are inaccurate in one m~jor respect , viith 0 c 0 -"' 0. · 4 \regard to the fact th~t 1 as the Times cl~im , that Governor 5 Agne\·.r O\med the property while he ,.;as Governor. That \vas not 6 the case. A retraction \vi 11 be demu nded of the Times legally 7 tom or ro:J. The retract ion wi 11 be, I am su're 1 printed by the 8 Times , back with the corset ads or tl1e class i fieds 1 tOi·iard the 9 nd of the \•ieek when nobody will pay ~ny attention. Now, let's 10 looJ;:: at the facts. Governor Agne\v ·was nomina ted for Vice I 11 President three months ago. The Times has the largest and best I . 12 paid staff o f any nev,;spaper in the country. One \vee k be fore I 13 yhe election they c ome up vii th this last minute charge 1 and I I . 1 4 thlnk that, under the circumstances , the Times o·.,.ieS an apology I 1 5 to its r eaders, an apology to the Amer ican people. If they had 16 this information, why didn't they bring it up sooner. It seems 17 to me that this is certainly something that is belCA-·J tf-e belt 18 poli ticldng. It c ertainly is not worthy o f a great nev1spape r 19 like the New York Times. Let me make one other thing clear. s 20 Governor Agnew h~s demonstrated ~n this campa ign t hat he c an 0 0 N L! 21 do \vl:a t Harry rrr u.rna n said a rna n had to do in politics. He 0 c 2 11 r? 22 said, If you can't take tbe heat , get out o f the kitchen. 11 :c He ~ w 2 3 has taken a lot of heat. Governor ~gnew , like a ll c andidates -- z 24 I have made sorr,e mistakes , he has made scroe mistakes . And when ~ 25 he makes them , or I ma!-~e them, I think "~d e try to get up and say, lL ..., .., l well, we admit them and we t ry to corre ct them. But he i s a "'<:- ..,cO ,...._"' 2 strong man. He is a mon that, I am very proud J stood up at t he N 0 N 0 0 ,$ 3 time his city, Baltimore, "'ias b eing burned, and said, "Lo ol~ , 0 c 0 ..c Q. 4 w-e are going to rebuilc'l o ur c iU.es , b u t we don 't have to burn 5 them dO\vn in order to r ebuild them." Tie was c r iticized by 6 some of the a ll-out civil rights people for that statement. I 7 agree with him on that stateiT ,8 strength and that kind of firmne ss. And t his kind o f lihe l b y 9 the Ne\·1 York Tirnes doesn 't help the American d e cis ion-making 10 process. 11 MR. BRODER: ,Jus t a clarification, Mr. Nixon. You referred to 12 t he fact tha t he did not ovm tl:e proper ty while -he was 5 15 they referred to there , or is this another transaction that you 16 are refer ring to? 17 NR. NIXON: I am refe rring , Mr. Br oder, to the p r ope rty re- 18 f erred to in the edit orial. 19 HR. AGRO NSKY : The editor ial r e fers to !:he s l": ares t hat are N 20 mvned . g0 N 21 MR. BRODER: The sl1ares ttat are owned and mernbersbip on ti ·e 0u c 2 ~ 22 boa~d of directors. of the bank . -" ~ ui 23 HR. NIXON : Let me make one t h i ng very clear . A retraction will :i 2 4 be demanded l ega lly tomorrow, and I think it will speak for 25 itself. And ; ,as f a r a s t he l ega l matter~ are concerned , I a m . ' 13 .() .() that might injure Mr. Agnew's c ase N 1 not going to do anything .;,<:- N .() 1 ,-.. 2 wi tf1 regard to the times . Incidentally , I hope }1e d oes n t N 0 N "0 $ 3 have a case becaus(~ I am sure the Tim2s is a great newspaper 0 c 0 J; 0.. 4 and will retract. I would also point out, Da ve, th~t Ben 5 Franklin, one of the more respected reporters , three \·.'e eks ago 6 \vrotc this \•ih ole story and said that scores o f reporters \•ie re 7 digging into Agnew's relations h~re and had not been able to 8 find anything that was particularly useful from a politica l 9 standpoint. I am rather surprised that t ~e editorial board of 10 the 'Times d idn 't read their news stories. 11 HR. BRODER: On the sub j ect c£ Nr. Agnew, I know you h ave de- 12 fended him repeatedly and b ac r(ed him up vihen he has ·c o.-ne under -J ::> <( ' 0.. Q'j 1~ criticism from t he press and have insisted in a number o£ 0 "'< 3: 14 interviews that he is an asset in your campa i gn . Yet, in two 15 days o f covering you this last week, when I must have heard 16 you make a doze n speeches , I did not hear you ment ion r1is name . 17 Is there some reason for that? 18 ¥1R . NIXON: No , there i s no reason for it. I suppose that a 19 p residentia l c a ndidate doesn 1 t even ment ion his own name . I N 20 don't go out and say "Vote for Nixon. " I g o o ut and talk about g0 N u 21 t he i ssues . But l et me make one thing very clear : You may ci c' 0 0 c 22 recall, Mr. Agne,,.,r's name wus firs t raised in a conversation I ~ ~" ui 2 3 had with you. You \·i8re the only man in t he p:ress corps who z 24 eveq: thought that he mis_rh t be se l ected as Vice Presi,de nt. I 2 5 had been ·~.. iu'i:'ch ing him for a long time. I watched him during 14 1 his campaign. I think he has handled himself v1e ll, and I am 2 very proud to be on the ticket with him. He is going to make 0 " ~ 3 a fine Vice President , and I think the fair-minded members of . c "0 cf-- -- 4 - the press are going to think more of him as they see him stand 5 up under pressure. 6 MR. HART: Mr. Nixon, early in this campaign Senator Strom 7 Thurmond said tha~ your views on law and order , one of the 8 major issues in this campaign, \ 9 \•lallace. Later , at a news conference in tte Disneyland Hotel, 10 you did not take an opportunity to impudiate Mr . Thurmond's 11 ~ ta terne nt but res tu ted your own position as vie 11. Is it your _, 12 intention that Mr. Thurmond ' s unchallenged statement o ffer hope :::> a..< «! 13 to voters of George Wallace , that they can see in you what they 0 <~ ~ 14 find in Hr. Vlelllace? 15 MR4 NIXON: Let me get one thing very clear·. Hy position with 16 regard to the 'i17a llace candidacy is clear . It · is not I who is 17 trying to get George wallace the national te l evision exposure , 18 Hubert Humphrey is trying to get him through a U ·ree-way debate. 19 I recognize that if that should happen, that it would mean that ~ 20 Ge orge '07a.llace v7ould have a hand in naming the next President 0 0 N · u 21 of the United States. 0 2 2 MR. HART: \-\Tell, is Thunnonc1 \vrong? 23 MR. NIXON : And as far as Thurmond is concerned -- I wi ll answer . 24 -- as far as Thurmond i s concerned , I made it also very clear in ·- 25 that press conference , as you may remelTiber , becaL~ Se I t hink y ou . " 1 5 1 asked the question I mctde it very clear that Senator Thunnoncl. 2 on Meet the Press , your rival p ro9ram, h ud rnude it clear that 3 he c omplete ly disagreed viith rrie on civil righ ts. As far as 4 thi s problem of law and o r de r i s concerne d , I am for l a\•i and 5 orde r , Hubert Hwnpluey is for l aw a nd order , George Na llace is 6 for l aw and o rder . How we \•iould do it viOU l d be nui te differ- 7 ent. And 'as far as my program i s concerned , I a m the on ly one 8 of the c andidates who has laid o ut a pre cise program for 9 stopping the rising crirne and for rees tablishing freedom from 10 fear. That is the difference bet\vee n Nixon and v7a llace . 11 Y.la llace j _s agains t it, I am for it. That is t 0e di f fere nee. 12 HR. HART: Now , in Atla nta you did say that you and Viallace --' ::>< . "- 13 \•iere aga ins t some of the same thing s , ih a regiona l b roadcast 14 to t11e sou t l1. 15 MR. NIXON: Yes. a c es I 16 MR 0 HART: You have als 0 s a id in· the south , and in otl:er pl 17 that you would not enforce or encourage desegregation by t 0e 18 use of denia l o f federa l funds. Are you concerned , Mr. Nixon, 19 that some people might think that you and Wallace agree on t he N 20 matter of desegregation? 0 0 0 N u 2 1 MR. NIXON: I am only concerned tha t the people understand .\vhat 0 c' E ~ 22 is t he l aw and what my position is. The law says specifically ;"" a district for the pur- ui 2 3 that funds shall not b e withheld from z 2 4 pose of c reating racial balance. The laws says that funds s ha ll ~ 25 be viithheld '' from a dis trict ldhic!! d oes segresate . I believe .. .LV 1 that the Office of Education should carry out the l aw and not 2 go beyond it. That is why, for example, on the matter o f 3 segregation, desegregation ,_ I don't thin!;: funds should. be de- 4 nied to a district on tl1e bussing issue . I am against bussing. 5 I do not believe that it serves education to pic!;: ~p c hildren 6 that ate two or three years behind children in another school 7 district and haul them for a half hour across to,.,m to anot~~ er 8 district. I am not for that kind of compul sory integration. 9 I am against segregation and no funds should be given to a 10 district which practices segregation. But I do not believe 11 that funds -- that the federal power should be used, as t he 12 law specifically points out, for the purpose of creatin~ ..:l · 13 racia 1 balance. 0 <"' ~ 14 HR. AGRONSKY: Mr. Nixon, to turn to another :i.ssue, you s aid on 15 a radio speech this wee lc that the United States must maintain 16 clear superiority over t he Soviets in nucl~ar weapons and in- 17 dicated that a nuclear weapons bl!ildup would be necessary in 18 this area , in naval nuclear power and all that sort of thing. 19 Now, experts estimate that tJ·, i.s would cost somewhere in the of dollars. Hubert Humphrey .-..0 20 neighborhood of tens of bi 11ions 8 N u 21 t~1ay estimated it would cost at least $50 billion. NON, you ci c' 0 ]' 22 are c a lling, at : the ·same time , for major econor.1ies in federal ;~ ui 23 expenditures , in repea ling the surtax after the \·iar, increasing z ~ 24 Social Security benefits, \vhere would tl·e money co:-ne from? oil !>l .. - ' 1() c-: 25 MR. NIXON: Let's begin vi ith where we are going to get the 17 1 money . First of all, there is going t o be at l east a $15 to ,..... 2 $17 billion increase in revenue because o f growth of the N 0 N.. 0 we are going to have savings , .$ 3 economy. Se cond, I believe 0 c 0 J: Q. -- _4 savings through the new kind of programs that I have inditated 5 tha .t \d . ll probably amount in the neighborhoo? o f $4 and $6 ...6 billion. \':'e now come to $21 billion. 7 JvlR. I ~ART : Is that per year? 8 JvlR. NIXON: That is per year, yes. That is in terms of con so]j_~ 9 dation in age ncies and so forth and a lso some programs , particu- 10 lar ly in the poverty area , like t he Job Corps t h at I think 11 should be dispensed with. And , f inally, as far as t he cos t i s casted o ut all o f my programs. I am quite _. 12 concerned, I have ~< 0.. 1 3 a\·;are of the fact that I might be the next Preside nt . I kno'd 1 4 that my first job is going to be to prepare a budget. Hy total 15 increase , as far as all sp2nding programs are concerned, viOuld 16 be approximately $10 billion a year. And I should also point 17 out t hat Hubert Hu.rnphrey , when he t alks about what his program 18 would cos t, he r ea lly isn't much of an exper t. He is a man who 19 already has CQ~e out for programs that would add $70 billion to our tota l spending . If you want to start, t he Kerner "'0 20 0 0 N <-1 2 1 Committee report would cost $15 billion, his ne-v; Marshall Plan 0 c' E that c.. 2 2 to the cities would cost $30 billion, his new program :c ~ y System would cos t anothe r ui 2 3 would bankrupt t he Socia l Securit :z 24 $15 ~illion , and t he other misce~laneous programs would cost ~ 25 $15 billion''more . I am simply ·pointing !!his out , that tl•e 0 ' 0 , 18 ~ ~ 1 major difference perhaps b et\·ieen a Nixon presidency and a "'<¢ cO ,....~"' 2 Humphrey presidency is that Le h as been known as a big s pender, "'0 <'<.. ~ nsive .$ 3 t he most expensive Senator . He would be our mos t expe c "0 -" Q. 4 President. I would not b e . But I am going to see to it that 5 the United States r emains first, as fa r as our defense is con- 6 c erned. And He c a n clo t hat , not at a cost of $50 billion, v;;e ? c a n do that at the cost that I h ave indica ted. 8 HR. AGRO:t-!SKY : You don 1 t think that to achieve t he nuclear 9 superiority that you s ee!<: v·Jo u ld cos t $50 billion , is that it? 10 HR. NIXON: Hartin, let me make one thing very clear. I a m 11 not tall<: ing about the nuclear superior ity that \173 left i':l.t the 12 time that E isenhm,ier left o ffice , nine - to- one in certain areas . -' ::J · < "- 13 I.Yhat I am t a lking about is simply an ove rall s uperior ity w ~ : ic h 14. is e s sentia l for this p urpose , not for the purpose of: wag in? 15 a \·Jar, bnt for the purpose of defense , and overall to make sure 16 that t he n e xt President will be able to ne gotiate, as he must , 1? from a pos ition of strength and not from \lreal<:ness . That is 18 what we are talking about. This is n 1 t going back to the a-vieson1e 19 superiority v;;e hacl before. But \'i e have to re:mewber \ve are in a - s 20 race. Th e other side is running, \ve are walking . He have got 0 0 u"' 21 to be sure we stay ahead. 0 c .2 0 Unf or t u- c 22 HR. AGRONS h'~:{ : He 11, sir, I \vish w-e could continue. ~-; we have run out of time. Thank you very much for being ui 23 nately, \ z \·i8ek 's · 24 here 1 : r1r. Nixon, .to FACE THE NATION. A word about next ., 25 gues t in a moment. I .. 19 • ,. . "' 1 "'N ""cO N 2 ANNOUNCER : rroda y , o n FACE ~PB.E NiWION, Richard M. Nixon, '"'"'N 0 N.. n andidate for Pre s ident , \vas intervie-v;ec1 by CBS Ne"~dS .$ 3 R epublican C ..c g • ..c 0. 4 ,Correspondent John Hart , David Broder , Nationa l Politica l I 5 Repor ter for The ~·iash i ngton Post , CBS Ne\·lS Correspo ndent Hartin · 6 Agrons ky l ed t he ques tioninJ . Next \•iee J~, at our regular time , 7 penator Eugene lvlcCarthy, o f Jl1innesota , will FACE THE NATION. I 8 ' ACE THE NATION o r i g ina ted , in color , from CBS Ne w Yorl~ . 9 10 11 12 I I I 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 N 0 20 0 0 N u 21 ci .sc' 0 c 22 ~ ~ ui 23 :i 24 . ·.: . 2 5 . , STATEMENT VICE PRES I DENT HUBERT H. HUMPHREY WASHINGTON, D. C. OCTOBER 27, 1968 Mr. Nixon's statements tonight on "Face the Nation" contained several deliberate misrepresentations and evasions on several central issues of this campaign. I. Mr. Nixon has deliberately distorted my position, stated in Salt Lake City on September 30, on a possible bombing halt of North Vietnam. What I said -- and what Mr. Nixon knows I said -- on national television, for all to see and hear, was this: "As President, I would stop the bombing of the North as an acceptable risk for peace because I believe it could lead to . , -2- success in the negotiations and a shorter war. This would be the best protection for our troops. 1n weighing that risk -- and before taking action -- I would place key importance on evidence-- direct or indirect, by deed or word-- of Communist willingness to restore the demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam. " 2. Mr. Nixon said that he was actually defending President Johnson last Friday when he said he (Mr. Nixon) did not believe reports that the President was conducting the Vietnam peace negotiations as a "cynical, I ast-mi n ute attempt" to "salvage" my candidacy. He did not then, nor did he tonight, identify the source of any such alleged reports. The fact is that, earlier in the same day, Nixon staff members --characteristically unidentified - had alleged that Administration officials were urging peace moves to help my candidacy. -3- An anonymous Nixon spokesman was cited as saying that Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford; Ambassador Cyrus Vance, our negotiator in Paris; Joseph Califano of the White House staff; and George Ball, former Ambassador to the United N~tions, were the men in question. Mr. Nixon knows that there is no substance to these first, second arid third-hand allegations. I charge that he was simply using the old Nixon tactic of unsubstantiated insinuation which he has used in so many campaigns. The tactic: Spread an unfounded rumor. Then say you don't believe it. If Mr. Nixon has evidence that the President or any member of this government is playing politics with the peace negotiations, I call on him to spell it out now - -openly. 3. Mr. Nixon refused to respond directly to the question of whether or not his proposals for additional military programs would add up to the additional $50 billion cited this morning by the New York Times. I nsed, he said that -4- "My total increase, as far as all spending programs are concerned, would be approximately $10 billion a year." He then pulled out of thin air the charge that my proposed programs for the cities, for job training, for education and other urgent domestic needs would cost $70 billion. Then, he cited figures --adding up to $75 billion --for my various proposals. He cited as $15 bi II ion the cost of putting into effect the recommendations of the Kerner Commission. I ask him to substantiate that figure. He cited as $30 billion the cost of my Marshall Plan for the cite1s. Had he bothered to read the details of that plan, he would have learned that its basic financing would come from private capital, and that public expenditures to establish its principal mechanism --an Urban Development Bank- would come to less than $1 billion. He cited as $15 billion the cost -5 - of increased Social Security benefits, as propo ed by me1and alleged that my proposals would bankrupt the Social Security system. Mr. Nixon knows that my proposal ·was actuarily soundJ would not bankrupt the system, and would cost $4-5 billion in its first year. He . then charged up $15 billion as the cost of "miscellaneous" Humphrey domestic proposals. I ask him to identify and specify those proposals. 4. Mr. Nixon indicated that he would, if elected Pre sident, do away with the Job Corps --one of the most successftJ programs undertaken in recent years to help underprivileged young people become productive, tax-paying citizens -- and other such unspecified programs. Si nee its inception, the Job Corps has trained 135,600young people who are now in school or earning thei r own way. At the very moment, Mr. Nixon called for abolition of the Job Corps, George Foreman, 1968 Olympic Gold Medal winner, -6- was receiving that Medal in Mexico City. Mr. Foreman publicly at the awards ceremony, gave all credit for his success to the Job Corps, of which he was a recent graduate. Thursday, 5. On · 1' ~ , Mr. Nixon charged that the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations had created a "security gap" which would become a "survival gap" unless vast new military expenditures were undertaken. On Face the Nation, - 7 - Mr. Nixon did not substantiate his charge. He knows the following to be true: Our nuclear retaliatory forces are largely made up of Minuteman missiles burled beneath the ground, and Polaris missiles at sea. We have 1000 Minuteman lCBMs now, as opposed to 28 when Mr. Nixon left office; --We have 41 Polaris submarines with 656 missiles , now, as opposed to 3 submarines with 48 less powerful missiles, then; --and we continue to maintain our superiority over the Soviet Union In long-range heavy bombers. The secure Minuteman and Polaris missiles --and those bomber~- are the cornerstone of our sure defense. We are the strongest, most secure nation on earth, and that security is undermined only by Irresponsible statements like that of Mr. Nixon, which erodes the confidence of our allies, and tempts our enemies to miscalculate. ThIs Is a true "survival gap. " -8 - I say that Mr. Nixon has shown once again that he has no understanding of the facts --grim facts --of the nuclear age , and of the arms race. 6. Mr. Nixon charged on Face the Nation that only he had offered a specific program In the campaign to create civil order. Mr. Nixon did offer a four-point program --three points of which are already in effect. He neglected to say --although he certainly knew it --that I had presented a detailed and specific program to the American people In a half-hour network television broadcast, and that my special task force on order and justice had issued an 84-point program. That Task Force was headed by Dr. James Wilson, Chairman of the Department of Government at Harvard University. In Mr. Nlxon 1s television interview this evening, as in his statements of the past several days, he has deliberately distorted the facts and made unsubstantiated allegations. .. - 9- If he has any basis for his charges, I call on him to delineate it publicly. If he does not, I ask him to withdraw his statements. Finally, I call on Mr. Nixon to have the courage to meet me in open debate before the American people to set the record straight. Mr. Nixon should know that I will not let him get away with these hit-and-run accusations in this campaign. They should be answered and the facts put on the record. # # # STATEMENT BY V~E p~c3IDENT HUBERT Hill1PH REY ~';:)~ OCTOBER 27, 196~ slo~Cs " Mr. Nixon 's'"'@'ffiiei'J'i::!Jonight on "Face the Nation"~ ~~ -~ J ::;:J!!lll'l'"" ~ eliberate misrepresentatiori' and evasio(- a;,e '"+cerni~ ~ several central issues of this campaign. 6 /~l 'y fg&;;; ,. g ~, What I said---and what Mr. Nixon knows I said---on national television, for all to see lmd hear, was this: 11 As President, I would stop the bombing of the North as an a cc eptable risk for peace because I believe it could lead to success in tn~ negotiations and a shorter war. This would be the best protection for our troops. ~ weighing that risk---and before taking action---I would place key importance on evidence---direct or indirect, by deed or word---of Communist willi~ness to r Pstore the demilitarized zone between North and South Viet am." Vance, our negotiatori in Paris; Joseph Califano of the White House staff; and George Ball, former Ambassador to the United Nations, were the men in questionl -2- Mr. Nixm knows that nee to these first, second and third-hand aile gations. 1/.IJ#'Itii./Jjl#/itJ.IJf#J# I charge that he was simply using the old Nixon tactic of unsubstantia ed insinuation which he has The tactic:Spread an unfounde rumor. Then say you don't believ it. used in so man;-campaigns. If r. has evidence that the President or any member of this government is playing pol tics with the peace negotiation~ I call on him to spell it nw..--- d~I'V\."'1 3.. Mr. Nixon refused to o the quest on of whet bar or n ct. his ad d_!;!i).l:ll-H!ll proposals for additional military programs ould add up t;-t;bef\$50 billion cited this morning by the New York T:iJre s. ila8'iud,./Je ed out of thin air the charge that my prop0sed programs for the cities, for job training, for education and other urgent d001estic needs would cost $70 billion. Then, he cited figures---adding up to $~illion--- for my various prop5sals. He cited as $15 billion the cost of putting into effect the l!ecoJIII11Bndatim s o~ the Kerner Commission !lap~ :::::::agzpae !iii! •IIIJI!!!ill I ask him to substantiate that figure. He cited as $30 billion the cost of my Harshall Plan for the cities. Had he bothered to read the details of that plan, he would have learned that its basic financing l-lould came from private capital, and that public expenditures to establish its principal mechanism---an Urban Development Bank--would come to less than $1 billion. He cited as $15 billion the cost of increased Social SeonttY,y benefits, as proposed by m~, ~and alleged that my proposals would bankrupt the Social Securi. ty4."m. Mr. Nixon knows that my proposals~ l:!.ct1;1 rily ~ound, wou}d not b~nkrupt the system, and would c--F-{: 6ill•"" 1!. · R~f8 ad blll:'!\ Mr. Nixon indicated that he would., if elected President~' do a way with the Job Corps--one of the most successful programs underprivileged young peopl~ undertaken in recent years to help HI c:cibiZIMlS become productive., - - ~r.d o~J'J1tA "'"'' tr.(t·eJ {Jff>,/rMtJJ. , ' tax- paying citizens Since its inception, the Job Corps hast raire d !3.51 6(10 young people who are now in school or earning their own way. • On Friday, }~ . Nixon charged that the Kennedy ~ Johnson Adm i nistrations had created a "security gap" which would becCITle a "survival gaptt unless vast new ~litary expenditures were undertaken. On Face the Nati on ~ trel1 Vi I ..,: • * ~ ~ · ~I ft~r , u trfr. ('1 · ~~ ,),) it; i .. i .:.,(~ • " "' d .,..------ty"lthat the the Republican office in 1961. This is a complete ~ the United States the late 1950s. At the in 1961, the -- upon which deterrence o were still to a s~~prise Sov· s Mr. Nixon claimed, we had a "nine1 to one" superior· certain unspecified "areas." Our vulnerability all to, see. of te roi_'," in which we had no assurance a surpris ~ attack, and still return. no respons can s~'est a return to t ose Minuteman missiles buried beneath the ground, and Polaris missiles at sea. We a~e have 1000 ~inuteman ICBMs now, as ppposed to 28 when Mr. Nixon left office; --we have 41 Polaris submari~s with 656 missiles, now, as opposed to 3 submarines with 48 less powerf~l missiles, then; --and we continue to maintain our supricPity over the Soviet Union in long-range heavy bombers. These secure Minuteman and Polaris missiles -- and those aggressors, r ~ ous area ..?f nuclet r OU!' ..s:e1lftri ty are una - We are the strongest)· most secure nation on earth, and that security is undermined only ~ irresponsible statements like that of Mr. Nixon, which erodes the confidence or our ~ies, and tempts our enemies to miscalculate. This is a true "survival gap." I say that Mr. Nixon has shown once again that he has no understanding of the facts -- grim facts -- of the noclear ~~~~~~--~ · ~ht - ~ presen ( ~ ~ Mr. Nixon charged on Face the Nation that on~ he had offered a specific program i he campaign to ::2 create civil order. Mr. . J:;J f\ '" Nixon d~ of a four-point program,---t ree-lma bft& of which ~~ already He rleglected to say---although he certainly knew it---that I had presented a detailed and specific lllrogram to the Amerirn n peopJe in a half-hour network telvision broadcast, and that my special task force on 1' order and justice had issued an 84-point program. That ask force was headed by Dr. James Wilson , chairman of the department of govemment at Harvard University. In l-1r. Nixon's television interview t h s evening, as in his statements of the past several days, he has deliberately distorted the factffi and made unsubstantiated allegations. If he has any basis for his charges, I call on him to deli neqte it publicly. If he does nat, I ask him to withdraw his statements. Final~, I ca 11 on }1r. Nixon to have the courage to meet me in open debate before the American people to set the r ecDl'ld straight. ~rj sh± '* Zi oad~ Mr. Nixon should know that I will not 1t him ~cc &A)"t:rttelt-' i~ tAil .~ipl:l ~ get away with these hi t-and-run ~L!P" -t:"'.. ~1 ;) ~ ~hem. C~r . . .A ~ 1#..tt:. t~ ... Minnesota Historical Society Copyright in this digital version belongs to the Minnesota Historical Society and its content may not be copied without the copyright holder's express written permis sion. Users may print, download, link to, or email content, however, for individual use. To req uest permission for commercial or ed uca tional use, please contact the Minnesota Hi stori cal Society. 1~ W'W'W. mnhs.org