that s hardly the mea culpa that the american public thinks it s entitled to. that s the issue. well, maybe the american public is wrong. i know in my own heart, and i know in my own head, precisely what i did, and i know precisely why i did it. and i know that i made some mistakes, i deeply regret those mistakes. as richard nixon s right-hand man, he was the one most often recorded on the tapes, and they destroyed him. i had the rare privilege for four years of serving on the white house staff under one of america s greatest presidents. former white house chief of staff, h.r. haldeman, found guilty today on five counts in the watergate cover-up trial. do you regret what happened and what you did? oh, sure. the country lost motion, a lot of the good things we were working on in the way of domestic reforms were lost in
hello? yes, sir. that was great. i must say i put an awful lot of emotion into it. i don t know whether it got through. it sure did. the last part, of course, was a was quite a work of art to be frank with you. it sure was. put that and compress it with that and say it without being maudlin, and yet to have emotion with style. it sure was. did you talk to the vice president. yeah, i talked to him. and graham? and graham. i talked to those three because i felt i should. rockefeller called, the hell with him but it was a goddamn good speech. that is coming through, all the way through. want to give me a run down? sure, o neil at the new york
leveling factor. things, messes we would find ourselves in or whatever it might be. i think a lot of younger staff people here find that he can far excel them in terms of energy and stamina. i took a camera on all my trips, a super 8 and i have quite a collection of film. john ehrlichman, a lawyer who directed nixon s campaign tour, will have a broad advisory role in the nixon administration. i think this first year we ll see as basically the time of reform. ehrlichman is chief of affairs and under study. i was not a passionate nixon person going in, probably if some college friend invited me to go advance for john kennedy, i might have gone.
to others about me, and what i should know and what he didn t want me to know. and he did the same thing with kissinger and a lot of people. several times i recall his saying to me, don t tell henry. he kept little watertight compartments of information, and it didn t work very well. dan rather, who has closely observed the nixon presidency reports now on the first year in office. in 12 months richard nixon proved himself to be underestimated a political manager to be remembered as a politician like franklin roosevelt. nixon was supremely disciplined. his mind methodical, cautious, given to worry, yes, but never, never let the worries show. control the byword for every
mounting demonstrations in the street. 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 have pledged 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. hello? yes, sir. that was great. i must say i put an awful lot of emotion into it. i don t know whether it got through.