The Presidency Preview: Reflections on Richard Nixon — Transcript

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1. 0:00you had very intimate access to this
2. 0:03president frequently you were the first
3. 0:06staff person to see him in the morning
4. 0:07and the last one at night to describe
5. 0:10the Richard Nixon that you saw well yes
6. 0:14after the eleventh month of the first
7. 0:17year in november december the president
8. 0:21called me an and bob and he thought we
9. 0:25should change not change offices but I
10. 0:27should have Haldeman make that Bob
11. 0:29leader home and I was Bob's deputy from
12. 0:35the start but he thought that maybe bob
13. 0:38was getting sort of what do I want to
14. 0:43say detoured during the day by all of
15. 0:46the trivia which is a part of the
16. 0:48operation of the Oval Office throughout
17. 0:50a day and not able to sit back and think
18. 0:54as President Nixon wanted him to do to
19. 0:57follow up on big things and be an idea
20. 0:59man and president the president even
21. 1:01said and I want you to be more like the
22. 1:03assistant president so let Alex take
23. 1:05your office and deal with the day-to-day
24. 1:07the minute to minute stuff and Bob there
25. 1:10was only one place for Bob to go and we
26. 1:12had just given the big people call the
27. 1:15Sherman Adams office down in the end as
28. 1:17a gesture to the vice president Agnew
29. 1:20the first vice president had ever been
30. 1:22given an office right in the west wing
31. 1:24of the White House the last guy you want
32. 1:27to give an office to because he has a
33. 1:28beautiful office up on the hill as
34. 1:31president of the Senate and he's got a
35. 1:33one across the street on the EOB so Bob
36. 1:36just went over and said Ted to Spiro
37. 1:40Agnew well we're going to have to take
38. 1:42it by the vice president he only used it
39. 1:44a few for a few ceremonial things and he
40. 1:47was happy to do it he was a good guy
41. 1:48about that so Bob took that grand office
42. 1:52and bob was after all Bob Haldeman the
43. 1:54grand mogul