Original subtitles

Richard Nixon surrounds himself with

momentos pictures of Mrs Nixon happy in

China of his four grandchildren one by

Daughter Trisha and three by Daughter

Julie his eldest granddaughter Jenny the

image of her mother in an Easter hat

purchased by Nixon a piano player and

his fans on a corner table time stands

still old magazines with pictures of The

Nixons during their White House days in

these unpretentious surroundings we

talked about President Reagan's visit

this week to the sem at bitburg sir

would this have happened in your

Administration I guess what I'm asking

is how does a thing like this happen

you've been in the White House how do

you get into this this um situation of

such

mistakes well uh I must say uh I've made

my mistakes or as we're quite aware uh

and ones were much more devastating from

a personal standpoint than this is going

to be to President Reagan uh these

things happen sometimes what has

happened here is it's a tragedy of uh of

basically misunderstandings

misconceptions tragedy of Errors perhaps

but once Chancellor Cole did it made the

gave the invitation once President

Reagan accepted it then for Chancellor

Cole to withdraw it apparently he was

not willing to do that uh because he

thought it would hurt him at home and

for President Reagan to say then

whatever you do chancellor I'm not

coming I think it would have a

devastating effect on him why well

because let's face it as you look at the

Germans today uh they are the strongest

Ally we've got in Europe without Germany

NATO is nothing uh Germany is the only

European nation that the Russians fear

without the Germans there is no way you

could hold the line in Western Europe no

way unless you nuk them did you call the

president or did he call you no I having

been in that office I don't call him he

calls me usually and in this instance

the call came from Don Regan's office

from from him ask for my advice about

the thing sir do you talk to the White

House on a regular basis no uh I

generally prefer to send my advice when

it's requested in writing you know I

find that unless you discipline yourself

to write you you talk too much may I ask

if you have been invited to the White

House and if you were to a state dinner

or something would you

go well of course we were invited to the

uh to the white house uh on the occasion

of the when the three presidents made

that historic trip to Sadat's funeral

yes uh we have not been invited to a

social engagement since uh but I don't

think it's any a front and as far as

going is concerned you know President

Reagan made a very interesting comment

he went up when there was a big when the

environmentalists in California the S

Sierra Club were after him about doing

something about the Seas he said well

when you've seen one Sequoia you've seen

them all and I could say that when

you've seen one state dinner you've seen

them at all we have no particular desire

to go back again let us now turn our

attention so to the Soviet Union the

Russians have refused to apologize for

the shooting death of major Nicholson in

East Germany and yet we talk about a

summit what should we

do there will be a summit during

President Reagan's second term and there

should be

uh but it is one that should be well

prepared as I have put it uh when the

two Powers meet there's going to be

enormous intention to paid to it and uh

a summit if I may paraphrase uh cannot

labor and produce a mouse let's disabuse

ourselves of this sort of silly notion

uh wouldn't it be wonderful if gorbachov

and Reagan could just get together and

meet each other and know each other

because each would charm the other we

would find that our differences weren't

all that great and then after they had

completed the meeting they would shake

hands and go home and live happily ever

afterwards now that doesn't happen even

with friends and it seldom seldom does

and it certainly doesn't happen with

potential adversaries what we're really

saying here the tension between the

United States and the Soviet Union is

not a problem to which there's a

solution the tension which exists

between our two countries is a permanent

condition it can be alleviated but it

cannot be cured what do you think of the

president's decision to have an embargo

against Nicaragua I support it I do not

think that that will be adequate in

terms of uh getting the nicaraguans to

cut their ties to the Soviet block

getting them to give up some of the

repression won't it push them even

further into the Soviet arms uh the same

argument was made barbar you recall I'm

sure you well I'm old enough to recall

the same argument was made with Castro I

was around 1959 and it what happened is

that Castro didn't need a push he was

already there the idea that artega this

very intelligent very tough fellow who

is over giving an abraso to Mr

garbatov is will be pushed into the

Soviet arms is ridiculous he is a

dedicated Marxist leninist just as

Castro was and as far as that's

concerned uh the idea that if we follow

policies that are too tough with him

he's going to become more Pro Soviet is

ridiculous he's there already let let me

make one thing clear I do not think that

our goal should be to overthrow the

government that isn't going to happen

the contas aren't strong enough to do

that the our goal should be to bring

enough pressure on that government that

they in their own interest will have no

choice but to give up on their foreign

Adventures when you wrote in your book

about Vietnam you said we won't get over

the Vietnam syndrome until we stop uh

using this intellectual junk food what

do you mean by intellectual junk food by

intellectual junk food what I was

referring to uh was the whole uh uh orgy

uh that we have been exposed to in the

past few weeks you know I uh I watch a

little more television than I used to

you know it's not my favorite medium and

and I'm not their favorite give the news

but on the other hand uh I would say

that as far as that is concerned uh we

have been inundated with this hand

ringing about Vietnam and we see these

happy Vietnamese women girls riding

their bicycles through hoian City uh and

we hear how wonderful it is there and so

forth uh we hear that as a result of our

leaving that now uh things are moving

better well they're not now what I mean

is that that's intellectual junk food

what we have to do is to hear the truth

about what has happened and then we will

realize that we must not let that happen

again not in nicaragu or any place else

since you brought it up Sir why don't

you like television well television is a

medium uh that I think in terms of the

kind of discussion we have now is not

one that allows for the kind of uh of uh

a really consideration and depth that we

need now your program does it to an

extent but but you're the first to admit

that if you were to ask me now what do

you think about Star Wars Mr President I

can't answer in one minute I could but

it would be frankly intellectual junk

food uh it wouldn't be a real

substantive answer uh as you know the

attention span is very small in fact I'm

probably being cut off now because I'm

talking too

long you may very well be I'll go on to

the next to the next question I cannot

sit with you and not talk about politics

because it's just too much fun to do it

with you look ahead if you will with me

and tell me what you see as the winning

ticket for the Republicans winning

presidential ticket for the Republicans

the way I look at 1988 is this at the

present time if the economy holds up and

is good in 1988 George Bush will be

nominated and he will be elected if the

economy does not hold up George Bush

will go down with Reagan's popularity

and then there will be someone else

possibly Jack Kemp provided Jack Kemp is

able to separate himself from the Reagan

policies uh which would be difficult

because I don't think he would want to

do that because I think he believes in

the the Reagan policies but if the

economy goes down

then you would probably see a Democrat

winning as far as a second spot in the

ticket is concerned I think you're more

likely to see a woman on the Republican

ticket than on the Democratic ticket the

Democrats have tried and been burned now

that is no reflection on Mrs Ferraro uh

it just happened she ran at the wrong

time with the wrong ticket uh Mond was

going to lose anyway but as far as the

Republicans are concerned they'll be

writing on the blank page and the

Republicans are weaker among women uh

than they should be I think the

possibility of a republican be it either

Bush or Kemp picking a woman is quite

quite High J katrick everybody's saying

Perfect Choice vice presidential

candidate she uh she is certainly

eloquent uh and uh she has great support

among the conservatives the Hawks and

among the Republicans a good idea the

question is the question I can answer

that question better to see how she

conducts herself when she gets out there

under the fire of the press and so forth

in non foreign policy issues uh nobody

knows how you run on that fast course

until you've been there uh I would say

at the present time Mrs Dole would

perhaps have a better chance even the

Jane Kirk Patrick now you want to go to

the Democrats

sure I would say first

that uh Gary Hart I thought after

hearing him at the Democratic Convention

that he was finished because it was s

grapes but he conducted himself very

well during the campaign he has

recovered he is a formidable candidate

for the

nomination uh in his case however he

some way he's got a warm up uh he's uh

he just doesn't seem to have the uh the

warmth that he he comes through too cold

to me uh I and this is no pun he really

needs a heart transplant I think however

that the man that is most likely to be

nominated is quomo if he wins a

landslide victory in New York which I

think he will then he will be very hard

to stop what about Ted Kennedy well I

know that he's slimming down again for a

race but the the trouble is he's running

in the wrong direction uh he is the last

Terah of the old Democratic

establishment uh I don't think he's

going to make it I'd like to talk just a

bit about you

sir your books have been very successful

now your your opinions in foreign policy

are being sought after by leaders in

this country and elsewhere it seems to

be in a sense the resurrection of

Richard Nixon does that help to heal the

wounds how does it make you

feel well I'm not holding my breath for

the

resurrection uh as far as uh the public

reaction is concerned uh I realize that

uh I have a lot of people out there who

uh as has been the case throughout my

political career who uh are very

strongly antagonistic uh I have some

that are very supportive and uh at the

present time I appreciate uh the one and

respect the other uh that's what you do

as you get a little older and as I sit

here

today uh 10 years

after the end of Vietnam uh almost 12

years since they left the presidency I'm

just thankful that I'm still alive and

able to conduct an intelligent

conversation with a very tough question

how are you feeling sir we heard you had

shingles and bad virus I'm afraid this

is going to disappoint all of my enemies

out there because I'm afraid I'm going

to outlive

them how is Mrs Nixon

feeling well as I know she's one of your

favorites she's a quite a remarkable

person uh I speak of what I've been

through but you know for a woman to

suffer in silence during the the

difficult last days in the White House

and the days thereafter which were even

worse

is much more difficult and then she's

had two

strokes uh if you were to see her you

wouldn't know she'd had a stroke but she

doesn't have the stamina she wants to

how would you like to be

remembered I suppose everyone would like

to be remembered particularly for his

major achievements most people would

point for example to the opening to

China which changed the world but as I

look back during the White House years I

think for example of of an initiative

which many people have forgotten the

cancer initiative you remember we

started that in

1971 and it was brought home to me just

a couple of days ago my brother dawn has

cancer it's a very serious case uh he's

now taking radiation and chemotherapy 10

years ago his doctor told him he would

be dead so that initiative may have

helped uh prolong his life and the life

of other cancer patients uh what I'm

suggesting here is that we all think of

well he went to China uh he ended the

war in Viet Vietnam uh he opened

relations with the Soviet Union through

dayat but in my view if the cancer

initiative which we began could save

lives that would be worth all the rest

put

together Hugh who would imagine that

what he would want to be remembered for

the most was his research on cancer

nothing to do with politics is foreign

policy surprise many people will

remember your first interview with

Richard Nixon in the early morning at a

time when networks didn't do that unless

it was on a pool basis and you got one

alone with him a while ago you've had a

chance to observe the man now because

you've done other interviews in between

in what ways do you perceive that he has

changed since then when you've got

nothing to lose you can afford to be

very outspoken this is a mellow Richard

Nixon do you feel that he's

rehabilitated in terms of his foreign

policy Whoever thought that 10 years ago

after Watergate anybody would ask his

opinion on anything when it comes to

foreign policy he is respected maybe

because that's our foreign policy is in

somewhat of a vacuum but in general he

still has his enemies one thing though

he's always interesting to talk to

indeed so thank you Barbara