Warm regards, Mr. Buckley, and thanks for a good letter.
Yours very truly,
George Bush
July 9, 1973
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Bryce Harlow
FROM:
George Bush
Early in June I received the attached letter from Barry Goldwater. I went to see him on the 13th, the day on which I received the letter, and we had a good frank discussion. It all boiled down to the fact that Barry feels the President ought to “sit down with some of the boys”; “drink some of that White House bourbon”; and “do what I did.”
From reading the letter I thought he had some deep comments to make about the Republican National Committee, but the only complaint he raised with me was the inaccessibility to the President and the President did not call people in for advice. Barry, of course, was enthusiastic about the rumors that you were coming on board.
Let’s discuss what we might do to iron this out. A few informal visits, in my view, would be well worth it, for the President and Senator Goldwater.
August 10, 1973
Mrs. Verta Hardegree
Colorado City, Texas 79512
Dear Verta:
It was great hearing from you. Of course I’m interested in your ideas. There’s a lot of speculation now about my coming back to Texas and running [for governor], though I am inclined at this moment not to do that. . . .
The Bush family are all fine. Barbara is up in Maine and the boys will soon be arriving. Dorothy has been there with her all summer. Jebbie is out on the west coast working—one more year in college to go. George is going to go to Harvard Business School for two years, Marvin is at Woodberry Forest, and Neil is just starting at Tulane. Golly, I can hardly believe they’re so grown. I hope your family is all well.
Thanks again for a wonderful letter.
Yours very truly,
George Bush
August 10, 1973
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Mel Laird2
FROM:
George Bush
I don’t want to sound like I’ve got a one-track mind, but it seems to me it would be good for the President to have some contact with the Black Republican leadership in this country. A meeting at the White House of the Black leaders in government or from around the country might be extremely helpful. I, of course, would like to see it Republican, but I think any contact with Black leaders would be good. I’d say the same is true for Mexican-Americans. . . .
Don’t bother to acknowledge, but I do think the more of these things the President can do the better it is for him, for the Party, and indeed for the country.
Another Watergate bombshell broke that summer when former White House aide Alexander Butterfield testified before Congress that Nixon taped conversations in the Oval Office. I was deeply offended and amazed. Not only were people shocked to hear this, but it also began a huge legal and constitutional battle on whether the White House had to release the tapes. All these years later, I can still remember the day I learned of the tapes. I encountered Bryce Harlow at the White House, and we both felt it could be the beginning of the end for Nixon.
September 6, 1973
Mr. Paul Sabatino
Huntington Station, N. Y. 11746
Dear Mr. Sabatino:
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me about the President’s stand regarding the tapes. I believe that at first glance releasing them would appear to be a direct and immediate way of resolving questions about Watergate, but in the long run such action would be detrimental both to the Administration and the country. My reasoning for this is twofold:
1. By revealing the conversations which took place, even if only in part, a precedent would be set for betraying the confidentiality which previously had always been respected by Presidents and those with whom they came in contact. As a result of such action those people who dealt with President Nixon or future leaders would always be faced with the possibility of their views being made public and would be very hesitant about expressing anything they wouldn’t be willing to read in print.
2. By submitting the tapes the President would also be setting aside the principle of balance of powers which is the cornerstone of our democratic process.
I agree these are difficult times and that it is imperative we get back on a forward-moving course, but I do not feel that revealing the contents of the tapes is the answer. From the reaction to the President’s press conferences it looks like we are “returning to some normalcy”, and I am counting on the fairness of the American people to judge Watergate and those involved in terms of the overall situation and not instantaneous reaction. Our judicial system and our democratic process are slow at times, but they cannot be surpassed—that I am certain of after viewing other governments in action at the United Nations.
Thanks again for writing, and please continue to support the President. It means more than you can imagine.
Yours very truly,
George Bush
October 17, 1973
Mr. Thornton Hardie, Jr.
Midland, Texas 79701
Dear Thornton:
I was deeply touched by your October 12 letter. I am giving serious thought to this matter, but I’m just not sure whether the governor’s race is winnable. . . .
Of course, it would be a tremendous honor and challenge to be governor of Texas. I hope it doesn’t sound egotistical, but I believe I could do the job, but there are an awful lot of factors that have to be heavily weighed. . . .
Many, many thanks for a letter that “made my day.”
Yours very truly,
George Bush
I was flattered by the urging of friends and supporters to come home to Texas and run for governor, but in the end, I felt I had to stay put.
November 1, 1973
Mr. W. V. Ballew, Jr.
3000 One Shell Plaza
Houston, Texas 77002
Dear Cat:
I’d love to come home—I really would. In fact, Bar and I can already picture the house we’re going to build right there on Sage Road on our little lot.
There are a lot of reasons I want to come home. One of them is that I long for the normalcy of the life there. The other is that I’d sure like to argue with you from time to time.
But, Bill, this isn’t the time to quit, it’s not a time to jump sideways, it’s not a time for me to wring my hands on the sidelines. I am sure you know how I feel about some of the things that have happened. I also feel deeply about much of the unfair criticism of the President.
God, how we need civility. In any event, we’ll be back there one of these days.
It was good hearing from you.
Warmest personal regards,
George Bush
The administration continued to unravel throughout the fall of 1973. In a completely separate controversy from Watergate, Vice President Agnew resigned October 10 and pleaded guilty to tax evasion in the state of Maryland. Attorney General Elliot Richardson resigned rather than obey Nixon’s order to fire the Watergate special prosecutor, Archibald Cox. On October 20, Nixon dismissed both Cox and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus, which came to be known as the Saturday Night Massacre. Nixon finally agreed to turn his tapes over to Judge John Sirica, who oversaw Watergate’s legal battles. The tapes of two subpoenaed conversations could not be found; and one tape contained an eighteen-minute gap. Nixon’s secretary, Rose Mary Woods, said she had accidentally erased the tape. I dictated to my diary on November 30:
I am appalled at the handling of the Watergate tapes matter. . . . I don’t know who makes the decisions on how this information oozes out, but the last Rose Mary Woods tape thing stretches my ability to believe enormously. It doesn’t have the impact of the missing tapes however. . . . There is something unclear about all this. There is something going on I don’t know about, there’s something either on the tapes or about the tapes that does not ring true to me. . .
.
George Bush End of Year Summary
Dec. 31, 1973
Things I’ve liked and disliked about ’73 . . .
A. Disliked:
• That [Archibald] Cox, whom I respected as a lawyer, but disagreed with on some of his operations, negated much of his work by leaking to [Senator Ted] Kennedy and [Senator Gary] Hart. . . .
• That, on a tiny scale, my little “Support the President” bumper sticker was torn off, showing how high emotions seemed to be running.
• That Republican morale is lower than it should be based on our wins and losses this year, based on that great year-end poll showing Vice President Ford3 clobbering the best that the Democrat’s have to offer in 1976.
• That I get so much advice from those who will “withhold support”, “not register”, “be an independent”, when the times cry out for more participation, not less.
• That we seemed in ’73 to lose perspective. Our blessings far out weigh our shortcomings, yet we seem to be at the handwringing stage.
• That both Democrats and Republicans have suffered voter-identification loss, when one needs only look around the world to see that our two-party system, with its stability and its basic fairness, deserves more support.
• That the President has been subject to “piling on”. Watergate was bad, the handling certainly less than perfect, but with no proof—a drum-fire of charge and counter-charge against the President.
• Watergate cover-up. The ruined lives of decent men who were guilty. The ruined lives of decent men who were innocent. Cynicism replacing idealism.
• High interest rates.
Things I’ve liked about ’73:
• The end of the Vietnam War and the return of the prisoners.4
• The improved balance of payments situation.
• The move towards peace after a dreadful war in the Middle East.5
• The President’s ability to take the heat, given unbelievable criticism, some of it fair, much of it grossly unfair.
• The loyalty of our Party leaders, their constancy, their faith, their support.
• The fact that we won so many more elections all year long than our political opponents or some of those biased reporters would have believed possible.
• The basic fairness with which the Party has been treated by the press. I wish the President had gotten as fair a shake.
• The basic fairness of my Democratic counterpart, Bob Strauss.
On March 1, 1974, seven former Nixon aides were indicted for conspiring to obstruct justice, including Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell, and Chuck Colson. On March 13 I dictated to my diary:
Alexander Haig called me—about a quarter of four and asked if we could get together. I said, “When?” He said “Four o’clock.” I went on down there—was a couple of minutes late. The mood was grim to say the least. [Ron] Ziegler6 was standing there. It was chilly. He said, “Hello” but the secretaries were much less relaxed, no joking, the whole mood was very, very grim. Haig looked grim. We sat down and chatted for thirty minutes. . . .
He started off by being fairly tough and firm with me, telling me that it was getting down to the wire, that if the President was going to survive there had to be an all-out offense, that they were preparing papers and they wanted me to give it full range support. I asked what it was. He then went into a discussion about what he could or couldn’t give to the Judiciary Committee. He mentioned Connally and governors and others who were engaged in a big support effort and he wanted me to say that I would support it. I thought for a minute—low keyed it and said that in my opinion the President was entitled to advocacy and that if in conscience I couldn’t support what it was that he was talking about then I would resign. I said I felt I probably could but I didn’t want to say without seeing in advance what it was. Haig talked a little bit about the President’s situation, indicating the Party wouldn’t recover for 10 years if the President had to get out. There was too much, for my thinking, of the feeling that everyone that wasn’t exactly supportive was totally against, in other words—turning against the whole Judiciary committee, the House, we don’t have any friends on the Hill—nobody is standing up for us. This went through the whole theme. He was upset as hell with the Vice President . . . I did get the feeling that Haig goes through a great deal of turmoil in his own mind. He must have some difficult times with the President though he would never say this to me. I said, “Al, I wish that you would look at the Agronsky Show that was run last night to see how I have been trying to defend the President.” He made one comment, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not critical of you. We just need the support.” . . .
After the meeting I thought at length and I felt that they don’t understand the relationship of the Party. I told Al that he and I have slightly different constituencies, that most of the time they interact but that sometimes there are differences, that I am concerned with future elections and Party as well as President, and they are not always in agreement. I think he did understand that point. There was no rancor in the meeting. It was philosophical, it was calm. I put my hand on his shoulder when I left and said, “Al, you are doing a magnificent job. I have respect for what you are doing. Hang in there.” He seemed very tired, very determined. I hate the criticism of Haig—of the military mind. He does have that discipline, the commander-in-chief order that he is determined to carry out, but I think he also reserves in the corner of his heart some understanding for a person like me whose respect for the system sees that there are differences—Party must have my judgment and if it doesn’t then I have failed the Party. And it is the Party that I work for, not the President.
I thought at length after I left about what would happen if I did resign. The Committee might not accept the resignation. In my judgment the White House would not be able to get its own candidate nominated—one who was going to carry out every whim of everybody down there. . . . I went home, discussed the matter mildly with Bar, and went to sleep at 9:45 p.m. I had the best sleep that I have had in the last three months. I am not sure why except I felt an inner contentment. I went down to the White House frankly with some trepidation. I guess one always wants to avoid an ugly scene. But it was pleasant—the friendship I have with Haig prohibited it from being different. I have great respect for him and what he is about. I wouldn’t be surprised if he does for me too. But he must not let that show, if he is going to carry out this last ditch stand. It comes far easier to a [Colson]7 or a Ziegler than it does to a Haig. Haig does it with more dignity and grace. I am not sure they are all that wrong. At this moment I haven’t even seen the papers that Pat Buchanan8 is putting together—his talking points. They are talking about an all-out offense—whatever the hell that means. I have called them as I see them so far. . . .
March 25, 1974
Mr. Allen L. Lindley9
The Mutual Life Insurance Co.
New York, N.Y. 10019
Dear Pete:
. . . I hope you know how painful Watergate is to me personally, and how betrayed I feel by it and all its connotations. Knowing dad, as you did, I’m sure you can understand when I say that I really am glad he is not around to have to worry about Watergate. His whole sense of morality would have been deeply offended by what went on, and I hope you know that mine has been. Having said all that though, Pete, I feel that there has been unreasonable harassment in some areas. I feel that we have seen double standards in terms of investigation, and I take some comfort from the fact that the Ervin Committee dug deep for a year, and the Special Prosecutor dug deep for a year and neither of them, to my knowledge, has implicated the President. Should this change all bets are off. I, for one, hope it won’t though I know some feel that if the President would get out it would make the problems I’m coping with now much, much easier.
In short, these are extremely complicated times—this job is no fun at all. Many of our strongest supporters have lost sight of the forest for the trees. They refuse to support the party, our candidates, and it
s principles all because of Watergate. This, too, complicates my life and the lives of all Republicans, but, on the other hand, it’s a good time to be involved and, in my view, it’s a time to hang in there. No one wants to see “this over with” more than I. No one wants to see us get to solving the other problems that confront us more than I, but I just can’t accept resignation as the answer.
Sometimes I long for an escape—and an escape in my fantasy usually takes the form of running around in the boat in Maine—no telephone, clean, cool air, lots of relaxation. The exciting thing is that this might take place for a weekend or two this summer, and I look forward to seeing you then. Perhaps we can discuss all of this in a lot more detail.
Thanks for writing. Love to Lucky.
Yours very truly,
George Bush
April 4, 1974
Mr. William K. Marshall
Rochester, Michigan
Dear Mr. Marshall:
I note in your letter of February 22 that you have convicted the President. You call him a “liar and a crook.”
All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and Other Writings Page 19