| Kissinger chooses nelson rockefeller { May 27 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.indystar.com/articles/4/150138-1194-010.htmlhttp://www.indystar.com/articles/4/150138-1194-010.html
Kissinger talks war, Agnew and Playboy Playmates May 27, 2004
Excerpts from transcripts that cover Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's phone calls from January 1969 to the end of Richard Nixon's presidency in August 1974:
U.S.-Soviet tensions were peaking over the Arab-Israeli war, and British Prime Minister Edward Heath's office called the White House just before 8 p.m. to ask to speak with Nixon.
Kissinger: "Can we tell them no? When I talked to the president, he was loaded."
Brent Scowcroft, Kissinger's assistant: "We could tell him the president is not available and perhaps he can call you."
Kissinger said Nixon would be available in the morning.
Kissinger knew Nixon would announce a new vice president to replace Spiro Agnew, who had resigned. Kissinger did not know whom Nixon had chosen.
In a phone call with Nixon aide Alexander Haig, Kissinger said he could go along with New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller -- "that gives me no pain" -- or anyone except former Texas Gov. John Connally -- "a no-no."
Nixon picked Gerald Ford.
Nixon jokingly threatened to drop a nuclear bomb on Capitol Hill as Congress was moving to impeach him over the Watergate scandal.
White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig: "I was told to get the football."
Kissinger: "What do you mean?"
Haig: "His black nuclear bag. "He is going to drop it on the Hill."
Kissinger telephoned Katharine Graham, publisher of The Washington Post, to invite her to lunch, while insisting that she keep the meeting secret from her own reporters.
"I will be looking for a job if my leader finds out," Kissinger told Graham in an apparent reference to Nixon.
Kissinger's familiar relationship with the longtime ambassador from the Soviet Union, Anatoly Dobrynin, was apparent in their conversations.
Dobrynin: "I heard that you were sitting with a very nice girl . . . and I guess I have her picture?"
Kissinger: "Oh, yes?"
Dobrynin: "In the calendar. I think she was on this Playboy calendar."
Kissinger: "Oh-h-h-h-h, you're a dirty old man."
Dobrynin: ". . . she's a real nice girl."
Kissinger: ". . . she's very attractive. I hope she isn't a nice girl."
-- Star news services
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