We already know that Richard Nixon was a racist dick. He also liked to record conversations — like the 265 hours that were released this week by the Nixon Presidential Library. Hint: He didn't think much of blacks or Jews.
Nixon wasn't very fond of anyone who wasn't white and/or heterosexual. He thought the Jews were all commies who wanted to legalize weed, and "Negro bastards" only wanted to "live like a bunch of dogs" on welfare. He even called ancient Greeks and Romans "fags." But that's old news! The new set of tapes, from February and March of 1973, made available online this week through the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, have plenty of nuggets for people to pick through.
The New York Times pulled some of the juiciest quotes, like Nixon on black people:
Bill Rogers has got — to his credit it's a decent feeling — but somewhat sort of a blind spot on the black thing because he's been in New York," Nixon said. "He says well, ‘They are coming along, and that after all they are going to strengthen our country in the end because they are strong physically and some of them are smart.' So forth and so on.
"My own view is I think he's right if you're talking in terms of 500 years," he said. "I think it's wrong if you're talking in terms of 50 years. What has to happen is they have be, frankly, inbred. And, you just, that's the only thing that's going to do it, Rose."
Nixon on Jews:
The Jews are just a very aggressive and abrasive and obnoxious personality."
And...
I don't want any Jew at that dinner who didn't support us in that campaign," he said. "Is that clear? No Jew who did not support us."
And famous Jew Henry Kissinger, on Russian Jews:
The emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union is not an objective of American foreign policy," Mr. Kissinger said. "And if they put Jews into gas chambers in the Soviet Union, it is not an American concern. Maybe a humanitarian concern."
"I know," Nixon responded. "We can't blow up the world because of it."
Boy! There were some strong opinions about a whole lot of people in the Nixon White House, huh?
[Image via AP]
Send an email to Jeff Neumann, the author of this post, at jeff@gawker.com.
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