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Press Conference of Richard Cheney and Edward Schmults
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Digitized from Box 30 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST 19, 1976
OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
(Kansas City, Missouri)
THE WHITE HOUSE
PRESS CONFERENCE
OF
RICHARD CHENEY
ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT
AND
EDWARD SCHMULTS
DEPUTY COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT
THE CROWN CENTER HOTEL
3:30 P.M. CDT
MR. NESSEN: We have brought Dick Cheney and Ed
Schmults to give you an idea and answer your questions
about how this process took place.
Before we start, let me say that we are working on
the advance text of the acceptance speech. We expect to
have it to you between 4:30 and 5:00, embargoed for release
upon delivery.
Secondly, Larry Speakes is going to be helping out
Senator Dole for a while with his press relations, so if
you have questions and interview requests, picture requests
and so forth, you can get in touch with Larry.
Q
Can you say anything about tomorrow, about
what time we leave, baggage check-in, that sort of thing?
MR. NESSEN: Certainly by the end of the day we
will, Walt.
Dick and Ed?
MR. CHENEY: Let me begin by apologizing for the
delay in coming down. It has obviously been hectic and
busy upstairs. We have had a lot of things we are working
on today, but we did definitely want to come down and try
to give you a traditional fill-in, if you will, an on-the-
record briefing to the extent we can on the process we
went through in selecting Senator Dole.
MORE
- 2 -
What I would like to do at the outset is walk
back through the process. Much of it has been described
previously, and then I will try to walk through a brief
chronology of last night in terms of what happened when,
leading up to this morning when the announcement finally
was made.
You will remember that on about July 31 we
announced that we were going to send letters out to
delegates and alternates around the country, contact
Republican Members of the Congress, Republican Governors
and other party leaders, to seek their views and their
advice and recommendations as to who they thought could
best serve as the President's running mate.
That was followed up approximately a week later,
on August 6, when we began to initiate contacts with specific
individuals that had either been recommended to the
President for consideration or whom he wanted to have placed
on the list for consideration.
That list contained approximately two dozen
names. Most of those names have become public in the
course of speculation over the course of the last two
weeks. I think most of you can identify those individuals
under consideration. I would prefer not to list the actual
names today for the simple reason that there were a few
individuals who were approached.
Our guarantee at the outset was that the approach
would be in confidence, that those individuals indicated
they did not wish to be considered, and we do feel it would
not be proper to highlight that at this time.
In terms, though, of you having the information,
obviously most of you have the vast number of names that
were on that list.
Q
How many were on the list?
MR. CHENEY: I said approximately two dozen.
Q
How many of those contacted did not want to
be considered?
MR. CHENEY: It was only a very few, very few.
Q Who made the contacts?
MR. CHENEY: The contacts were made by myself,
by Phil Buchen, the President's Counsel, and by Ed Schmults.
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- 3 -
Q
By telephone?
MR. CHENEY: Basically by telephone, yes, in all
instances.
At the time those individuals were contacted,
they were told that they had been recommended for consider-
ation as Vice President. They were asked if they wished
to be considered. If they indicated they did in fact so
wish, they were told we would send them a packet of
material and that packet included two basic things.
One was a draft letter which we wanted them to
sign and return to us which committed each of them in the
event they became the nominee authorizing us to run reference
checks to third parties with respect to their qualifications,
and secondly committed them to -- in the event they became
the nominee making public the same basic material the
President has made public over the course of the primary
campaign; specifically, a complete physical report on their
health, a balance sheet of their assets and liabilities and
summary information parallel to that released by the
President of the income taxes over the last several years.
I want to be precise here. We didn't ask for
the exact release of the specific tax purposes per se,
but a release similar to what the President put out earlier
this year, which most of you are familiar with. If you
don't have copies of it, we can obtain it for you.
Q
Will you take questions on that now?
MR. CHENEY: I will be happy to go back and take
your questions after I run through it all.
That process, obviously, continued up. through
last night. That is in virtually every case -- and Ed
Schmults can address it more directly than I can -- we
received from those individuals who wished to be considered
the letter requested, plus the submission on the
attached materials.
I should back up here a minute because I left
out one step. In addition to the letter they were asked
to send in, the packet also included a very lengthy
questionnaire that dealt with such things as conflict of
interest, et cetera. It is a questionnaire that is
administered to everyone that the President selects to
he nominated to a Senate confirmed post.
It goes into great detail about the person's
background, financial records, et cetera. The candidates
submitted to us material that answered or referenced
those particular questions that were attached.
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- 4 -
Now, at the outset, our assumption had been that
that questionnaire would be used as guidance and those
individuals who did want to be considered would merely
compile the information and then hold it and at the appro-
priate point we would be able to sit down and go over it with
the individual potential candidate or his representative.
In fact, what happened during the process is
that virtually everyone was eager to comply and submitted
the materials to us rather than simply holding it and
waiting for us to come to them.
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- 5 -
Q
How many submitted the material?
MR. CHENEY: As I said previously, there were
approximately two dozen people on the list. A very few
indicated they did not wish to be considered. The rest all
submitted the materials. I would like to come back to
your questions after I finish the process.
In addition to that, while Phil Buchen and Ed
Schmults were reviewing the materials that were submitted
that related to those specific questions, we obviously also
were compiling -- and continued to compile the results
of our request for advice from Senators and Congressmen and
Governors and delegates. That process was actually managed
out of my office by two of my secretaries and an assistant
who works for me. We set up a special address at the White
House so the mail all came in was centralized and treated
on a confidential basis. It didn't go through the regular
mail system.
Those results were tabulated. Again, you will
remember when we asked those people, requested their advice,
to submit five names in priority order. That was the basic
format everyone followed when they came back to us, although
there were some exceptions. We got some advice as to who people
were against. We got other comments of various kinds. Some
people suggested we should pursue certain criteria in selecting
a running mate and so forth.
But for the most part, the advice we got in through
the mail did come in requested form; that is, five names
ranked in priority order. We tabulated those and kept a
running count for the President which was then made available
to him in his information in terms of his having the benefit
of the thinking of those people whose views were solicited.
In addition to that, over the course of that two-week
period of time, the President held a great many meetings.
Oftentimes, the meetings were on other subjects unrelated
to the Vice Presidency, but frequently, the question came
up from Members of Congress, delegates when he met with
groups of delegates, delegates when he talked with many
of them independently on the telephone, and other's advice
on the Vice Presidency throughout the week. I don't have
any count on the total number of people who, in a face-to-face
situation or on the telephone, gave advice to the President
on the subject. It was very extensive.
The process then came to a head, obviously, this
past week: that is to say, the week of the Convention. Ed
Schmults accompanied the President to Kansas City to be
available because he had been actively working on the
records and the qualifications and the credentials of those
people under consideration.
MORE
- 6 rea
That process continued right UD through this
week with Phil Buchen pursuing certain matters in Washington
and Ed Schmults pursuing certain matters here.
Last night, after the President was nominated,
as you all know, the President went to the Alameda Plaza,
met with Governor Reagan. They held a press briefing
afterwards at which they commented on that meeting.
After that, we returned to the Crown Center and met
with the -- first of all, he went to the rally downstairs
and then he met upstairs with the Notification Committee.
It is a formal panel established by the Convention that
formally notified the President of his nomination.
That group basically included regional whips,
party leaders. people who have been helpful in his nomination
process.
He also solicited from them their views on the
Vice Presidency, and they offered them.
At the end of that meeting, the President began
a session at approximately 3:15 with a group of advisers
to discuss where he felt he was at that point in terms of
making a decision. The individuals who actually participated
in that meeting on a continuous basis included, in addition
to the President, Vice President Rockefeller, Senator Griffin,
Senator Tower of Texas, Stu Spencer, Bob Teeter, Counsellor
Jack Marsh, Bryce Harlow, Mel Laird and myself.
I want to make, as strongly as I can, one important
point here and that is that that meeting was in fact the
culmination of a great many meetings that went before.
Obviously, we would have liked to have been ablè to include
large numbers of other people, we simply didn't have time
or the space to accommodate them. But based on the prior
consultations the President had, we did feel we had touched on
a lot of bases and this was the group the President chose
to sit down with, weigh the pros and cons and discuss the
various options and alternatives before him.
That meeting ran until approximately 5:00 a.m. We
adjourned at that point and agreed that we would reconvene
this morning at 9:30. A final decision was not made last
night. Rather, we weighed the options and alternatives,
argued and debated the merits of various potential candidates
and then basically slept on it without having made a final
decision.
MORE
7
We reconvened again this morning at approximately
9:35. Within the course of the next hour, after again
renewing the debate and the discussion, I would say
approximately after 10 a.m. this morning, the President
made a decision and announced to the group that he
had decided that he wished to nominate Senator Dole.
He then called at approximately 10:30 a.m. Senator
Dole, informed him of his decision, asked him to accept
his post as running mate and asked him to come to the hotel.
At approximately 10:40, he called Governor Reagan
and informed Governor Reagan of his decision. Governor
Reagan indicated, as the President said earlier this morning
when he was down to introduce Senator Dole, that he thought
it was a good selection and that he would support it.
At approximately 10:55, he called John Connally
to inform him of his decision. At approximately 10:55 ---
these are approximate times and they are fairly close, I
believe and if I am off a minute or two, don't hold me to
them at approximately 11 a.m. he called Senator Howard
Baker, also.
Sometime, I believe, around 11:20 or 11:25 a.m.,
Senator Dole arrived in the Hotel with his wife. He met
alone with the President in the office upstairs, briefly, then
met with others who had been involved in the group in the
decision last night, including Vice President Rockefeller,
and so forth. Senator Laxalt also came to the office this
morning around 11:30 a.m. and met with the group assembled
upstairs and then we proceeded downstairs where the
President announced his decision.
That is a fairly detailed outline of the pro-
cess we went through. I am sure you have some questions.
I will try to answer them. Let's take them one at a time.
Q
Can you tell us how much the alcoholic problem,
the former problem of Senator Baker's wife, figured
in his not being selected?
MR. CHENEY: No, I will not.
Let me explain something for a minute. please, so
we get the ground rules established at the outset. The
process we went through to review the credentials and
qualifications of every candidate was as I have described
them. With respect to the specific questions involving
a particular individual who was or was not a candidate,
obviously. I don't think it is proper to get into that.
We did check, make reference checks, with a number of
people on several different candidates. We did pursue
individually with them in some cases specific questions we
had, but I will not, because, again, I don't feel it is
appropriate for me to comment on why any one particular
individual out of those some two dozen ultimately was
eliminated and Senator Dole was selected.
MORE
8 : :
Q
Can you describe this generally as a debate
or was it a process of gradual elimination? In other words,
did you eliminate certain candidates as you went along
and narrow the list down to a few?
MR. CHENEY: I think, to be precise and accurate
about it, the President did not communicate to anyone until
after he had been to the Alameda Plaza last night, a sense
of a reduced list from the original two dozen we started
with,
He obviously had thought about the subject a great
deal as he received advice both verbally and in writing
from people over the last two weeks. I think it would be
fair to say that through that process he mentally went through
the exercise of reducing down the list and eliminating some
people, but he did not convey or communicate that reduction
to anyone. By the time we got down to the meeting this
morning, it was quite clear, from the names that were discussed
in a serious manner, that the President had in his own mind
significantly reduced the list before the debate started.
Q
To how many?
MR. CHENEY: I would say there were a few discussed
this morning.
Q
When, when you say "this morning"?
MR. CHENEY: I am saying early this morning,
approximately 3:15.
Q
A few, like five?
MR. CHENEY: That is a fairly accurate statement.
Again, from time to time, a particular individual would
suggest someone whose name would crop UD. That would be
discussed and debated, then dropped, and we would move
on to someone else. Don't hold me to the total number of
names, but it was roughly on that order they were given
very serious consideration.
One at a time.
Yes. Phil.
C
On that survey that the President took from
approximately 5,000 different individuals where did Senator
Dole rank?
?
Question?
MR. CHENEY: The specific question was : where did
Senator Dole rank in this survey we made of delegates,
alternates and others.
MORE
9 "
I think it would be an accurate statement to say he
had more support than some and less than others. (Laughter)
I don't have the exact numbers. We indicated at the
time we started that the process that that material was being
submitted in confidence and we did not anticipate we would
make public hard numbers.
Yes, Helen?
Q
How much impact did it have?
MR. CHENEY: I think it was an important considera-
tion because it did in fact give us a sense of the mood and
the attitude of the Republican Party of the delegates to the
Convention and a feeling that not only were they part of the
process but that it was a very useful and healthy exercise
for us to be able to thumb through by various categories
and be able to identify supporters of potential candidates.
It was a factor but clearly not the only factor.
Yes, Jim.
Q
You don't want to talk about people who were
not chosen, but will you discuss with us some of the grounds
on which Senator Dole was chosen?
MR. CHENEY: I certainly will.
0
For instance, the fact it is generally conceded
he is considered to be a very hard campaigner, a very good
speaker, a very hard-driving campaigner, was that a factor?
If so, how heavy was it and what were the other factors?
MR. CHENEY: It certainly was a factor in the con-
sideration. Again, in terms of weighing these things and
quantifying them, this factor is worth two points, that one
is worth ten it is not that kind of a process. Those
attributes of Senator Dole that figured prominently
in the discussion and I think in the President's final
conclusion were, one, a feeling that he was a very ex-
perienced man, a man who had served some 15 years in the
House and the United States Senate and that he had served
his party as National Chairman. that he was a man who is a good
speaker, who is a very effective campaigner. that he is a
tough-minded man and that he is bright, able and fully qualified
to be President of the United States.
I
Obviously, there were other considerations.
think I have touched on most of them.
Yes, Marty.
MORE
10 -
Q
I take it then from what you have said that
the President never did offer the Vice Presidency to Ronald
Reagan? Is that accurate, and can you tell me if there was
discussion and if you now think it is at all possible that
there will be a draft Reagan movement?
MR. CHENEY: Marty, with respect to the first
part of your question, which was whether or not the
President offered the Vice Presidency to Governor Reagan,
I can't add anything beyond what was stated last night at the
conclusion of their meeting when they met with the press at
the Alameda Plaza. They said at that time that they had
agreed that the contents of that discussion would be treated
as a private matter and I am simply unable to add beyond
that.
Q
Would you like to deal with the second part
of the question, the possibility that there might be a draft
Reagan movement?
MR. CHENEY: It is my understanding that Governor
Reggan has indicated that he supports the Dole selection,
that he does not wish to be a candidate, and I have every
reason to expect that tonight the Convention will in fact
nominate Senator Dole as the President's running mate.
Q
Was there discussion at the later stages of
the open Convention giving the delegates the choice? Was
that course recommended to the President, and was that
discussed at any length?
MR. CHENEY: That recommendation was made, but not
in that small group I have named. It was a recommendation
we received from time to time, including ones as late as
yesterday. It was an idea that surfaced periodically.
Q
Question?
MR. CHENEY: The question specifically was, was
there ever a recommendation to the President to throw the
nomination open to the Convention? I indicated there
was such a recommendation, that it came in on more than one
occasion from various people over the course of the last
several weeks.
Most recently it was a recommendation that was
received from at least one individual late yesterday but
not within the context of the 3:15 meeting I described
previously.
Q
When will you get the medical and financial
records?
MR. CHENEY: We haven't set a date, but I am sure
it will be in the near future.
Yes, Dick?
MORE
- 11 -
Q
Can you be a little more specific and give
us some reconstruction of the moment in the meeting this
morning -- the second meeting -- when the President came
to his decision? Did it come in the middle of a conver-
sation? Did he pause? Did he go out of the room? What
did he specifically say at the time? How did he reach the
decision?
Q
Question?
MR. CHENEY: The question was if I could provide
a little bit more detail regarding the specific point at
which the President reached the decision this morning that
he wanted to name Senator Dole.
My recollection of it, Dick, is that it seemed
clear to me when the President opened the meeting this
morning -- and again I would be hard put to specify why;
it was a sense or feeling as much as anything -- that he had
pretty well moved in his own mind in the direction of
picking Senator Dole, primarily because he began to ask
the group what they thought.
Again, his name obviously had been discussed
previously, and he, in effect, solicited the views of those
people around the table with respect to the Senator.
Q
I mean, the Senator alone, he didn't mention
any other names, just Dole's?
MR. CHENEY: No, there were other names discussed
this morning, but I think it would be fair to characterize
this morning's meeting as zeroing in on Senator Dole.
Q
That was at the 9:30 meeting?
MR. CHENEY: Yes.
Q
Let him finish.
MR. CHENEY: I think that is about it, Dick.
There was a sense, a mood, in the meeting. The focus of
the meeting this morning clearly predominated. Senator
Dole was the predominant figure discussed, if you
will. I believe there were some other names discussed
but there was a sense in the room that that was the direction
in which the President was moving and also that the bulk of
those people there agreed with that selection.
Yes, Walt?
MORE
- 12 -
Q
Often when you were discussing the Vice
Presidential choices, it was often thought the President
would have to have some with geographical balance, like
someone from the West Coast, someone from the Northeast,
perhaps someone from the South. Does the fact that the
President, who is a midwesterner, chose someone who is also
a midwesterner mean that you.don't think geographic balance
is all that important on the ticket?
Will you give us some idea of what the discussions
were by having a Michigander and a Kansan on there, and
why you didn't go Northeast or South, something like
that?
MR. CHENEY: The point was raised, Walt, not only
with respect to Senator Dole but to others. I think it
would be fair to say there was a general feeling clearly
that it was not a factor that outweighed others under
consideration; that is to say, there were other character-
istics or qualities that were far more important in the
decision than the question of geography:
Q
Can you tell us why the President called John
Connally and as a follow up, how were the other finalists
notified they were no longer under consideration?
Q
Question?
MR. CHENEY: The question is, why did the
President call John Connally --
Q
And Senator Baker.
MR. CHENEY: -- and Senator Baker and how were the
other potential candidates notified?
I think he felt specifically that he wanted to
call John Connally and Senator Baker. I am not certain
why specifically he singled them out. We obviously were
working on a short time frame by the time we made the
decision. We did want to hold the press conference by
noon, if we could do SO. By this time it was approximately
10:30 when Senator Dole was contacted and we simply didn't
have time, if we were to keep our public schedule, to
contact all the people we would have like to.
A number of other people were called, as I
mentioned earlier, by those individuals who were in the
group who had been consulted so that meant like Senator
Tower, Mel Laird and others did fan out to the telephones and
call a number of people to notify them of the decision.
Yes, Rudy?
MORE
- 13 -
Q
Two unrelated questions. One, why wasn't
the President's campaign chairman involved in these' two
meetings, and the other is on the recommendations to leave
the nomination to the Convention, did the President ever
really seriously consider that or was it dismissed out of
hand?
MR. CHENEY: The first question is with respect
to Rog Morton's participation in the process. Rog was
in the first meeting held when we returned from the Alameda
Plaza with the regional whips and the notification committee
that I mentioned earlier.
Secondly, I believe, if I am correct, Rudy, you
asked how seriously we considered the suggestion of leaving
it up to the Convention to select and not make a recommen-
dation.
It was considered courteously, I think I would say.
The President has felt all along and has stated, I think
fairly consistently, that he feels an obligation and has
felt an obligation to the Convention with respect to his
nominee. I would characterize his feeling in that area very
much the way I would his feeling that he should never let
a piece of legislation become law without his signature.
If you will check back, the President has never
let a bill become law without signing it. He feels very
strongly that he has an obligation to address the issues
in the bill, and either sign it or veto it, but not to take
a pass. I think he felt he would have been to some extent
abdicating his responsibilities as the President and as
the nominee of the party had he failed to make a recommen-
dation to the Convention.
Yes, Aldo?
Q
Did Governor Reagan have veto power over
any candidate, over the Vice Presidential nominee?
Q
Question.
MR. CHENEY: The question by Mr. Beckman of the
Tribune is whether or not Governor Reagan had veto power
over the selection.
Again, I don't want to be misleading here at
all, obviously. What transpired last night in the meeting
has been determined by Governor Reagan and the President
to be basically a private matter which they have not dis-
cussed.
To say that anyone, however, in a general sense
had a veto power over the President's selection I think
would be inaccurate. We did consult with Governor
Reagan.
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- 14 -
Q
You didn't?
MR. CHENEY: I say the President did consult
with Governor Reagan. Obviously that was the,purpose of the
trip last night. The nature of what transpired in that
meeting is something that either one of them will have
to talk about because no one else was present.
The Governor did indicate, as I said earlier,
that he thought the selection was a good one and that he
would support Senator Dole.
Yes?
Q
On the question of ideology, President Ford
is perceived as a Conservative; Senator Dole is a Conser-
vative. How areyou going to square this appointment, this
selection, with themoderate wing of the party? Would
you say ideology, like geography, was not a factor?
Q Question?
MR. CHENEY: The question went to the issue --
correct me if I mistake your question, but I would like to
shorten it a little bit -- to the issue of philosophical
balance, if you will, that the President is a Conservative
or pe-ceived as a Conservative, Senator Dole is perceived
as a Conservative, and why was that done. ; Was that treated,
in effect. a little bit like geography going with Michigan
and Kansas?
MORE
15 F I
Q
Was that a concession to the Reagan forces?
MR. CHENEY: No, I don't think it is a concession
at all. I think it is the selection of the man best
qualified to serve as President of the United States and,
therefore, as the President's Vice President in the case.
The President has said all along that he anticipated
that he would select someone who was philosophically
compatible with his own views, both with respect to domestic
and foreign policy and I believe Senator Dole perfectly fits
that criteria.
Q
You said that Senator Dole was outranked in
the survey by some but ranked ahead of others.
MR. CHENEY: Correct.
Q
Also, we were told a couple of days ago that
in the tabulation it narrowed down to some five or six persons
in terms of popularity -- not popularity -- but it had been
narrowed down to five or six. Was he within that group of
five or so?
MR. CHENEY: Bob, to my knowledge, no one has seen
that chart except myself and the President and a few people
who prepared it, who worked for me. I don't think there
has ever been, to my knowledge, a report to the effect
that it narrowed down to five or six. What it was was a long
list of people with the names down the side and numbers
horizontally across. We had columns across the top labeled
one, two, three. four, five, that represented first, second
and through fifth choices. Then, in the box for Bob Dole. for
example, under one would be the total number of first-place
votes he received, and then number two, the total number of
second place, and so forth. But I don't believe we have ever
put out any statement which could be accurately characterized
as indicating that the list narrowed down to five or six
based on the survey.
Q
Was there any opposition to the Senator in that
meeting early this morning and, if so, by whom and what was
the focus of it?
MR. CHENEY: Again, I think I have described, in general,
the tenor and tone of the meeting and the nature of the dis-
cussions that took place. However, I would refrain - from
commenting upon specific advice given to the President. That
kind of meeting, it seems to me, he benefits from having a wide
range of viewpoints presented to him and for me to discuss
that would, in effect, be to violate a confidence.
MORE
16 i E
I would state it would be very accurate to
characterize the decision to name Senator Dole as having
very wide support in that group.
Q
Mr. Cheney, wasn't it a consideration with
picking a vigorous campaigner such as Senator Dole that
the President could go more into fulfilling his duties as
President rather than campaigning?
MR. CHENEY: I wouldn't state it quite in those
terms. It was obviously a consideration in the course of
the dialogue and the discussion of the merits of the relative
candidates, their overall ability as a candidate, their ability
to speak, their ability to articulate issues, to advocate
effectively our cause and our philosophy and our beliefs.
Certainly, Senator Dole has those qualities in
abundance and, I think, it would be accurate to say that that
is one of the reasons why he had extensive support in the
course of the discussion.
Q
Will Mrs. Dole resign from the FTC?
MR. CHENEY: That issue has come up and not
yet been resolved. Obviously, we will do whatever is
appropriate.
Q
There was some talk last fall the farmers
were mad at the President because of the grain embargo. How
much consideration was given to the fact Dole is a farmbelt
Senator and has some support from the farmers in his selection
as Vice President?
MR. CHENEY: Again, so I can be very precise, the
relative weight of the various factors and qualifications
discussed was something the President had to determine and
I don't know any way to quantify that process in terms of
how much various attributes counted.
I think it would be accurate to say that there were
those who argued that the Senator's strong background in, and
knowledge of, agricultural policy matters was an asset which
should be considered in the course of evaluating his quali-
fications.
I would like to take about two more questions
and then I have to go back to work.
Yes, Bob.
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Q
Could you clear up for us once and for all
during this consulting process, was Leon Jaworski ever
contacted by anyone in the White House and, if so, in
reference to what candidate?
MR. CHENEY: No, Bob, and I am afraid I can't
clarify that for you. As I said previously, what we did,
we contacted each of the people on the list. We asked
them, in addition to commiting to make public certain
information, to authorize us to contact third parties, which
we felt was only proper, with respect to checking out their
credentials and qualifications.
We also believe that that process should have
taken place in confidence, and has, and I don't think it would
be appropriate for me to get into the business of character-
izing who we contacted or about which individuals they
were contacted.
One more question.
Q
To clarify the early morning chronology,
how long were Chairman Morton, the whips and the notifica-
tion committee present in this meeting? I assume they
didn't stay until 5:00 a.m.
MR. CHENEY: That is correct. They were in the
hotel upstairs when we returned from the Alameda Plaza.
They were brought into the President's office upstairs on
the 18th floor. The President met them, thanked them for
their work and among other things autographed their caps.
This group included those people who worked the
floor for us with the red and yellow baseball caps.
Most of them asked him to autograph those caps.
Then they sat down around the room. It was a fairly large
group, and the President sat on the desk facing the group
in a half-circle around him and told them in effect that he
had a very important decision, obviously, to make last
night and he would like their views and advice on the Vice
Presidency.
Rog Morton and a great many other people were part
of that group. I don't want to leave anybody out, but
examples of people in the group included such people as Paul
Haerle from California, Bob Michel from Illinois, Harry Dent
from South Carolina, Tom Milligan of Indiana, Edward Weldon
of Alabama, and others.
If you look at the notification committee list of
the people who notified the President last night, which I
am sure we can produce for you and add into it others who
were a part of that operation on the floor, that is the group
that was in there. I would say they were in there for 30
to 45 minutes for the course of this discussion.
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- 18 -
One more, and then I have to depart.
Q
Was Watergate and the milk scandal considered
at all in ruling people out in the selection process?
MR. CHENEY: As I said previously, I mean
specifically, I will not get into the business of
commenting upon what specific reasons led to the
exclusion of any one individual.
Thank you all very much.
THE PRESS: Thank you.
END
(AT 4:15 P.M. CDT)