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This file contains:
Memo from RN to Bob Haldeman RE: Six Crises. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Copy of a memo from RN to John Ehrlichman regarding a political comeback. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to Gerry Van der Heuvel asking for a book on First Ladies for PN, Tricia Nixon, Lucy Winchester, and der Heuvel. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to John Ehrlichman asking for him to deal with the mass of golf balls he received for Christmas. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to Bob Haldeman regarding pictures being circulated. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to Bob Haldeman RE: Pearson columns. Handwritten notes added by unknown. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Copy of a memo from Rose Mary Woods to Bob Haldeman RE: memo dictated by RN. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to John Mitchell, Bob Finch, Bryce Harlow, Pat Moynihan, and Bob Haldeman RE: New York welfare. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Copy of a memo from RN to John Ehrlichman RE: Moyniham memo. 2 pgs. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to Henry Kissinger and Bob Haldeman asking for better foreign policy officials within the White House. 2 pgs. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to Bob Haldeman RE: potential political appointments. 3 pgs. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Copy of a memo from RN to Bob Haldeman and Moynihan regarding Moynihan's memo. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Copy of a memo from Daniel P. Moynihan to RN regarding the "urban crisis." 7 pgs. [Memo], 1/9/1969
Memo from RN to Don Hughes asking for him to arrange transportation for Vice President Humphrey. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to Rose Mary Woods RE: letter to Pat Brown. Contains response by Woods and handwritten notes added by unknown. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
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26125888
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WHSF: Returned, 1-43
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document
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1
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26125888
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document
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WHSF: Returned, 1-43
description
This file contains:
Memo from RN to Bob Haldeman RE: Six Crises. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Copy of a memo from RN to John Ehrlichman regarding a political comeback. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to Gerry Van der Heuvel asking for a book on First Ladies for PN, Tricia Nixon, Lucy Winchester, and der Heuvel. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to John Ehrlichman asking for him to deal with the mass of golf balls he received for Christmas. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to Bob Haldeman regarding pictures being circulated. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to Bob Haldeman RE: Pearson columns. Handwritten notes added by unknown. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Copy of a memo from Rose Mary Woods to Bob Haldeman RE: memo dictated by RN. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to John Mitchell, Bob Finch, Bryce Harlow, Pat Moynihan, and Bob Haldeman RE: New York welfare. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Copy of a memo from RN to John Ehrlichman RE: Moyniham memo. 2 pgs. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to Henry Kissinger and Bob Haldeman asking for better foreign policy officials within the White House. 2 pgs. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to Bob Haldeman RE: potential political appointments. 3 pgs. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Copy of a memo from RN to Bob Haldeman and Moynihan regarding Moynihan's memo. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Copy of a memo from Daniel P. Moynihan to RN regarding the "urban crisis." 7 pgs. [Memo], 1/9/1969
Memo from RN to Don Hughes asking for him to arrange transportation for Vice President Humphrey. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
Memo from RN to Rose Mary Woods RE: letter to Pat Brown. Contains response by Woods and handwritten notes added by unknown. 1 pg. [Memo], 1/15/1969
citationUrl
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Richard M. Nixon's Returned Materials Collection
Returned White House Special Files
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26125888
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Richard Nixon Presidential Library
White House Special Files Collection
Folder List
Box Number
Folder Number
Document Date
Document Type
Document Description
1
43
01/15/1969
Memo
Memo from RN to Bob Haldeman RE: Six
Crises. 1 pg.
1
43
01/15/1969
Memo
Copy of a memo from RN to John
Ehrlichman regarding a political comeback. 1
pg.
1
43
01/15/1969
Memo
Memo from RN to Gerry Van der Heuvel
asking for a book on First Ladies for PN,
Tricia Nixon, Lucy Winchester, and der
Heuvel. 1 pg.
1
43
01/15/1969
Memo
Memo from RN to John Ehrlichman asking
for him to deal with the mass of golf balls he
received for Christmas. 1 pg.
1
43
01/15/1969
Memo
Memo from RN to Bob Haldeman regarding
pictures being circulated. 1 pg.
1
43
01/15/1969
Memo
Memo from RN to Bob Haldeman RE:
Pearson columns. Handwritten nsotes added
by unknown. 1 pg.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Page 1 of 3
Box Number Folder Number Document Date
Document Type
Document Description
1
43
01/15/1969
Memo
Copy of a memo from Rose Mary Woods to
Bob Haldeman RE: memo dictated by RN. 1
pg.
1
43
01/15/1969
Memo
Memo from RN to John Mitchell, Bob Finch,
Bryce Harlow, Pat Moynihan, and Bob
Haldeman RE: New York welfare. 1 pg.
1
43
01/15/1969
Memo
Copy of a memo from RN to John
Ehrlichman RE: Moyniham memo. 2 pgs.
1
43
01/15/1969
Memo
Memo from RN to Henry Kissinger and Bob
Haldeman asking for better foreign policy
officials within the White House. 2 pgs.
1
43
01/15/1969
Memo
Memo from RN to Bob Haldeman RE:
potential political appointments. 3 pgs.
1
43
01/15/1969
Memo
Copy of a memo from RN to Bob Haldeman
and Moynihan regarding Moynihan's memo.
1 pg.
1
43
01/09/1969
Memo
Copy of a memo from Daniel P. Moynihan to
RN regarding the "urban crisis." 7 pgs.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Page 2 of 3
Box Number Folder Number Document Date
Document Type
Document Description
1
43
01/15/1969
Memo
Memo from RN to Don Hughes asking for
him to arrange transportation for Vice
President Humphrey. 1 pg.
1
43
01/15/1969
Memo
Memo from RN to Rose Mary Woods RE:
letter to Pat Brown. Contains response by
Woods and handwritten notes added by
unknown. 1 pg.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Page 3 of 3
X
January 15, 1969
BOB HALDEMAN
Originally RN dictated this memo to Finch and Moynihan and
then added Mitchell and Harlow.
----
He said to put on your copy: I want a report on what has
happened on this memorandum within two weeks after January
20.
rmw.
January 15, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
John Mitchell
Bob Finch
Bryce Harlow
Pat Moynihan
CC: Bob Haldeman
FROM:
RN
This New York welfare mess is probably typical
of a problem which exists all over the country. I want a
thorough investigation made, with all the resources that we
have at our disposal, so that we can set the stage for what
we have to do later in cutting some of these purely political
programs. You will get a lot of nonsense from the establishment
in the departments that this is "chicken feed," etc., --this,
of course, is the line that Lindsay and his people take -- but
the American people are outraged and, in my view, they should
be.
I would like Harlow to discuss this with the
appropriate legislative leaders on our side to see if they can
get cooperation from some good investigating committee to look
into this whole matter. Possibly John McClellan might appoint
a special sub-committee to investigate the welfare programs.
I do not want this swept under the rug or put aside on
the ground that we want to have an "era of good feeling" with
the bureaucrats as we begin. This whole thing smells to high
heaven and we should get charging on it immediately.
January 15, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Bob Haldeman
FROM:
RN
With regard to the pictures that are to be
sent around to the government departments and to the
embassies abroad, I would like to see three or four of the
best Halseman prints blown up into the size that will
eventually be used. I have found that a blown up picture
may took very different than the smaller one.
January 15, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
John Ehrlichman
FROM:
RN
In the memento department - I note that I have
received a hundred or so "Mr. President" golf balls for
Christmas.
I would suggest that you see if Don Carnevale
could find an inexpensive way to mount a ball on a plaque
and then, with an appropriate inscription, I would give it to
people who come in who happen to be golfers. For example, the
inscription might be" "To be used only for a hole-n-one with
best wishes from Richard Nixon."
You will remember the golf ball that I have in my
office downtown - I don't recall that it was mounted in such a
way that it would be useful in this case but check it out and
work something inexpensive out if you think it is advisable.
January 15, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Gerry Van der Heuvel
FROM:
RN
I think it would be helpful if you would get
the best book on First Ladies - as well as the best book on
the history of entertainment in the White House and see that
Mrs. Nixon, Tricia and Lucy Winchester, as well as yourself,
have copies.
Along this line there may be an outstanding
magazine article on the role of the First Lady as well as one
on the White House background.
Don't get a whole mass of material together but
be discriminating in picking out the very best which might be
read with profit by those involved.
January 15, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
John Ehrlichman
FROM:
RN
In talking with the PR and Research groups you might
indicate one effective way to get the come-back story told
would be to suggest a book or a major article entitled "The
Great Come-backs in American Political History," or if a
broader scope is desired -- "The Great Political Come-backs."
Limit it to major political figures, of course.
This could make a very exciting book or article if we
could get somebody of real stature to undertake it.
January 15, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Bob Haldeman
FROM:
RN
Sometime ago I asked for a check to be made
with regard to "Six Crises" - how many hard cover we still
have which can be used for autographing and the status with
regard to paperbacks on the new edition. Also, I would like
a report with regard to the ownership of both the hard cover
and paper back rights at this time.
January 15, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Bob Haldeman
FROM:
RN
and
I want you to ride herd on Klein to see that
someone is assigned to read the Pearson columns for the
purpose of determining whether anyone in the Administration
has violated my counsel for them not to talk to his people.
The one exception here, of course, is Rogers who is smart
enough to handle his situation.
The time to deal with this kind of problem is
right at the outset of an Administration rather than waiting
until we get burned.
January 15, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Bob Haldeman
FROM:
RN
RE:
Some Odds and Ends
Paul Smith at Whittier College should be put on
some kind of a commission. There is probably an historic
commission or something in connection with the Smithsonian.
Have someone check the commissions of this type and then make
an offer to him.
In that connection, the Pete Flanigan operation does
not coverfthis kind of appointment. What I would like to have
within a week after the Inauguration is a list of commissions
not requiring fulltime activity but which would mean something
from a prestige standpoint to those who receive the appointments.
There are at least 75 to 100 of these, according to my recollection.
Someone should get on this project before Johnson gets out or at
least find out who on the continuing White House staff would have
this kind of information. I want to change the membership of all
of these commissions wherever I have the option to do so and I
want to search around the country to see that people who want some
recognition, but who are too decent to ask for it, are properly
recognized. For example, I imagine there is some kind of a
commission that has to do with medical things -- I would like to put
Dr. DeLuccia on that commission.
Along the same lines, Whitney Stone would be a superb
- 2 -
appointment to any kind of a commission of this type. A check
should be made with John Alexander as to what Stone might like.
This is also a way to take care of people we were unable to give
fulltime appointments to.
With regard to the White House historian, I wonder
if there is any possibility we might get Hugh Sidey? He has done
some brilliant writing on the character of the Presidency and he
might see this as an opportunity to round out a distinguished
career on that subject. You rather than Klein - should make
the check in this case.
In the PR field - I think whe area where we have
fallen down the most is on the comeback theme. Would you get
Klein, Wilkinson, Garment, Ziegeder, et al to see what can be
done to get this story properly across. Incidentally, I have the
feeling that our whole PR operation has fallen between the stools
since the election. It seems to lack direction and purpose and
needs a thorough shake-up. For example, we ought to have a
recommendation as to what our PR line should be in the first year
of the Administration. This should come from the Garment group
and others who might have some kind of in-put, including the research
types, etc.
Along these same lines, the idea of a yougg staff, which
I was emphasizing In the latter weeks of the campaign, has failed
to come through at all except in the very early White House staff
appointments.
Also, we have not gotten through the fact that we have
cut substantially the size of the White House staff and some of
the extraordinary expenses. I want this handled in a way that it
- 3 -
will not embarrass Johnson personally but that this is simply
the RN method of operating.
On both of these subjects I want a progress memorandum
within a week after January 20.
The fact that this is a new Administration with young
men and new ideas; the fact that the President is setting a real
example of not only efficient operation, but of cutting down on
personnel. The fact that there is more brainpower in this a
Administration than any in twenty years. These are some ideas
that I want discussed with the PR group and ways found to get them
across. Obviously, one way is to get the top flight columnists
to write it and ahen send it around. Another and better way is to
get somebody to do a piece on Television. The press is nailing us
very effectively as being a rather efficient, colorless continuation
of the past Administration. This, incidentally, is our fault and
not theirs. They write this when we have failed to give them some-
thing to write.
Incidentally, I do not want a copy of this memorandum
that I am dictating sent around to anybody. It is to be handled
orally but very hard with all types involved so as to shake them up.
####
Original Rush marked
January 15, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Henry Kissinger/ Bob Haldeman
FROM:
RN
The major hole in our White House staff operation
is in our failure to have a man to whom I can refer people who
have foreign policy problems they want to bring to the attention
of the President. It is no answer to say that whenever such
problems are raised I refer them to the State Department people.
The kind of problems I am referring to have already been taken
up with State Department and the people who speak to me are
completely dissilusioned with the way State has been handling
the matter. I had four examples of this at the dinner for Maury
Stans: John King wanted to discuss some problems with regard to
the Mid-East. Tom Pappas wanted to discuss Greece and related
Mid-East problems. George Champion wanted to discuss his scheme
for a new approach to our aid programs in the Far East and South-
east Asia and several people had ideas on Vietnam. And, Max Fisher,
of course, had his Israeli ideas.
In each of these instances, I would not want to refer
the matter (the people) to Kissinger. On the other hand, we have
to have a man on the White House staff - or maybe even two - to
whom I can refer people of this type who have ideas and need to
have somebody to listen to them. My immediate reaction would be
to give Dick Allen this responsibility. At least he learned to
listen to this kind of complaint during the campaign.
- 2 -
I would like for Haldeman and Kissinger to discuss
this matter and give me a name so that a name will be available
to me by January 20.
Incidentally, this name should be available not
only to me but to everybody else on the White House staff. You
will find that at least fifty percent of all requests to talk
to RN will be in the foreign policy feeld and we simply have to
find a "listener" at the earliest possible time.
Along these same lines, I would like for Haldeman
to indicate to the whole White House staff, as well as to me,
who is to handle other subjects when inquiries are made.
####
January 15, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Don Hughes
FROM:
RN
Would you also, in addition to seeing that
Johnson has a plane to carry him back to Texas, arrange for
Vice President Humphrey to have a plane to take him to
Minnesota in the event he wants to go that dame day. As you
may recall, all that we had was an automobile for the balance
of the day.
I do not know what the situation is with regard to
Secret Service coverage for the Vice President after he leaves
office. My guess is that only the President is covered. I
think, however, that I have the right to issue an order in this
respect and if I do have that authority, I want Humphrey to
have a modest Secret Service coverage for a period of six months
after he leaves office.
(Don -- I believe Bob Haldeman and/or John Ehrlichman are the
ones who have been working out our problems, etc., with Secret
Service. rmw)
January 15, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Bob Haldeman
FROM:
RN
I want you to ride herd on Klein to see that
someone is assigned to read the Pearson columns for the
purpose of determining whether anyone in the Administration
has violated my counsel for them not to talk to his people.
The one exception here, of course, is Rogers who is smart
enough to handle his situation.
The time to deal with this kind of problem is
right at the, outset of an Administration rather than waiting
until we get burned.
January 16, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Bob Haldeman
FROM:
RN
I have expressed to Goodpastor, Kissinger, as
well as to John Mitchell, my concern with regard to the
personnel and operations of CIA. That is one of the reasons
I am looking for a second man who will not just be another
member of the CIA establishment.
Within three to four weeks of January 20, I would
like for you to pull together the thoughts that these and others
may have on CIA and also check to see what action can be taken
by Executive Order without being submitted to the Congress in
order to get it on the right track. Bob Murphy, incidentally,
should be consulted on this since he is a member of the over-all
national intelligence board. You will run into a great deal of
inertia and resistance because CIA has been investigated scores
of times and always comes out more ingrown and incestious than
ever. I am determined, however, to do something about it..
Have Harlow put Scoop Jackson on my appointment at an early date
because I want to discuss this with him.
(Bob -- RN actually said "Scoop Taylor" but I am sure it is
Senator Scoop Jackson. rmw)
January 15, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
John Ehrlichman
FROM:
RN
I want you to read the Moynihan memorandum on
the District of Columbia and give recommendations as to
what action we should take on each of the items. Obviously
a discussion both with John Mitchell and Moynihan in preparing
such recommendations would be in order. What, for example, we
do about the reorganization plan? The appointments to the City
Council and other items will be on our desk immediately after
January 20. The Congressional representation recommendation
is one I would accept. Rebuilding the city with xx black owner-
ship as recommended in Section 5, might provide a good test tube
experiment for some of our ideas on black capital.
The District of Columbia has always been an orphan
as far as proper government is concerned due in some part to the fact
that the committees in Congress in Congress are the lowest on
the totem pole and get pretty poor people on them as a result.
4
On the other hand, in terms of the "image" of an
Administration, nothing we do in any city across the country will
have more impact that what we do in the District of Columbia. Not
only the Washington papers - the Post and the Star and Daily News
will write about what happens there but also the Washington
correspondents for other papers who live in the Washington area
will either be impressed or critical of what we do.
- 2 -
In other words, while I have always felt that
the District was a pretty hopeless problem, it seems to me
that this is one area where we can't help but improve on what
our predecessors have done. Moynihan seems to have a very good
feel for it and I urge that his recommendations not be rejected
without proper consideration. The tendency is to simply go
along with things as they are - to patch over the problems. What
I am trying to convey is a sense of real urgency and interest
on my part. I would like to have the best District of Columbia
program -- one that I could present in a special message to the
Congress -- ready within 30 to 60 days after the Inaugural.
#####
rmw
January 15, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Bob Haldeman
cc: Moynihan
FROM:
RN
The Moynihan memorandum of January 9 on
urban problems should be made available to the research
team and to the Cabinet members who are on the Urban Affairs
Council. It should be emphasized in distributing this memorandum
and others like it, which will be coming in, that this is not a
final policy paper but the kind of incisive and stimulating
analysis which I think should constantly be brought to the
attention of policymakers. Be sure also that Garment gets a
copy of this memorandum and of others like it in the future.
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT-ELECT
Richard M. Nixon
Revised >
WASHINGTON, D.C.
9 January 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
The President Elect
FROM:
Daniel P. Moynihan
In the months ahead I will be harrassing you with details
of the "urban crisis." Whatever the urgency of the matters
I bring before you, I will be doing SO in an essentially
optimistic posture, which is to say that I will routinely
assume that our problems are manageable if only we will manage
them. This is the only position possible for government.
Yet, of course, it does not necessarily reflect reality. It
may be our problems are not manageable, or that we are not
capable of summoning the effort required to respond effectively.
It seems to me important that you know that there are responsible
persons who are very near to just that conclusion. (To be
sure, twenty years ago in many scientific/academic circles
it was taken as settled that the world would shortly blow itself
up, yet we are still here.)
I had thought to summarize the views of the apocalyptic
school, ranging in style as it does from the detached competence
-2-
of Lewis Mumford who for forty years had foretold the approach
of "Necropolis," the City of the Dead, all the way to the more
hysterical members of the New Left who assume that the only
thing that can save this civilization is for it to be destroyed.
However, I have just come upon a document that states the case
much more effectively than I might, being a summary of the views
of a group of careful men who recently met to discuss the state
of New York City. I am associated with a quarterly journal,
The Public Interest, which is devoting a special issue to New
York. On December 17 we assembled a group of city officials
and similarly informed persons for a day-long session at the
Century Club. (I could not be present owing to my new assignment.)
Paul Weaver, a young assistant professor of government at
Harvard, attended as a kind of rapporteur. Later he summarized
his impression of the meeting in terms that seem to me per-
suasive, and as he himself put it, "not a little chilling."
His central point -- an immensely disturbing one -- is
that the social system of American and British democracy that
grew up in the 18th and 19th century -- was able to be exceedingly
permissive with regard to public matters precisely because it
could depend on its citizens being quite disciplined with respect
to private ones. He speaks of "private sub-systems of au-
thority,' such as the family, church, and local community,
which regulated behavior, instilled motivation, etc., in such
-3-
a way as to make it unnecessary for the State to intervene in
order to protect "the public interest." More and more it
would appear these subsystems are breaking down in the immense
city of New York. If this should continue, democracy breaks
down.
To be sure, New York City is not America, etc. Yet my
discussions with District officials would suggest that things
are not that different in Washington, and in general, through-
out the nation trends are in the New York direction. (You may
have noted that Lindsay's next budget provides for 1.3 million
persons being on welfare by June 1970.)
What this comes to is the realization that much of what
is now termed "the crisis of the cities" is more a moral and
cultural crisis than a material one. Indeed it is frequently
the former that produces the latter. Weaver, for example,
refers to the "growing rate of building abandonment" in New York.
It would seem impossible that land in New York City could be-
come valueless, but this is true in the worst slums. Whole
"zones of abandonment" are growing up in Brooklyn, with owners
literally leaving their vandalized properties behind, much as
slum dwellers abandon junked automobiles on city streets.
Clearly material programs are a necessary condition of
reversing the trend of events, but they are not sufficient in
themselves. Somehow the country must come to understand the
-4-
Weaver
nature of its "urban crisis." This is the highest task of
leadership.
The key problem is that of late the rhetoric of "liberalism"
in its more narrow political sense, has become increasingly
hostile to those subsystems. As a result, "The thoroughly
liberal society
cannot know what makes it work."
Here is Weaver's summary of the day's discussion:
1. The social fabric of New York City is coming to
pieces. It isn't just "strained" and it isn't just
"frayed;" but like a sheet of rotten canvas, it is be-
ginning to rip, and it won't be too long until even a
moderate force will be capable of leaving it in shreds and
tatters. No doubt I'm being too apocalyptic. Still,
consider some of the evidence. Among a large and growing
lower class, self-reliance, self-discipline, and industry
are waning; a radical disproportion is arising between
reality and expectations concerning job, living standard,
and SO on; unemployment is high but a lively demand for
unskilled labor remains unmet; illegitimacy is increasing;
families are more and more matrifocal and atomized; crime
and disorder are sharply on the rise. There is, in short,
a progressive disorganization of society, a growing
pattern of frustration and mistrust. This, I take it, is
one of the reasons for the high and growing rate of
-5-
Weaver
building abandonment; the immediate area surrounding the
lot is such as to render the value of the land nil, even
for the potential resident owner. This general pathology,
moreover, appears to be infecting the Puerto Rican com-
munity as well as the Negro. (It is a stirring, if
generally unrecognized demonstration of the power of our
welfare machine.) A large segment of the population is
becoming incompetent and destructive. Growing parasitism,
both legal and illegal, is the result; so, also, is
violence.
2. Something comparable is happening in the political
arena. New York used to be the very model of moderate,
materialstic, incremental Madisonian politics. Only the
goo-goos challenged the whole system, but not out of
self-interest, and rarely intemperately. Otherwise,
participation was limited to the pursuit of limited self-
interest; live-and-let-live logrolling was both fact and
value; and conflict was avoided as much as possible. But
today, there is the "spirit of confrontation," in which
self-interest and a desire to change the system are merged
in groups which depend for their existence on pursuing a
"conflict" strategy. The result is that, to the extent
this pattern exists, political executives are less free
to determine the mix of (partly inconsistent) values and
-6-
Weaver
interests which best defines the public interest; public
tranquility is unsettled; and political cohesion is
threatened. The consequence is to increase the tension
between responsibility and responsiveness in government.
Thus, Lindsay orders a "no-arrest" policy at precisely the
point when law and order are manifestly in decay; it
"cools" the city "off" in the short run but may heat it
up in the long run. The general problem is whether re-
presentative government can maintain a country or city
which is divided against itself and which discounts its
long-term interest SO heavily.
3, Are we then witnessing the ultimate, destructive
working out of the telos of liberal thought? The viability
of liberal thought rested on the ability of the country
which adopted it to be largely self-regulating, self-main-
taining, and self-improving. As long as the typical individual
was formed and directed in socially useful ways by the
more or less autonomous operations of private subsystems
of authority, a government which permitted great freedom
and engaged largely in the negative and peripheral activity
of the umpire was possible. It was also possible for
citizen and statesman to live with a rhetoric which denied
the existence, functions, and basis of those private
subsystems. Being traditional, those subsystems were
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Weaver
(on the rhetoric's terms) "irrational;" being particular-
istic, they were not "universal;" constituting and maintaining
differences among men, they fostered "inequality;" and
forming character and directing energy as they did, they
were "authoritarian." The thoroughly liberal. society,
in short, cannot know what makes it work. Now, in parts
of New York City, those subsystems are absolutely breaking
down. At the same time, the rhetoric is getting an ever
stronger and more blinding grip on "informed" opinion as
well as on partisan opinion. The rhetoric leads to
policies which actually hasten the dissolution of the
subsystems.
That the society is breaking down means that the
liberal state will no longer do. It must, on pain of
anarchy or civil war, be replaced by a regime which ex-
plicitly recognizes the necessity of the subsystems and
which is prepared to create substitutes for those subsystems
when they breakdown. Our problem is that informed opinion
is moving in precisely the opposite direction.
4. All of which is to say that we are moving from
Locke to Hobbes. This does not mean we need the Leviathan
because the war of all against all is still confined to
one segment of the population. There are plenty of public
spirited and peaceful people around. But their opinions
need to be changed, and the resources of their government
increased, or at least centralized.
January 15, 1969
MEMORANDUM
TO:
RMW
Mamo's
FROM:
RN
In trying to clean up the afx odds and ends
of mail there was one folder of congrats which included a letter
from Pat Brown. I think I either answered these or left them
out for answers. The way to make sure is to see whether the
letter to Pat Brown went out. Let me know if it did not.
YES YOU WROTE A LETTER TO PAT BROWN AND SEVERAL
SIMILAR TYPES AT THE SAME TIME. YOU PUT THEM ON A TAPE.
rmwoods
1/16/69