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From Koch to Colson RE: Congressional and RNC support for RN in the campaign. Handwritten note added by unknown. 3 pgs. [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 3/13/1972
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WHSF: Contested, 3-27
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WHSF: Contested, 3-27
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This file contains:
From Koch to Colson RE: Congressional and RNC support for RN in the campaign. Handwritten note added by unknown. 3 pgs. [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], 3/13/1972
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Richard M. Nixon's Returned Materials Collection
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Richard Nixon Presidential Library
Contested Materials Collection
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3
27
3/13/1972
Campaign
Memo
From Koch to Colson RE: Congressional and
RNC support for RN in the campaign.
Handwritten note added by unknown. 3 pgs.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Page 1 of 1
MEMORANDUM
Diax
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
March 13, 1972
TO: CHUCK COLSON
juis
hundwe heing
FROM: NOEL KOCH
SUBJECT: Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1
(Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
Hotspur:
Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they
come when you do call for them? )
1. The present effort to enlist Congress in public support of the President
has progressed to a point where its potential success is jeopardized by the
failure to provide the means to promote this effort and the means to
provide any effort to consolidate and sustain it.
It is essential to the workings of my operation that I have a
knowledgeable and reliable and loyal person at the Republican National
Committee who can manage matters as relatively uncomplicated as setting
up a press conference when asked, and who will provide the means to
promote the statements, speeches, etc. that I bring out of the Congress.
Because we have yet to get such a person, we have not yet begun
to realize even the full value of the relatively little that is now produced.
The Spotmaster is never used, it is infeasible for me to go after one-shot
statements because these require as much trouble to move through the
RNC as a full dress attack, we have none of the connections that can get
a man up to the gallerys when we want it, to mention a few matters.
Without belaboring the events surrounding the Dole press conference,
it should be noted that what transpired was the norm not something
unusual. That effort, however, succeeded in spite of everything. Another
effort that did not succeed was the attack on Anderson mounted by Goldwater
and Fannin. I got Tony Smith back on board, and I went to Fannin for the
first time. Both offices issued extremely strong statements for us, both
EYES ONLY
2
were led to believe we'd get them out rather that I would get them
out and neither statement ever surfaced. The only thing I have to get
these people to help us is that they believe me when I tell them something,
and that I accomplish what I say I'll accomplish -- which is to get their
statements, speeches, et al, in the media.
In the present circumstances, I have the responsibility for all this
without authority of my own to take the necessary steps to get the job done
-- and without any apparent supporting authority to take the necessary
steps for me.
2. I have tried, unsuccessfully, to get a man at the RNC that I know is
good, and that I know will be loyal to the people he needs to be loyal to in
this operation -- namely the President, the Chairman, Colson and Koch
in that order. Last Friday, I was told they were interviewing him (Dunlap)
for the job of Executive Director of the Committee to Re-Elect the President.
This is a measure of his capacities -- and a measure of what we may be
losing.
In the same period of time, others (none of whom have to deal with
the man in that position in any consequential way) have successfully blocked
Dunlap and have sought to promote one of their cronies. I would seriously
urge the creation of a fund for the support of hacks who can't get jobs, but
need $35 thousand annual incomes by virtue of their association with other
hacks who can't get themselves re-elected. This is not directed to the
specific case, but would as a general rule be beneficial and save money in
the long run by permitting the hiring of competant people, and eliminating
the time wasted in dilatory maneuvering such as has kept the Buttram
candidacy alive and kept Dunlap out.
I want to renew my request that Dunlap be interviewed by the
competant people -- which excludes a lot who have already interviewed
Buttram -- and failing in the effort to retain him, that we give priority to
the search for additional candidates for the job.
EYES ONLY
3
3. The effort to get a place in the mess seems, despite the passage of two
promised deadlines, to be unproductive. I appreciate the need to accomodate
the burgeoning White House nobility, but I think there is a reasonable
distinction to be drawn between those who belong to the mess as a matter
of "prestige", and those who can use it to good advantage professionally,
for want of a better word. Some part of my job is spent getting people to
do things they don't really think they want to do. They often feel they are
owed something -- some are more ambitious in their desires than others,
wanting Presidential hearings and such, but generally the relationships
require simply a modest bit of massaging. In the absence of this, everytime
I go up there, I go up cold -- relationships are conducted on a project basis,
in the office or on the phone, and are not sustained. I think all this is
fairly clear -- the single point is that my operation would prosper considerably,
and would be considerably easier for me, if I could invite the various members
of Congress, or their staffs for lunch. As a token of good faith, I am willing
to accept whatever screwy method might be devised to insure that I am using
the mess for the objective stated, and not for such frivolous purposes as
simply sitting down and eating lunch.
EYES ONLY