Fair Game

...The Congress knows if it impeaches him, it gets me...

...Agnew: At present, of course, I alone stand between the President, whatever his name is, and impeachment...

...Goodman: And how about you, Senator...

...Goodman: Do you feel that your contribution to the Administration's economic policies has been a dynamic success...

...I like to think they accepted my bantering barbs in the spirit in which they were delivered...

...Agnew: I would hate to believe that official Washington has become a Camelot of crookedness, a Pantheon of puerility...

...That is, if I haven't been impeached first...

...Right now, let me assure you, the press has no better pal in Washington than the new Agnew...

...Baker: I don't wish to be facetious, sir, but if I may interject an interjection here, as a lawyer, I should like it to be understood for purposes of clarity and objectivity that what I am interested in is the quality of the evidence and the morality of the entire series of events-on which, you will appreciate, it is not appropriate for an objective person to comment at this point in time...

...The President of the United States...

...Connally: Let Democrats remember that I was in that car with John Kennedy...

...No one-to-one encounters...

...But I trust the President will prove equal to my confidence in him...

...If so, I wish to stand squarely on all four corners of the whole ball of wax...

...Noblesse oblige...

...Reagan: If you've seen one Bolshy...

...Percy: Like that Connally fellow and Senator Baker and Vice President Agnew and Governors Rockefeller and Reagan, I am tied up full time with my present responsibilities and I never think more than three weeks ahead...

...Goodman: Richard Nixon...

...My inner circle consists of Frank Sinatra...

...Rocky: Ask me again in 1976...

...Goodman : Governor, could you tell us the secret of your dynamic career...

...Governor, what do you have to say about all this...

...Gentlemen, would you care to comment on the Watergate revelations...

...Agnew: I have been all tied up lately doing very big jobs for the United States of America-and I don't mean that to be a self-serving statement...

...Baker: What interests mc here is why an educated, clean-cut young fellow like you should bring up something like that...

...Goodman: Are you concerned that your role as bullyboy in the first Nixon Administration will hurt your prospects for 1976...

...In point of fact, I could never understand what Ehrlichman was talking about...

...Rocky: Henry only bugged his associates as a courtesy...

...Got to hustle off dynamically now...

...Baker: To clarify that matter in a spirit of fair-mindedness and objectivity, sir, I should like to point out to you that I, a Tennessee boy, am only one o?three distinguished Republican senators on the committee...

...Goodman: Thank you, Governor Reagan...

...Goodman: Wasn't your own protege, Henry Kissinger, involved in some bugging, Governor...

...Goodman: Which of the Administration's several economic phases is your favorite...

...Rocky: Believe me, I have the greatest compassion for that creep in the White House and the highest regard for the office he has been demeaning for going on five years...

...Agnew: That's the old Agnew, you nattering nabob...

...Goodman: Well, your name is being bruited about...

...Goodman: Senator Baker, how would you evaluate the results of the Watergate investigation up to now...

...It's six times as long as Nixon's...

...Agnew: Although I have not personally enjoyed the accommodations there, the hearsay evidence is that they are comfortable...

...Has Watergate shaken your opinion of Richard Nixon...

...Connally: But we also don't think much of the intelligence of those who stay on them...

...On the other hand, no one can accuse me of ever having been one of the Administration inner circle...

...Goodman: I see...

...Of course, it is true that my friend Senator Gurney is a hack and my friend Senator Weicker is too interested in the case for his own good-but I have the highest regard for them, just as I have the highest regard for my Democratic colleagues on the committee, particularly the Reverend Ervin with whom 1 often swap down-home stories of an evening, and for the witnesses and for the Administration and for the American voters and their dogs...

...Connally: As has been widely reported, son, everything I ever set my mind to in my whole life has been a dynamic success...

...Goodman: Ah, so the predicament of the present Republican Administration is having an effect on your political thoughts...

...Pardon me, I have to run down and give a medal to George Wallace...

...On the other hand, I have never been asked for my opinion about anything relating to anything, especially to bombing Cambodia...

...Goodman: Pardon me, Senator Percy...

...In hindsight, I might agree that the Executive Office Building was a can of worms...

...Incidentally, is this conversation being recorded for historical purposes...

...Connally: Why, son, it's no secret: I run on natural gas...

...Goodman: Ah, there's Governor Reagan now...

...Goodman: Come on now, Governor, aren't you girding for the '76 contest...

...Agnew: Who...

...Haldeman believes that Jane Fonda bombed Cambodia...

...Percy: I do not believe in kicking a bum when he's down-even though the testimony thus far has been devastating...

...Baker: I believe that the issue here goes beyond Richard Nixon, who will, after all, be above or beneath politics in three years...

...I don't see any other contestants...

...As I weigh all the testimony and withhold my judgment in the interest of clarity and fair-mindedness, if I may digress with a digression for purposes of the record, regardless of party affiliation or condition of turpitude . . . Goodman: Well, then, what is your intention in these hearings...

...Goodman: Here we are on the other side of the aisle...

...Let Republicans remember that I was the first post-Nixon Republican...

...Goodman: Then you personally had no role in the Watergate affair...

...I'm very busy up in Albany, laughing...

...Agnew: I would hate to believe that all those nattering nabobs whom my speechwriters insulted in that perky period would hold a grouchy grudge...

...Goodman: Speaking of Governor Rockefeller...

...McGovern: I was relieved to learn that my welfare proposals were devised by Chapin and Se-gretti, and Thomas Eagleton was an invention of Liddy and Hunt...

...Reagan: Hold on a minute and I'll give you a copy of my Enemies List...

...Agnew: Oh...

...Goodman: What are your views on impeachment...

...Personally, I think it was John Dean...

...In the context and the time frame in which we met, I always called him Mr...

...Reagan: What do you expect from an Administration that will consort with Commies...

...Goodman: What will be the political impact of Watergate on Richard Nixon...

...Connally: A Texan doesn't play favorites, son...

...Goodman: You are referring to Secretary Brezhnev...

...Rocky: What contest...

...Goodman: What explains your terrific dynamism, Governor...

...Goodman: About those Maryland contracts, Mr...

...Muskie, Humphrey, Jackson (in unison): If not for those dirty tricks, I would be President today...

...To the best of my recollection, we met strictly on public occasions, with photographers present...

...Goodman: We are referring to the Watergate break-in and related events, sir...

...Goodman: Of course, sir-yet your appearance on national television has stirred comment about your own future...

...Perhaps my recollection requires refreshment, but I can't remember anybody telling me his other name...

...Rocky: No, fella, I have no plans to run for President...

...Are you close to or distant from the White House just now...

...And beyond Richard Nixon, if I may say so in a spirit of fairness to all sides, is Howard Baker...

...Goodman: Are you concerned over the taint of corruption reaching to the highest levels of government...

...Goodman: Governor Connally, there seems to be some confusion about your present relations with the President...

...On the other hand, my extensive experience suits me to step into the President's shoes should the national interest so require, which, in all candor, I sincerely hope it never does-but if it should, I am ready...

...Kennedy: With all due respect to my fellow Democrats, I do not feel it is fair to criticize any political figure for a moral lapse or two...

...Baker: It is my intention to talk as much as possible, give the nation an opportunity to enjoy the resonance of my voice, with its Tennessee twang, the moderation and thoughtfulness of my manner, my composure, my objectivity, my moral input...

...Goodman: How does this affect your prospects for 1976...

...Goodman: On the basis of the testimony so far, would you say that Ehrlichman is more obnoxious than Haldeman is devious...

...Connally: Well, son, down in Texas, we don't think much of the courage of rats who desert sinking ships...

...Do you believe that Richard Nixon played a part in the break-in or the cover-up...