This segment is excerpted from a longer conversation.
President Nixon: [White House Political Operative Charles W. “Chuck”] Colson∇ discovered something. He’s a clever bastard. He had his office call the Bureau of Labor Statistics.1
H.R. "Bob" Haldeman∇: Posing as a Time reporter.
President Nixon: As a Time reporter.
Haldeman: [Unclear.]
President Nixon: And they all said it was [Assistant Commissioner of Labor Statistics Harold Goldstein] Gold-stine, Gold-steen. [Unclear] I said, “Who were they?”
Haldeman: [Unclear.]
President Nixon: I said, “What kind of people were they?” I said, “Were they all Jews?” He said, “Yes.” Everyone who answered was a Jew. Now, point: [White House Personnel Director Frederic V.] Malek is not Jewish.
Haldeman: No.
President Nixon: All right. I want a look at any sensitive areas around where Jews are involved, Bob. See, the Jews are all through the government, and we have got to get in those areas. We’ve got to get a man in charge who is not Jewish to control the Jewish . . . do you understand?
Haldeman: I sure do.
President Nixon: The government is full of Jews.
Haldeman: I sure do.
President Nixon: Second, most Jews are disloyal. You know what I mean? You have a—you have a [White House Consultant Leonard] Garment∇ and a [National Security Adviser Henry A.] Kissinger∇ and, frankly, a [White House Speechwriter William L.] Safire, and, by God, they’re exceptions. But, Bob, generally speaking, you can’t trust the bastards. They turn on you. Correct? Am I wrong or right?
Haldeman: Sure, and their whole orientation is against this administration anyway or against you.
President Nixon: They have this arrogant attitude, too.
Haldeman: That’s right.
President Nixon: So.
Haldeman: And they’re smart. They have the ability to do what they want to do, which is to hurt us.