zemtly, one word about the haldeman diaries. i have some doubts about the haldeman diaries. for little things like this. haldeman says i took butterfield in to meet the president five days after the inaugural, which means january 26th. i was hiding behind columns until february 18th. and this is a diary you'd write daily? i don't think so. >> bob, let's go back to 2016. have we ever seen anything like the presidential race that's playing out right now? >> obviously it's interesting. and there are things going on that are gathering lots of attention. but you know, instead of wringing our hands -- the editorial writers and the columnists of america are having a nervous breakdown about trump. because they're so worried. and it certainly is grounds to worry, grounds -- but then you have to say what's our job? and our job is to explain who these people are. you can gather -- i feel very strongly about that. and if we don't do it -- i was talking to some people about trump and new york real estate. and the new york real estate world, as people describe it, it makes the -- understa

haldeman m 2 and m 3 for kissinger. it is bizarre how people go back to the same places and repeated fashion. so those were the -- where the mikes were located. and then there were two over here by the fireplace in the lamps that -- to my knowledge, i cannot hear anything from those. they tend to make the room sound rather hollow when they got picked up. but that's the key system. the next place they put them were in the eob office. the same thing, in the desk. the problem that i alluded today is nobody sat by the desk. there is a seating arrangement over here in the far corner and so these are some of the most difficult to understand. some of the best recordings are those on the telephone. most every telephone the president used, except when he summoned the residents that he occasionally would use but more often used by the family, they all were wired through the switchboard. and they are very good. this is the one recording device in the residence in the lincoln sitting room, and this little princess phone up here is

. >> there was a -- bob haldeman, president nixon's chief of staff, said in a 1978 television interview, nixon had no intention of quickly pulling out of vietnam. he aimed to exploit the rivalry between china and the soviet union to improve relations with both of them. vietnam was an expedient where america's bona fides, our intentions, our motives were being acted out. nixon believed that america had to nosh from strength to prove its willingness to fight. vietnam became that place. how do you respond to that? is that characterized in your view nixon's position on the war? >> it characterizes part of nixon's position in the war. this can be interpreted by professional critics of nixon to mean that he fought so that he could do some other things. that was not what he thought. he thought that if america discredited itself by abandoning its commitments in vietnam he could not do the bigger things that were needed in order to make the war in vietnam fit into a global perspective. so in the sense that he said this is not only about vietnam but this is about trying to create a world order in