Richard Nixon, who resigned at the height of the Watergate Scandal, is now implicated with his Sec of State Henry Kissenger in an act of high treason. On the tapes, a furious LBJ told Senate Republican leader Everett Dirksen that because Nixon had 'played politics' with Viet Nam 'tens of thousands' of US troops in Viet Nam lost their lives. Specifically, Johnson accused Nixon of sabotaging peace efforts by his administration. LBJ is heard yelling: "This is treason."According to the Austin-American Statesmen, Nixon surrogates had asked South Vietnam to avoid peace talks with North Vietnam until after the elections even as Johnson tired to arrange 'peace talks between North and South Vietnam'. At the same time, Nixon campaigned for the White House with the slogan that he had a 'secret peace plan' to end the war in Viet Nam.The tapes also show that Johnson and Hubert Humphrey kept quiet about the Nixon/GOP shenanigans at the time. History might have changed had Johnson gone public. On November 3, 1968, just two days prior to the presidential election, Johnson confronted Nixon but Nixon lied when he said point-blank: "I'm not trying to interfere." His response has been called, 'a bald faced lie'. All the while, Nixon and/or GOP activists were working behind the scenes to convince Vietnamese diplomats that "Nixon will do better by you".
To test the good faith of the North Vietnamese, Johnson ordered that all bombing in the north cease on Oct. 31 , six days before voters were to go the polls. The cease-fire gave the Humphrey campaign an immediate jolt — polls showed Nixon's 8-percentage-point lead had shrunk to 2 points.The precise nature of any communication between Nixon's allies and the South Vietnamese government isn't revealed in the tapes — nor is the way Johnson and his advisers learned of them.In the tapes, Johnson tells Secretary of State Dean Rusk: "It's pretty obvious to me it's had its effect."In a segment aired at the news conference, Johnson tells Sen. Everett Dirksen , the Republican minority leader, that it will be Nixon's responsibility if the South Vietnamese don't participate in the peace talks."This is treason," LBJ says to Dirksen."I know," Dirksen replies, very softly.--Austin American StatesmanCertainly --Nixon's victory over Humphrey was a mere 500,000 out of 73 million total votes cast. By that time, the Viet Nam war was highly unpopular and not just among those of draft or college age. Public knowledge of Nixon's activities would most certainly have sunk his bid for the White House. The LBJ Library has made public some 42 hours of recordings that were made from May 1968 through January 1969 when the Johnson family left the White House. Historians, investigative journalists and government prosecutors are urged to access the documents here and here .
LBJ Accused Nixon of Treason!
