When Richard Nixon was faced with massive demonstrations against the Vietnam War while in the White House, his first reaction was to blame the Jews.
The former president’s May 5, 1971 remarks can be heard on the latest set of Nixon tapes to be made available to the public. The tapes were released by the National Archives this week.
On the tapes, Nixon speculated to H.R. Haldeman, his chief of staff, that the anti-war demonstrations were inspired by Jews.
“Aren’t the Chicago Seven all Jews?” Nixon said, referring to the anti-war activists on trial in Chicago for seeking to disrupt the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
“Davis’s a Jew, you know,” Nixon said.
Haldeman replied that he didn’t believe that Angela Davis, a black radical, was Jewish.
“Hoffman, Hoffman’s a Jew,” Nixon said. Haldeman replied “Abbie Hoffman, and that’s so.”
After the two went over the names of the other members of the Chicago Seven, Nixon concluded: “About half of these are Jews.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
