National Archives releases Nixon tapes

WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) -- The National Archives in Washington has released tape recordings that reveal the inner workings of U.S. President Richard Nixon's administration.

The 11 hours of tape recordings transcribe Nixon's attempts to guide the direction of the Republican Party, find a solution to the Vietnam War and choose which ethnic groups receive patronage based on their support for his re-election, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The archive also released 78,000 pages of documents from the Nixon administration, including a 1970 memo written by the president to top aide H.R. Haldeman expressing his anger and pain at his aides' failure to establish his image as a warm and caring person.

A Nov. 19, 1972, tape records Nixon criticizing two men who later became president -- Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Nixon laments Reagan's leadership as governor of California, describing the former actor as a "drag." He also calls for Bush's ouster as U.S. representative to the United Nations, saying the future president failed to curb anti-Nixon sentiments at the international body.