Carlucci Takes Office (PJW)

"Carlucci Takes Office" is a recording from the Cheney Tapes, released in the 1980s. This particular recording was taken on January 20, 1973, the day Carlucci took the oath of office for the presidency.

Carlucci Takes Office
Door heard opening, and footsteps entering the Oval Office.

RUMSELD: Congratulations, Frank, or should I call you Mr. President?

CARLUCCI: (Laughing) No need for formality, Don, or I'll start having to call you Mr. Vice President.

CHENEY: Congratulations, Frank. Now our work can begin.

CARLUCCI: Exactly, Dick. The history books will mark January 20, 1973 as the day the Republican Party gained ultimate victory, and the day the United States began its path to winning the Cold War.

RUMSFELD: Electoral deadlocks, corruption, impeachment - the people's faith in the executive branch has waned. We need to restore that. Between the three of us we'll have 24 years of the presidency.

CHENEY: By then the left will be finished. Too fractured.

CARLUCCI: We've already seen them split between the fools in the south and the holier-than-thou northerners. We'll need to work to further increase the divide, ensure the two sides can never come back to compromise.

CHENEY: We've already sent some aid to the south, keeping the Citizens' Party afloat. They're on the fringe right now, in danger of losing the few House seats they have left. The Stoner fellow - he's a smug snake - but easy to manipulate. We'll convince him to keep running the Party - and keep running for president.

CARLUCCI: Good. If we can keep this work up, we can split the Democrats into three - potentially four, if we can get those on the far left to split off. Never liked working with socialists - but they can be useful. Don, how's the situation abroad?

RUMSFELD: Nixon's got us in a hole. We lost South Korea - that's for certain.

CARLUCCI: No way to insert troops?

RUMSFELD: The country is in shambles. Millions of Koreans dead, millions more starving and uneducated. North Korea has taken up the burden of rebuilding South Korea. The entire country has lost its infrastructure and political organization. It'll take years to rebuild, and this quagmire will certainly keep North Korea busy for the next decade.

CARLUCCI: So we've lost South Korea.

RUMSFELD: Unfortunate, but at this point unavoidable. We need a strong ally in the area, and given Japan's aversion to a large military, our only other option is Taiwan.

CARLUCCI: But Nixon's been rebuilding the relationship with the mainland.

RUMSFELD: Which is a waste of time. Intelligence says if this "Cultural Revolution" keeps up much longer, the country will collapse. Better to ally with Taiwan and rebuild it, so once the mainland collapses we can move right in. And a stronger Taiwan is another ally to send to Vietnam.

CARLUCCI: Our next topic. Nixon had the wrong idea with trying to build up our allies - we can't rely on the British half the time, let alone South Vietnam. We need to do things ourselves.

RUMSFELD: A troop surge in the region will give us victory. We've already made plans to establish American-friendly governments in Cambodia and Laos. From there, we can continue to re-establish our reach across the world. We'll send troops to Angola. The Middle East. Mozambique. Wayne laid the ground work for a large army. Too bad he never had the vision to use it.

CARLUCCI: Thank you Don, Dick. Sound of wine being poured into glasses. To the new American Century.

RUMSELD: To a new American century.

CHENEY: To a new American century.

Glasses clink.