Nixon Asked for More 'Attractive Women' in GOP

New tapes: He thought abortions were OK in interracial pregnancies

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 23, 2009 4:28 PM CDT

(Newser) – Richard Nixon felt the Republican Party needed more “attractive women,” newly released Oval Office tapes reveal. In a phone conversation with George HW Bush (then Republican National Committee chairman) Nixon describes seeing two “very attractive women” in the South Carolina legislature, the Los Angeles Times reports. “God,” he tells Bush, “let’s look for some. I think maybe a woman might win someplace where a man might not.”

The recordings also reveal Nixon’s views on the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the New York Times adds. Nixon worried that allowing abortion could foster general cultural “permissiveness” and “break the family.” Nonetheless, Nixon also acknowledged that abortion could be necessary—such as in the case of an interracial pregnancy, Nixon told an aide, “or a rape.”

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In this 1969 file photo, President Richard M. Nixon, is shown at his desk in the White House. (AP Photo)

In this 1980 file photo, former President Richard Nixon waves as he leaves the US District Court in Washington. (AP Photo)

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There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white. Or a rape. - Richard Nixon

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Nixon Asked for More 'Attractive Women' in GOP