324. Editorial Note
In a September 20, 1971, meeting in the White House, President Richard Nixon made reference to aid to Greece in the context of a discussion on aid to South Vietnam.
“Now on Vietnam we can well understand that theyʼll say ‘That’s different, there are Americans fighting there.ʼ With Greece itʼs a straight foreign aid proposition. And so they say we should cut off aid to Greece. Why? Because Greece doesnʼt have a leader democratically elected. And, when I was checking into this, when I heard all this yacking about [South Vietnamese President] Thieu, that he wasnʼt going to be elected—I just checked. In the ninety-one countries in which we provide aid there are only thirty of them today that have leaders that are there as the result of a contested, democratic election.” (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Tapes, September 20, 1971, 3:01–4:40 p.m., Cabinet Room, Conversation No. 76–4; transcript prepared by the editors specifically for this volume)