On page 299 of Kennedy & Nixon, Chris Matthews talks
about a way that President Richard Nixon tried to record discussions
before he resorted to the taping system:
“Nixon had first tried other record-keeping techniques. At one point
he had a staffer sit in the room and act as a ‘fly on the wall’…He
rejected [this method.] ‘Nixon didn’t like someone sitting in,
especially if they were taking notes, because that always bothers people
because, you know, they keep looking over at the guy taking notes.’”
I’m assuming that Matthews is quoting H.R. Haldeman, since Matthews quotes Haldeman in the preceding paragraph.
I am an avid note-taker. That is how I learn and absorb
information. Plus, it allows me to preserve information for future
use. But note-taking can make some people nervous. I wrote about this
on another blog, under a post that someone wrote about note-taking, and
the author of that blog responded that she’d think people would be
flattered that someone was taking notes on what they were saying! I’d
be flattered, too. I wouldn’t mind if I were meeting with someone, and
that person took notes on what I was saying. But I can understand why
some may be leery of note-takers at meetings in which sensitive issues
are being discussed. “What did you write down that I said? Do I have
to be careful about what I say around you?” Some have asked me these
questions, or at least questions like them.