Now why would a President of the USA bother with some anti war nobody?
He wasn't a nobody. He had just testified to the Senate committee & Nixon was concerned, as he knew a decorated Vet would be believed more than the normal rabble rousers against the war.
It is called astute observation and predictability.
I suppose some might have said: "Why would the Yankees/Red Sox bother with a chubby pitcher from the slums of Baltimore?