Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 430 › Conversation 430-035

Nixon & Ehrlichman on Watergate scandal and Resignation

Wednesday, April 25, 1973 · 7:25 PM–7:39 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 8 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation430-035 on Tape 430StartWednesday, April 25, 1973 at 7:25 PMEndWednesday, April 25, 1973 at 7:39 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 430-035 ↗

AI Summary

John Ehrlichman meets with President Nixon to discuss his impending departure from the administration amidst the mounting pressures of the Watergate investigation. Ehrlichman updates the President on his communications regarding his professional future and legal exposure, specifically addressing the risks of being drawn into public testimony or project leadership roles. The conversation centers on navigating potential prosecutorial scrutiny and the strategic necessity of Ehrlichman stepping down from his official duties.

Audio

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NARA Description

On April 25, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 7:25 pm to 7:39 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 430-035 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 430-035

Date: April 25, 1973
Time: 7:25 pm - 7:39 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.

[See Conversation No. 038-155]

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 24% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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I wanted you to know that I just talked to Mike.
I told him that I'm not going to be a project leader.
I'm going to be working on that stuff.
I don't know if he's ready or not, but I know Peter's going to say it.
I'm not going to be a project leader.
I'm going to be a project leader.
Okay, we are not going to have you act.
I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I, uh, I
I said, we're only fencing here.
I said, I don't want to be on the fencing line.
See, that's a positive action, too, John.
And I said to the other guy, what are you going to do?
And they just called, pulled on the other guy's phone.
They didn't call.
They didn't call.
He was trying to put me in before they were going to put me in.
But it was coming out just for them.
And he said, prosecution.
That's where he gets down to, like here, where he's trying to, like, kill everybody.
Why was he here?
Did he die?
Did he die?
Uh, actually, you know, that's kind of biased here, too.
That's all right, too, but the point is, we'll leave that on 7-6-9.
That's mostly what it's about.
Better change would be better.
You've got to go.
You've got to go.
You've got to stop.
You've got to go.
I love you both.
I love you both.
And being together, you're in a hell of a lot more trouble than I'm here for a second.
And I know your situation.
I'm here.
Stop.
There's more getting on.
um that was pure
I could have said, think that special security won't pass along, but if I did, there could be another hammer in her hand.
I can tell you don't disagree with it, because my idea is that, like I said, I told them, oh, I'm going to come to you, if you agree.
There we go.
Let's go this.
I'm just going to do that again.
There's no bar count.
If you call me and go out there and testify, they'll probably say, well, what you're doing is, you've got to see this freaking girl in her own direction, in her own right.
And you'll say, how the hell do you know about this?
Because here's the thing.
I'm going to get back to you on this one.
I'm going to say, that kind of job, you cannot do it.
But if they did, what would you say?
We all know why it was difficult.
You were conducting a investigation of this addict, and you tried to go over the chapter with the doctor who was the addict, and you did not know, and you discovered it later.
There's nothing to blame you on.
Now, right now, we've got a very good, well, not really a pretty good, hey, go ahead and finish the thing.
Right.
Okay.
Yeah.
Cool.

Also recorded on April 25, 1973

  • 038-151 7:17 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 7:17 pm to 7:19 pm.
  • 038-152 7:19 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:19 pm and 7:25 pm.
  • 430-032 7:19 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 7:19 pm and 7:22 pm.
  • 038-153 7:22 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Richard G. Kleindienst talked on the telephone from 7:22 pm to 7:25 pm.
  • 430-033 7:22 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Richard G. Kleindienst met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 7:22 pm to 7:25 pm.
  • 038-154 7:25 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:25 pm.
  • 038-155 7:25 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 7:25 pm to 7:39 pm.
  • 430-034 7:25 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 7:25 pm.

All 79 conversations from April 25, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 430-035, April 25, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/430-035 (accessed October 31, 2026).