Conversation: 917-002
Prev: 917-001 Next: 917-003Start Date: 14-May-1973 8:56 AM
End Date: 14-May-1973 10:50 AM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.; Haig, Alexander M., Jr.; Higby, Lawrence M.;Recording Device: Oval Office
NARA Description:
On May 14, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Lawrence M. Higby met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:56 am to 10:50 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 917-002 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 917-2
Date: May 14, 1973
Time: 8:56 am - 10:50 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler.
Watergate
-Press coverage
-New York Times story
-John W. Dean, III’s activities
-Dean’s statement to Newsweek
-Report
-Effects
-President
-H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman
-Dean
-Statements concerning report
-Report
-Effect of statements
-Ehrlichman, Haldeman
-2-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 917-2 (cont’d)
-Guidance to Ziegler and Patrick J. Buchanan
-Ehrlichman
-Statements to Gerald L. Warren
-Ehrlichman’s orders
-Ziegler’s forthcoming meeting with J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. and Alexander
M. Haig, Jr.
-Access to Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] reports
-Meetings with the President
-Daniel L. Schorr
-Investigation
-Dean
-Resignation
-Meeting with the President
-Timing
-Richard G. Kleindienst [?]
-Ehrlichman’s and Haldeman’s resignations
-Immunity
-President’s meeting with Henry E. Petersen
-Justice Department
-Forthcoming grand jury appearance, May 14
-Haldeman [?]
-L[ouis] Patrick Gray, III
-Testimony before grand jury and Ervin Committee staff
-Buzhardt’s view
-Phone conversation with the President regarding investigation
-Alleged FBI warnings regarding White House
-Ziegler’s forthcoming meeting with Buchanan
-FBI investigation
-Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
-Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters’s possible testimony
-President’s knowledge
-Cover-up
-Break-in
-Extent compared to knowledge of Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Gray and Dean
-President’s meeting with Dean, May 21
-President’s subsequent investigation
-3-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 917-2 (cont’d)
-Subornation of perjury
-William O. Bittman
-Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Jeb Stuart Magruder
-Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Transfer of funds
-Dean’s knowledge
-Dissemination
-Gray
-Knowledge
-Dissemination
-Conversation with Ziegler
-FBI investigation
-Conversation with the President
-FBI investigation
-Walters
-Conversation with Ziegler
-Revelation to Buzhardt
-Gray’s conversation with the President regarding investigation
-Meeting with the President
-Investigation
-White House staff involvement
-Dean
-Magruder and John N. Mitchell
-Haldeman, Ehrlichman and Dean
-President’s role
-Dean report
-Ziegler’s conversation with Buzhardt
-E. Howard Hunt, Jr. and G[eorge] Gordon Liddy
-Plumbers operation
-President’s order
-Motives of participants
-Leaks
-Ziegler’s conversation with Buzhardt
-Hunt, Liddy and Egil (“Bud”) Krogh, Jr.
-Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers
-Wiretaps
-4-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 917-2 (cont’d)
-Break-in of psychiatrist’s office
-Motives of participants
-Hunt, Liddy
-CIA
-Walters and Richard M. Helms
-President’s conversation with Haig, May 13
-Helms
-Presidential assessment
-Ehrlichman’s role
-Ellsberg investigation
-Request for support for Hunt
-Wiretaps
-J. Edgar Hoover
-Hunt and Liddy
-Employment with the Committee to Re-Elect the President [CRP]
-Motives of unnamed individual regarding CIA
-FBI investigation
-Helms, Ehrlichman, Walters
-Bernard L. Barker
-Bay of Pigs
-President’s meeting with Ehrlichman
-Haldeman’s and Ehrlichman’s meeting with Walters and Helms
-Walters’s meetings with Dean
-Funds for defendants
-Request for Presidential authorization
-Ehrlichman
-Dean’s possible story
-Ehrlichman
-President’s response to charges
-Knowledge of Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-President’s knowledge
-Clemency
-President’s meeting with Charles W. Colson
-Dorothy Hunt
-Promise of clemency
-President’s response to charges
-Dean’s report
-5-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 917-2 (cont’d)
-Herbert W. Kalmbach and Thomas A. Pappas
-Funds for defendants
-Ziegler and Buchanan
-Clemency
-Hunt
-Ehrlichman and Dean
-President’s response to charges
-Possible testimony
-Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Mitchell and Magruder
-Colson
-Dean
-Dean
-Meeting with the President, March 21
-Mitchell
-White House response
-FBI
-Ellsberg break-in
-Resignations of Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-President’s possible departure from office
-Possible impeachment
-Anthony J Russo, Jr. [?]
-Ellsberg
-Haldeman and Ehlrichman
-President’s role
-Haig, Buzhardt
-White House operations
-Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Dean
-Role
-Possibilities
-Documents
-Possible content
-Talk about Dean on Capitol Hill
-Background
-Press reaction
-Concerns regarding prison
-6-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 917-2 (cont’d)
-President’s files
-Possible search
-Memorandum [memo]
-Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Hunt
President’s schedule
-Election Reform Commission
-Bipartisan Congressional leaders
-Radio speech
-Haig’s request to discuss the President’s schedule
-Armed Forces Day
Watergate
-President’s files
-Press corps
-Time [?]
-Ervin Committee hearings
-Haldeman, Ehrlichman and Dean
-Credibility of witnesses
-Dean
-Meeting with President
-Ehrlichman’s recommendations
-US attorney
-President’s conversation with Petersen
-Dean
-Resignations
-Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Source of information
-Dean and Magruder
-Dean
-Petersen
Haig entered at 9:40 am.
Haig’s schedule
-Mother’s Day
-7-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 917-2 (cont’d)
Watergate
-William D. Ruckelshaus’s forthcoming statement
-Possible White House response
-Wiretaps
-Ziegler’s previous statement concerning White House activity
-Hunt and Liddy
President’s schedule
-Bipartisan Congressional leaders
-Possibility of ex-presidential candidates
-Cabinet meeting
-Speech in Norfolk, Virginia for Armed Forces Day, May 19
-Content
-Location
Watergate
-Wiretaps
-Newsmen
-Ruckelshaus
-FBI and White House
-Ruckelshaus
-Buzhardt
Ziegler left at 9:48 am.
Personnel appointments
-George P. Shultz and Henry A. Kissinger
-Council on International Economic Policy [CIEP]
-Chairman
-Senate confirmation
-Presidency
-Terms
-Possible veto of Senate Bill
-Confirmation
-Office of Management and Budget [OMB]
-Director
-8-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 917-2 (cont’d)
-Deputy Director
-Modification
-Reappointment
-House of Representatives
-Effects
-Roy L. Ash
-Senate confirmation
-OMB director
-Cabinet
-Shultz and Kissinger
Energy policy
-Division of responsibilities
-Charles J. DiBona
-Haig’s conversation with Ash
-Congress
-Cabinet
-Public representatives [?]
-John B. Connally
Connally
-Ash
-Talking points
-President’s schedule
-Role in White House
-Energy
President’s schedule
-Possible commencement address at Naval Academy
-Compared with Armed Forces Day
-Reykjavik, Iceland
-Preparation for Soviet summit
-Dirksen Research Center in Chicago, June 15
-Timing
-Wednesdays
-Weekends
-Camp David, Florida
-9-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 917-2 (cont’d)
-Wednesday meetings
-Connally, Shultz, Brennan
-Staff
-Prisoners of War [POWs]
-Travel
-Norfolk, Virginia
-Washington, DC events
-Desirability
-Chamber of Commerce, Veterans of Foreign Wars
-Businesses
-Metro subway construction
-Leonard Garment’s office
-Scheduling committee [?]
-Public relations [PR]
-Ervin Committee hearings
-President’s location
Personnel appointments
-Council of Economic Advisors [CEA]
-Gary L. Seevers
-Herbert Stein
White House organization
-Haig’s role
-Appointments
-Delegation of authority
-Compared to National Security Council [NSC] [?]
-President’s role
-Scheduling
-Policy decisions
-Long range strategy
Watergate
-White House response
-Ervin Committee
-Alexander P. Butterfield
-Campaign funds
-10-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 917-2 (cont’d)
-Krogh
-Butterfield
-Ervin Committee
Election Reform Commission
-Package
-George H. W. Bush
-William E. Timmons’s activities
-Possible congressional support
-Gerald R. Ford and Hugh Scott
-Role in initiating
-Timing
Watergate
-Ruckelshaus’s forthcoming statement
Cambodia
-Reaction to congressional vote
-Kissinger’s schedule
-Paris Peace talks
-Forthcoming Senate vote
-Missing in Action [MIA]
-Importance of vote
-President’s forthcoming speech
-Armed Forces Day
-Theme
-North Vietnam
-Possible continuation of hostilities
-Incentives to preserve peace
Watergate
-Ellsberg case
-Public reaction
-William M. Byrne, Jr.
-Release of document
-Possible effect
-Timing
-11-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 917-2 (cont’d)
-Possible effect
-Wiretap
-Possible leak
-Morton H. Halperin
-Halperin
-Reason for wiretap
-NSC staff member
-Tenure at NSC
-President’s assessment
-Kissinger’s motives
-Dean
-Documents
-Possible check of files
-Possible memo from the President
-Ziegler
-Higby
-Role in investigation
-President’s knowledge
-Haldeman
-CIA involvement
-Walters’s memoranda of conversations [memcons]
-Walters
-Possible testimony
-Grand jury
-Dean and Haldeman as witnesses
-Dean
-Possible immunity
-Timing of testimony before grand jury
-Possible effects of Ehrlichman’s and Haldeman’s testimony
-Executive privilege
-Haig’s discussions with Buzhardt
-Departures of Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-White House response
-Protection of presidency
-Possible impeachment
-Popular opinion
-President’s knowledge
-12-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 917-2 (cont’d)
-Lyndon B. Johnson and Harry S Truman
-President’s knowledge
-Sherman Adams
-President’s knowledge
-Possible attacks
-Gray’s testimony
-Buzhardt’s view
-Washington Post article
-Possible testimony
-Mitchell, Gray, Magruder, Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Dean
-Dean’s meeting with the President, March 21
-Dean
-Tactics
-Possible memo from the President
-Possible evidence against the President
-Break-in of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office
-Ruckelshaus’s forthcoming statement
-White House files
-Possible search
-Ellsberg case
-Possible release of document
-Robert C. Mardian’s statement
-White House staff knowledge
-Ehrlichman
-Delay in delivery to judge
-Location
-White House files
-FBI investigation
-Leaks to the press
-Hunt
-Possible activities
-Ehrlichman, Krogh and David R. Young, Jr.
-Possible release of document
-Ruckelshaus
-Rose Mary Woods’s files
-Possible criticism of delay in releasing Ellsberg document
-13-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 917-2 (cont’d)
-Ehrlichman
-Schorr investigation
-Dean
-FBI investigation
-Employment
-White House files
-Delivery of Ellsberg document
-Ruckelshaus’s possible statement
-FBI files
-Johnson and John F. Kennedy
-Possible destruction by William C. Sullivan
-FBI and CIA
-Ruckelshaus’s forthcoming statement
-Ziegler and Buzhardt’s review
-President’s possible role
-Haig’s role
-Haig’s term in office
-White House response
-President’s conversation with Ziegler
-Effect on nation
-Dean
-Possible memo from Ehrlichman to Dean
-Cover-up
-Ehrlichman and Haldeman
-CIA
-Helms
-Dr. James R. Schlesinger’s remark
-Congressmen’s views
-Haig’s conversation with Schlesinger
-Gen. Robert E. Cushman, Jr.
-Testimony
-Possible call from Ehrlichman
-Schlesinger’s report
-Dean’s documents
Higby entered at an unknown time after 9:48 am.
-14-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 917-2 (cont’d)
Watergate
-Dean’s documents
-Contents
-Judge’s order regarding disposition
-National security classification
-[First name unknown] Parker
-Representation
-John J. Wilson
-Contents
Higby left at an unknown time before 10:50 am.
Watergate
-Dean’s documents
-Contents
-National security classification
-President’s files
-Higby
-Dean
Haig left at 10:50 am.