Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 37 › Conversation 037-025

Nixon, Haldeman & Cole on Watergate and Wounded Knee

Thursday, March 1, 1973 · 6:00 PM–6:20 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsHaldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Cole, Kenneth R., Jr.; Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation037-025 on Tape 37StartThursday, March 1, 1973 at 6:00 PMEndThursday, March 1, 1973 at 6:20 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 037-025 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon, H. R. Haldeman, Kenneth Cole, and Ronald Ziegler discussed administrative reactions to the ongoing occupation at Wounded Knee and the handling of the Watergate investigation. Cole clarified that the White House was distancing itself from direct management of the Wounded Knee standoff, deferring tactical control to the Justice Department and John Whitaker while maintaining a hardline stance against amnesty for the protesters until hostages are released. Additionally, the participants reviewed the status of the FBI’s Watergate inquiry and the impact of L. Patrick Gray’s testimony. Cole was tasked with providing a follow-up status report on the Bureau of Indian Affairs by the following morning.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Cold, please.
Cold, please.
Thank you.
Who is this?
Haldeman.
All right, thank you.
What's that?
I haven't had a Watergate question.
That was great.
Yeah, but he said that he killed the letter.
Hello.
Hello.
Ken, what are you doing about the Indians?
We are not involved with the Indians from the White House.
What about the Bureau of Indian Affairs?
What's happened to that?
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is not in it.
Whitaker is in it.
John and I talked earlier today about it.
Kleindienst has Erickson and a couple of other of his marshals out there on the scene.
Our position right now is that the Indians are breaking the law, that we do not intend to go to negotiate with the Indians until they release the hostages.
We are not prepared whatsoever to discuss the question of amnesty with them until such time as they have ceased breaking the law, which means release the hostages.
being handled by Justice.
It is being handled by Justice and Whitaker.
The White House is not in it.
We're not controlling anything.
I signed off on Whitaker's policy today, and he and Kleindienst are in communication.
What are you doing overall on the Bureau of Indian Affairs?
Are we getting that untangled, or are we just leaving it?
No, no, no.
That is being untangled.
Yeah, but I...
Up-to-date status report on what the Bureau of Indian Affairs is doing right now.
Let me get somebody to get you a quick check on that.
Okay.
Do you want me to call you back?
No, no.
Get ready in the morning.
Okay.
All right.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On March 1, 1973, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., President Richard M. Nixon, and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:00 pm and 6:20 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 037-025 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 37-25

Date: March 1, 1973
Time: Unknown between 6:00 pm and 6:20 pm
Location: White House Telephone

H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman talked with Kenneth R. Cole, Jr. The President and Ronald L. Ziegler
can be heard in the background.

       Watergate
             -Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] investigation
                    -Haldeman’s order
                    -Press conference questions
                    -L. Patrick Gray III’s
                            -Letter testimony

       Wounded Knee, South Dakota protest
            -Indians
            -Bureau of Indian Affairs [BIA]
            -John C. Whitaker
                   -Richard G. Kleindienst
                   -Ralph E. Erickson
                           -US marshals
                           -Location
            -White House position
                   -Justice Department
                   -Whitaker
                   -White House role
                   -Kleindienst
            Hostages
                   -Amnesty
                   -Release
                   -Status
                   -Update
                   -Schedule
                                             - 17 -

                            NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

Also recorded on March 1, 1973

  • 037-023 4:47 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:47 pm and 4:48 pm.
  • 416-013 4:47 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:47 pm and 4:48 pm.
  • 037-024 4:48 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 4:48 pm to 4:50 pm.
  • 416-014 4:48 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:48 pm to 4:50 pm.
  • 416-015 4:50 PM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:50 pm and 5:40 pm.
  • 416-016 4:50 PM · 16 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 4:50 pm and 5:40 pm.
  • 416-017 4:50 PM · 17 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 4:50 pm and 5:40 pm.
  • 416-018 5:40 PM · 53 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Manolo Sanchez, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:40 pm to 6:40 pm.

All 53 conversations from March 1, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 037-025, March 1, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/037-025 (accessed October 24, 2026).