{"conversationCode":"038-053","tapeNumber":38,"conversationNumber":53,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-038-053","startDateTime":"1973-04-16T01:18:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1973-04-16T01:25:00.000Z","startDate":"15-Apr-1973","startTime":"8:18 PM","endDate":"15-Apr-1973","endTime":"8:25 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"White House operator; Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\"); Higby, Lawrence M.;","description":"On April 15, 1973, White House operator, H. R. (\"Bob\") Haldeman, and Lawrence M. Higby talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:18 pm and 8:25 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 038-053 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":"5.5","chronRelease":"Fifth Chronological Release: Part V","chronReleaseDate":"21-Aug-2013","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 38-53\n\nDate: April 15, 1973\nTime: Unknown between 8:18 pm and 8:25 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nThe White House operator talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.\n\n     Telephone call from Lawrence M. Higby\n\nHigby talked with Haldeman at an unknown time.\n\n[A transcript of the following portion of this conversation was prepared Richard Nixon’s Special\nWhite House Counsel for Watergate Matters and submitted to the Committee on the Judiciary of\nthe House of Representatives. This transcript can be found in Submission of Recorded\nPresidential Conversations (SRPC), pages 761-762 (1-2). Please refer to the logging below.]\n\n     Watergate\n          -John W. Dean, III’s message for President\n                -Dean’s motivation\n                -John D. Ehrlichman’s request for meeting\n                -Desire to meet with President\n                -Henry E. Petersen’s role\n          -Dean’s location","filename":["038-053.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["White House operator","Haldeman, H. R. (\"Bob\")","Higby, Lawrence M."],"prevCode":"038-052","nextCode":"038-054","transcript":[{"start":3.58,"end":8.74,"text":"Hello, Bob."},{"start":8.8,"end":10.5,"text":"John Dean just called me."},{"start":10.52,"end":13.35,"text":"He had a message he wanted to relay to the president through you."},{"start":13.43,"end":15.49,"text":"He would not speak directly to you."},{"start":16.43,"end":16.63,"text":"All right."},{"start":16.65,"end":16.79,"text":"2.1."},{"start":18.41,"end":27.12,"text":"I hope you understand that my actions are motivated totally out of loyalty to you and the president."},{"start":27.96,"end":28.21,"text":"You."},{"start":32.13,"end":32.33,"text":"You."},{"start":32.35,"end":33.31,"text":"If not, then if..."},{"start":33.41,"end":40.94,"text":"and the president."},{"start":40.96,"end":46.54,"text":"And if not clear now, it will become clear."},{"start":52.43,"end":60.84,"text":"Erlichman requested to meet tonight, but I feel it's inappropriate at this time."},{"start":64.83,"end":79.3,"text":"I'm ready and willing to meet with you, meaning the president, at any time to discuss these matters."},{"start":84.71,"end":86.69,"text":"Full point."},{"start":86.71,"end":93.34,"text":"And you, meaning the president, should take your counsel"},{"start":94.95,"end":103.51,"text":"From Henry Peterson, who I assure you does not want the presidency hurt."},{"start":109.96,"end":110.72,"text":"That's the end of his message."},{"start":111.38,"end":114.12,"text":"He's calling me from his home, the operator said."},{"start":114.14,"end":115.47,"text":"That's what the, that's what the on-line said."},{"start":115.48,"end":116.25,"text":"What was that, just now?"},{"start":116.37,"end":116.69,"text":"Yes, sir."},{"start":117.23,"end":118.11,"text":"Okay, thank you very much."},{"start":119.29,"end":119.39,"text":"Sure."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"Lawrence Higby contacts H.R. Haldeman to relay a message from John Dean, who had requested to communicate with President Nixon regarding the Watergate investigation. Dean expressed his continued loyalty to the President while urging Nixon to seek counsel from Assistant Attorney General Henry Petersen rather than John Ehrlichman. Additionally, Dean indicated a desire to meet directly with the President to discuss these matters despite declining a meeting with Ehrlichman.","topics":["Watergate","John Dean","Henry Petersen","John Ehrlichman","Loyalty","Presidential Counsel"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T05:32:28.573Z"},"topicSlugs":["watergate","john-dean","henry-petersen","john-ehrlichman","loyalty","presidential-counsel"],"audioDurationSec":125,"audioFiles":[{"file":"038-053.mp3","bytes":3999744,"durationSec":124.91,"bitrate":256174,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:20:02.070Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/038-053.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/038-053","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/38/conversation-038-053","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}