Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 38 › Conversation 038-090

Nixon phone call with Ziegler on Watergate and John Dean

Tuesday, April 17, 1973 · 6:19 PM–6:21 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation038-090 on Tape 38StartTuesday, April 17, 1973 at 6:19 PMEndTuesday, April 17, 1973 at 6:21 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 038-090 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler discussed the strategy and messaging used during Ziegler's recent press briefing regarding the ongoing Watergate investigation. Ziegler confirmed he had contacted John Dean to outline the administration's new position and briefed the press on the President’s recent intensive investigation. They reviewed how Ziegler deflected difficult questions about the timing of the President’s inquiry and his previous, now-contradicted statements defending Dean. Nixon expressed satisfaction with Ziegler's refusal to disclose private discussions with individuals like John Mitchell or specific details of the White House staff investigation.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Oh, yes, sir.
Have you been busy?
Yes, sir.
How'd it go?
Fine.
Did you get Dean?
Yes, I did, and outlined the position to him.
And he sounded fine and asked that the copy of the statement be sent over to him, and I did.
I told him that the position I was going to take, and then he did in the briefing.
my discussions with the press out there, which I had to go through.
But I know since the 21st of March, as the President's statement indicates, he conducted a personal investigation, and Henry Peterson, the... Not since the 21st.
No, no, no, but later.
Later, that's right.
That's right.
That the President, during this period, did not...
any one man within the White House as the man in charge, although during that period he had intensive discussions with the White House staff members and asked them to do various things for him.
The way I cast it was that there was no one specifically in charge, in fairness to all.
And then I was pressed quite heavily on the statements that we had made previously, specifically the statement that I made on March the 26th in Florida, that the Dean's—the accusation that Dean had lied to the FBI, I was incorrect, that I had confidence in him, and that he had no prior knowledge.
not focus any comment today on any individual in fairness to the individual.
That's right.
But I said any comment that we made today or prior to the March 21st period
was based upon the information that the White House had available to it at that time.
That's good.
Then they got into a lot of nitpicking.
Well, you said that the president started this investigation on the 21st.
You made the comment on the 26th.
I said, that question is ridiculous in itself because that suggests that all of the information that the president based his statement on today, he had on March the 21st.
I had it on Sunday.
That's right.
That's right.
So then we worked around that.
I supported the comments regarding...
In short, the posture that I projected today, I would not focus your statement on any individual or any location in the government, in fairness, and that you had conducted the intensive investigation that met with Peterson.
Now, I suppose you'll get a question about whether the matter is whether I talked to Mitchell.
No.
I said that Mitchell was here.
Oh, yeah, that's right, Mitchell.
But there was a time.
during this period from the 21st on that we talked to Mitchell.
I was asked that, and I said, I'm not going to indicate to you, I cannot indicate to you, the step-by-step, the individuals that the President talked to.
That's right.
I said, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to do that.
I cannot do that.
Very good.
Good answer.
You know, I'm good.
All right, Ron.
Good answer.

NARA Description

On April 17, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:19 pm and 6:21 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 038-090 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 38-90

Date: April 17, 1973
Time: Unknown between 6:19 pm and 6:21 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler.

[See also Conversation No. 429-3A]

     Watergate
          -Ziegler’s conversation with John W. Dean III
                -President’s statement
          -Ziegler’s press briefing
                -Henry E. Petersen
                -Dean’s investigation
                -Responsibility within the White House staff
                -Ziegler’s March 26, 1973 statement
                      -President’s investigation
                      -John N. Mitchell
                                                -51-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Also recorded on April 17, 1973

  • 899-002 4:35 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:35 pm and 4:41 pm.
  • 899-003 4:35 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:35 pm and 4:41 pm.
  • 899-004 4:48 PM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:48 pm to 5:03 pm.
  • 038-089 5:03 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:03 pm and 6:17 pm.
  • 899-006 5:03 PM · 2 min — United States Secret Service agents, Manolo Sanchez, Stephen B. Bull, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 5:03 pm on April 17, 1973 and 7:58 am on April 18, 1973.
  • 429-001 5:09 PM · 56 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:09 pm and 5:15 pm.
  • 429-002 5:15 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:15 pm to 5:16 pm.
  • 429-003 5:20 PM · 1 hr 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William P. Rogers, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:20 pm and 7:14 pm.

All 53 conversations from April 17, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 038-090, April 17, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/038-090 (accessed October 5, 2026).