Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 39 › Conversation 039-005

Nixon phone call with Arends on Watergate and Congressional relations

Thursday, May 24, 1973 · 1:39 PM–1:40 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsWhite House operator; Nixon, Richard M. (President); Arends, Leslie C.Conversation039-005 on Tape 39StartThursday, May 24, 1973 at 1:39 PMEndThursday, May 24, 1973 at 1:40 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 039-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Representative Leslie C. Arends discuss the positive reception and improved morale among Republican Congressmen following a recent leadership meeting. Nixon emphasizes the necessity of maintaining national security and secret diplomacy, arguing that leakers threaten initiatives with China, the USSR, and the release of POWs. Arends commits to echoing these themes in upcoming speeches and encourages Nixon to address Republican members directly to further bolster support.

Audio

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NARA Description

On May 24, 1973, White House operator, President Richard M. Nixon, and Leslie C. Arends talked on the telephone from 1:39 pm to 1:40 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 039-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 39-5

Date: May 24, 1973
Time: 1:39 pm - 1:40 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The White House operator talked with the President.

       Incoming telephone call

The President talked with Leslie C. Arends.

[See also Conversation No. 440-39]

       Republican Party leadership meeting, May 23
             -Reaction
             -Frequency

       Watergate
             -Republican Congressmen’s morale
             -White House response
                    -White Paper [Statements about Watergate, May 22, 1973]
                           -National security
                                  -Effect on United States foreign policy
                                          -Reception for former prisoners of war [POWs]
                                          -Leakers
                                                 -Celebration
                                                 -Negative effects
                                          -Importance of secrecy
                                                 -People’s Republic of China [PRC]
                                                 -Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
                                                  [USSR]
                                                 -Vietnam
                                                         -POWs

       Arends’ possible speeches

       President’s previous comments
                                             -5-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                              Conversation No. 39-5 (cont’d)

              -National defense
                     -Appeal

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.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Congressman Aaron, sir.
Hello.
You are.
How did your boys like the meeting?
Oh, they loved it.
They loved it.
And really, it was perfect.
I thought we ought to do it perhaps about every couple months, don't you think?
Yeah.
Not too often, you know, it doesn't mean much to them.
And, you know, about whenever you think they need a little...
of our morale today.
It's all great.
It's better.
It's so much better.
Is it beginning to pick up?
It's beginning to pick up, and I think you can just sense the change coming on.
That statement is getting around.
Everybody reading it, I hope they are.
We did.
We saw to it they got it.
Right.
One point that ought to be made very strongly is this, that truly the tragedy is, I'm going to say to the POWs in a few minutes, that
you have a situation where they make national heroes out of those that steal secrets and then condemn those and try to protect the national security.
Because I said without secret diplomacy, there would have been no China initiative, no Soviet initiative, and these guys would still be in that damn big pen in Hanoi.
Terrific point.
If that's hard, will you?
I will.
And I'm going back out home this week and make some speeches.
Very well, boy.
Thank you.
Well, Mr. President, I think what you said about national defense last night was terrific those last few minutes.
Now, some way we ought to get our boys in the aggregate, maybe, or somehow, so they understand it just the way you said it last night.
I can say it to somebody else, but... One day.
Yeah.
When you really come to a bunch of old IMA, come down and talk to them yourself.
Oh, I think that would be terrific.
That would be absolutely terrific.
It would be a change of pace, and that would be good.
Right.
Yeah.
Okay, good.
We'll see you tonight.
Right.
Okay.

Also recorded on May 24, 1973

  • 039-002 1:34 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at 1:34 pm.
  • 039-004 1:36 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Hugh Scott talked on the telephone from 1:36 pm to 1:38 pm.
  • 440-038 1:36 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Hugh Scott met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:36 pm to 1:38 pm.
  • 440-039 1:39 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Leslie C. Arends met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:39 pm to 1:40 pm.
  • 039-006 1:40 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:40 pm and 4:52 pm.
  • 440-040 1:40 PM · 10 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 1:40 pm and 2:26 pm.
  • 440-041 1:40 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:40 pm and 2:26 pm.
  • 440-042 1:40 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:40 pm and 4:34 pm.

All 40 conversations from May 24, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 039-005, May 24, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/039-005 (accessed November 2, 2026).