Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 39 › Conversation 039-100

Nixon phone call with Buzhardt on Watergate and Public relations

Wednesday, June 6, 1973 · 9:14 AM–9:15 AM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Buzhardt, J. Fred, Jr.Conversation039-100 on Tape 39StartWednesday, June 6, 1973 at 9:14 AMEndWednesday, June 6, 1973 at 9:15 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 039-100 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon directs J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. to coordinate with Leonard Garment regarding a confrontational response to Senate counsel Samuel Dash concerning leaked information about White House cooperation with the Watergate investigation. Nixon emphasizes that the administration must manage public perception and media narratives regarding the release of materials, rather than focusing on logistical logs. The President instructs Buzhardt to demand a public statement from Dash, threatening that the White House will initiate a critical media campaign if the administration's cooperation is not properly acknowledged.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Hello?

I have Mr. Pissarro.

Hello?

Good morning.

Fred, I wanted to tell you.

I, uh, and, uh, it's terribly important for you when you're working over there.

When Ron gets back, of course, he'll give you that, have to give you that input to realize that they, in general, are not interested in the logs

They're not interested in this sort of thing.

They're only interested in the issue.

That's right.

Now, Garment is to call Dash, and you can call me back on it.

He is to raise unshirted hell.

All the networks had this last night.

The papers had it.

And they knew before they—they knew.

They know, the morning papers.

They knew that you were going to furnish the immaterial.

Remember, I called you.

I was concerned about this.

Yes.

And have you—has Garment done that?

In other words, don't, don't, don't.

Let me explain.

This is primarily a PR thing.

Right.

This sort of thing.

And if we're going to give them something, we're going to give them much.

I think we ought to make a little credit, don't you think?

I think we should make some credit.

All right.

If we can't get them to make the correction, Mr. President, we'll have to do it ourselves.

You won't make the play.

Garment is to call Nash and then just say he's shocked at the way that this played out in view of the fact that we were furnishing the information and that we expect to be asked about it for the morning briefing.

And if he doesn't make a statement, we're going to blast him from the White House.

Is that clear?

Right.

Yes, sir.

NARA Description

On June 6, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. talked on the telephone from 9:14 am to 9:15 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 039-100 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 39-100

Date: June 6, 1973
Time: 9:14 am - 9:15 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr.

[See also Conversation No. 933-3D]

       Watergate
             -Ronald L. Ziegler
             -Samuel Dash
                    -Interests
                    -Forthcoming telephone call from Leonard Garment
                    -Furnishing of White House material
                            -Media reports
                    -Forthcoming telephone call from Garment
                            -White House response
                                             -78-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                             Conversation No. 39-100 (cont’d)

                                     -Morning press briefing
                                            -Ziegler
                                     -Need for statement from Dash

Also recorded on June 6, 1973

933-001 8:25 AM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:25 am and 8:53 am.
933-002 8:53 AM · 42 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:53 am and 9:01 am.
039-097 9:01 AM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:01 am and 9:14 am.
039-098 9:01 AM · 1 min — Alexander M. Haig, Jr., White House operator, J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr., and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:01 am and 9:14 am.
039-099 9:01 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:01 am and 9:14 am.
933-003 9:01 AM · 1 hr 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., White House operator, and J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:01 am to 10:03 am.
933-004 10:03 AM · 24 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:03 am and 10:05 am.
933-005 10:05 AM · 30 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Clarence M. Kelley, and Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:05 am to 10:35 am.

All 80 conversations from June 6, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 039-100, June 6, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/039-100 (accessed October 14, 2026).