Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 41 › Conversation 041-049

Nixon phone call with Rebozo on Watergate and John N. Mitchell

Monday, July 9, 1973 · 6:50 PM–6:58 PM ET · White House Telephone · 8 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Rebozo, Charles G. ("Bebe")Conversation041-049 on Tape 41StartMonday, July 9, 1973 at 6:50 PMEndMonday, July 9, 1973 at 6:58 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 041-049 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Charles "Bebe" Rebozo discussed ongoing political pressures, specifically focusing on the Watergate hearings and the public perception of the administration. They expressed solidarity regarding the impending testimony of John N. Mitchell, while also coordinating a strategy to neutralize critical press inquiries—particularly those from Maxine Cheshire—regarding financial matters and property dealings involving Robert Abplanalp. Nixon emphasized his intention to stop personally addressing these allegations, signaling a move toward a more combative stance against his political detractors.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello.
I'm Mr. Rebozo.
Hello.
Hello.
Hello, President.
I want you to know we're back in the White House.
How did everything go with Kelly?
Oh, fine.
Very good, very good.
Good reception.
Oh, yes, there was a big crowd and everybody was cheering and so forth.
Hotter, very hot there, over 100 degrees.
Is that right?
Just fine.
Where are you at?
Mother's house.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Everything's going great.
A friend has a meeting tomorrow, and he'll probably call me tomorrow afternoon.
Fine.
With respect to the Apanalp situation, we've got that pretty well under control.
Well, we got that.
We raised that at the Justice Department, and they put out a statement denying it.
I tried to do a deal again in the Miami Herald between the two.
Maxine, well, the whole thing is a total fake.
You know, Mr. President, you can't believe it.
I know you've got to get sick of hearing me say it, because when you get around Washington and other places...
But every place I go... Now, this weekend, I went down to Ocean Reef, and I was coming out of the drugstore, and people come by and look off.
A very fine-looking family.
And one of them recognized me.
She called back, and she said, Would you deliver a message for me?
And I said, Yeah.
She said, Would you tell our president we just love him?
And this is the same.
This is just typical of the story that I... We ran into an awful lot of that in Kansas City, too.
Over and over and over again.
And, you know, you read the...
These three newspapers, and you wouldn't know it, or look at the ham press.
Yeah.
Well, listen, Scott, you know, I understand John Mitchell apparently was going to testify tomorrow.
Looks like it.
It looks like it.
But, boy, I just wish him the best.
Well, I do, too.
We've gotten the word to him in every way, haven't we?
I know it.
He knows it.
He knows it.
No problem.
Right.
This one I might take a little time out to watch.
You're going to watch it?
I might watch it.
I'll watch as much of it as I can.
What's a shocking damn thing.
Farmer attorney, general of the United States, one of the best.
A man that was a campaign manager for the president in 68, and then campaign manager up through the primary.
And they bring him before the stinking committee on a stinking little crappy thing like this.
That's exactly right.
It's unbelievable.
Exactly right.
And that the country's up at this press.
It ain't going.
to work it ain't going to work and i'll tell you people who go out of their way to write letters i got a little i got a letter for a little boy today i sent him on the rose just a very sweet sweet letter tell your friend we love it you know it's just unbelievable these things go on so one thing i want to say to you too is that
When your friend is talking to these guys, if they start digging into the income tax and other matters, things that you've handled and so forth down there, I think we can develop the right kind of...
I think every indication is that they're going to be friendly.
Every indication is.
They're sent down here from Jacksonville, and they are all good names, if you know what I mean.
But I meant, you know, with all of this business of going into the California property and the Florida property and all the rest, they'll say, now, how much of that has been held?
Of course, there's none of that damn business about what it is, because you know what I mean.
But, uh, and also, we've all handled it in a way that's perfectly above board.
Right.
And I'll tell you, Luke, I'm telling you, just as soon as that Holloman is finished, I'm going to take them on, believe me.
And finish it off.
That's right.
If there's any answering done, somebody else can answer the little nitpick and stuff.
Yeah, we've answered too much already.
Well, I agree.
I agree.
Others can answer it.
The only reason these Jews brought this thing against him was because he had the best and they couldn't get in the market.
Well, the amazing thing is it really kills them.
They had just surmised.
And this Cheshire did a despicable thing.
I talked to General Haig about it.
But anyway...
He talked to him?
Yeah, I talked to him about it.
Did she talk to Epinal?
No, no, no.
No, no, no.
But she called his office and talked to his PR man and lied to him.
She told him that the Secret Service had told her things that were absolute lies.
But we got her hung.
About what?
About the installation.
Do you know that Epinal not only paid...
for all the buildings, the Secret Service quarters, the communications.
He paid for the helipad, the roads.
He even paid for the security devices in the main house and the smoke devices and everything, everything.
And he insisted on it.
They wanted to do it.
And so she wrote that he didn't pay for it.
No, no, she didn't write.
She tried to bait it.
See, she lied.
She told Appanoff's men that the Secret Service had told them that they had paid for this.
But why don't we do something about it?
Bob and I were together when we got the word, so we nailed it right down.
It was nailed right down.
What can we do about her?
No problem.
That'll be good.
I think the Lord will take care of her.
Yeah.
But no problem.
I don't dignify her.
Oh, I agree.
I agree, I agree.
I showed you how the post works.
I think Sinatra was too kind.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
You were too kind to... Two bits, not two dollars.
But she's taken care of.
She's taken care of.
The whole thing is taken care of.
It was a nothing, you know, nothing thing, but she just tried to make something of it.
Isn't that something?
No problem.
But she didn't write a story, huh?
No.
No, no.
She couldn't write all the stuff she was talking about.
It was all right.
How'd the PR guy handle it?
Well, he handled it very well.
It just happened that Bob was at my house on this other matter.
Yeah.
And when the thing came up and the guy called us, we had it all settled in 15 minutes.
It worked out beautifully.
And he told her that?
Oh, yeah.
He told her the facts.
The truth of the matter is that the GSA and Secret Service had handled it well.
In this instance, they handled it well.
But she lied.
They were trying to bait him.
But it all worked out.
Well, they're not going to get Bob on something, that's for sure.
No way.
No way.
Bob and Bill and I were together at the time.
Well, I just didn't want these guys from Washington to get at you about what we've done, you know, down there, you know what I mean?
No, don't worry about that.
Don't worry about that.
No, sir.
No way.
How's Jules, all right?
She's fine.
She's going somewhere tomorrow, isn't she?
She was in Texas today.
I don't know if she's somewhere tomorrow.
She's really a worker.
Yeah.
But everybody's fine.
Good.
All right.
We're in good shape.
I think, actually, oh, well, we are.
Heck, we're moving up, and everybody knows it.
Exactly.
And this fellow Dean, listen, by the time these other guys get through, we'll have some rough knocks.
That's right.
For old Kambach, they'll work him over.
But by the time we get through, every other witness is going to knock Dean's brains out.
That's right.
He's going to be discredited.
No problem.
No problem.
We just, you know, that's the way it goes.
All right.
That's the way it goes.
Well, anyway, you take care.
All right, sir.
Let me know what you hear tomorrow night if it's useful.
Okay.
Bye.
Bye.

NARA Description

On July 9, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo talked on the telephone from 6:50 pm to 6:58 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 041-049 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 41-49

Date: July 9, 1973
Time: 6:50 pm - 6:58 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Charles G. (“Bebe”) Rebozo.

     Clarence M. Kelley’s swearing in ceremony in Kansas City, Missouri
          -Audience reaction
          -Weather

     Rebozo’s location
                                        -30-

             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                           Conversation No. 41-49 (cont’d)

     -Mother’s house

Hughes contribution
-Unnamed man

Robert H. Abplanalp
     -Administration’s directions for Justice Department

Maxine Cheshire
     -Article in Miami Herald

President
      -Public opinion

Watergate
     -Ervin Committee hearings
           -John N. Mitchell’s forthcoming testimony
     -Public opinion
           -Letter forwarded to Rose Mary Woods
     -Hughes contribution
           -Unknown man’s forthcoming conversations
                 -President’s properties
     -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
     -White House response

Abplanalp
     -Charges
     -Maxine Cheshire
          -Rebozo’s conversation with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
          -Conversation with Alexander Haig’s assistant
                -Payments for property
          -Francis A. (“Frank”) Sinatra
          -Conversation with Abplanalp’s assistant
          -Conversations with General Services Administration [GSA] and United States
           Secret Service [USSS]

Julie Nixon Eisenhower
      -Public appearance
            -Texas
                                             -31-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                            Conversation No. 41-49 (cont’d)

     Watergate
          -Ervin Committee hearings
                -John W. Dean, III
                -Herbert W. Kalmbach
                -Forthcoming testimony
                -Dean

Also recorded on July 9, 1973

  • 041-046 6:17 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:17 pm and 6:38 pm.
  • 041-047 6:38 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:38 pm and 6:39 pm.
  • 041-048 6:39 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:39 pm and 6:50 pm.

Cite this conversation

Conversation 041-049, July 9, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/041-049 (accessed October 10, 2026).