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Conversation 041-054

TapeTape 41StartTuesday, July 10, 1973 at 9:02 PMEndTuesday, July 10, 1973 at 9:08 PMParticipantsZiegler, Ronald L.;  Nixon, Richard M. (President)Recording deviceWhite House Telephone
AI Summary

Press Secretary Ronald L. Ziegler briefs President Nixon on television news coverage regarding John N. Mitchell's testimony before the Ervin Committee. Ziegler reports that network coverage focused on Mitchell's claims that he withheld information from the President to protect his reelection efforts and his denials of prior knowledge regarding the Watergate break-in. Both participants conclude that the reporting of the testimony was favorable to the administration and highlighted the perceived credibility of Mitchell's defense of the President.

Watergate scandalErvin CommitteeJohn N. MitchellMedia coverageWhite House public relationsPresidential reelection
AudioNARA Description

On July 10, 1973, Ronald L. Ziegler and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone from 9:02 pm to 9:08 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 041-054 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 41-54 (cont’d)

                                                                     Conversation No. 41-54

Date: July 10, 1973
Time: 9:02 pm - 9:08 pm
Location: White House Telephone

Ronald L. Ziegler talked with the President.

      Watergate
           -Ervin Committee hearings
                 -Television [TV] coverage
                 -John N. Mitchell’s testimony
                       -Content
                       -Press coverage
                       -Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS], wire services, Evening Star
                       -President
                       -Jeb Stuart Magruder
                       -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman
                             -Dita Beard
                       -Herman E. Talmadge’s question
                             -President’s knowledge
                       -Press coverage
                             -CBS
                             -American Broadcasting Company [ABC] television
                       -Talmadge’s question
                             -President’s re-election
                 -Press coverage
                       -Don Sund Quist’s comment concerning John W. Dean, III
                             -President’s activities
                 -Ervin Committee hearings
                       -Mitchell’s testimony
                             -Press coverage
                                   -John Chancellor
                                   -Magruder
                                   -Fred LaRue
                                   -President’s knowledge
                                            -34-

                  NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                   (rev. November-2012)

                                                            Conversation No. 41-54 (cont’d)

                                 -Compared to coverage of Dean
                            -Washington Star
Transcript (AI-Generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

Hello?
President, Mr. Ziegler calling.
Okay.
President, Mr. Ziegler?
Hello?
Yes, sir.
Uh, yeah.
You wanted a report on the TV?
Yeah, sure.
Ten minutes on CBS.
Oh, boy.
Uh, the, uh, story, quite frankly, out of the Mitchell Testimonial, and I checked the wires, the TV, and the star, the late edition.
that Mitchell admitted involvement in some aspects of the cover-up, but says he didn't tell Nixon and the president didn't know.
The CBS portion included the
denial of the Magruder portions of the Magruder's testimony.
He admitted that he had joined, as it says, Haldeman and Ehrlichman in covering up the White House horrors, such as the deed of beard being the thing and the burglary and so forth.
I didn't feel it would be fair to the campaign or that the president shouldn't be, you know, aware of it, of the reasons I said.
And then they had the portion where Talmadge asked him why he kept the president in ignorance.
And on CBS, it had Mitchell...
at his most credible i'm told by those who have watched it he was the most credible when he was talking about the president doesn't mean he was not credible earlier but he got very good we said mitchell said that it was not a question of keeping the truth from the president but a question of not involving him in it at all not wanting him to worry about the white house horrors as mitchell puts it saying that knowing the president he would have lowered the boom and uh
It would have been extremely, you know, detrimental to the campaign, said in retrospect.
He was probably wrong.
But they did use the very effective part on non-presidential involvement.
Now, ABC used, of course, the part where Mitchell said he did not approve the bugging, and also he had fear of the cover-up being revealed and did not want the president to know.
used sound on film where Mitchell denied the prior knowledge and saying he feared the president's election would have been effective, and the alternative was awful specifically, and this was a very effective passage where Talmadge apparently said, and you deliberately, Mr. Mitchell, refused to tell the president.
about this would you state that the expediency of the election was more important than that that's the question we talked about in the car mitchell's answer was very effective because mitchell said senator i think you have put it exactly correct in my mind in my opinion the re-election of richard nixon compared with what was available on the other side was so much more important that i put it in just that context
Which is a very effective answer.
It is an effective answer.
And I'm told that when he, you know, that portion was very well put.
Then they went on to, you know, more testimony tomorrow.
Then they had a portion, ABC had this, the statement by the young Republican National Convention chairman, or the national chairman, Sundquist, who was quoted as saying that John Dean was a liar.
and that uh so that's out of their national committee then he went on to say that uh he was he he thought that the president should and indicated he would tell his side of the story at the appropriate time then they mentioned the uh in the abc news the meetings with the leaders and the economic advisors today on phase four and action was expected soon
And the dollar rebounded and that type of news.
The NBC...
led with, of course, the Mitchell testimony, and, uh, said it was John Mitchell's turn at the witness stand, and the chancellor said that Mitchell and his testimony brought out three important points.
First was that the president didn't know.
Second, that the, uh, Mitchell did not know about Watergate, but knew plans, uh, and had turned them down, and third, denied Magruder's testimony that he approved the bugging.
Also, Mitchell said someone overruled him on the White House staff, but he didn't know who.
That's an old line of Mitchell's, too.
Then all of them had Magruder saying that he stood by his testimony, of course.
Then there was a story on NBC that LaRue, according to Mitchell, backed him in his not having approved the bugging.
Then Chancellor said the key element in the testimony that he, Mitchell, didn't want to tell the president or want him to find out
and used the same passage where Talmadge asked him about the expediency and so forth.
That's all right, too.
Well, that's not bad.
So the straight report on all three networks was good from our standpoint and basically from Mitchell's standpoint.
It is observed, however, that the particular chancellor and some of the others in their...
just observations and delivery of the report on Mitchell.
Indicated they didn't believe him?
No, it wasn't that they didn't believe him, but they drew assumptions that they didn't in relation to Dean and some of the others testifying, which I think bears out the fact that they're getting needled a little bit.
You mean they're getting needled by what?
By their own...
open reaction to Dean.
Incidentally, in the star on the front page, just above the banner headline, there's a series of pictures of Mitchell, and he looks very good, very confident, smiling.
Good.
Well, that came out as well as we could expect.
Yes, sir.
I think so.
That's right.
Fine, Ron.
Thank you.
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