Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 45 › Conversation 045-072

Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Watergate and Public Relations

Monday, April 30, 1973 · 11:50 PM–11:53 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation045-072 on Tape 45StartMonday, April 30, 1973 at 11:50 PMEndMonday, April 30, 1973 at 11:53 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 045-072 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H.R. Haldeman discuss the immediate public and political reception to Nixon's televised address regarding the Watergate scandal. They review feedback from congressional members, Democratic governors, the press, and Henry Kissinger, noting that while media criticism persists, the speech was well-received by lawmakers and potentially the general public. The conversation concludes with a brief reflection on Nixon's impromptu visit to the press room, which was viewed as a positive move by CBS.

Audio

Download MP3 · 4.7 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Hello?
Mr. Holloman's on the line, sir.
Yeah.
Yes, sir.
Well, I guess we've got all the reports, so they go to bed.
So what have you?
Well, that could come out very well.
It's a good reaction on the radio from the congressional guys.
Press, press pissing on it, but that's all right.
No, they're not.
They're making a big thing out of the... Rowan and all the rest pissing on it, but that's all right.
I don't care.
None that I've heard.
Really?
No.
And the congressional guys you got good reaction on.
Blackcomb.
Both the good guys and the bad guys.
Javits and Baker.
I was at several of them.
Good.
The Democratic governors didn't like it, but they aren't going to like anything.
I guess they weren't talking about the speech.
They had them on reacting to the speech.
They said that wasn't enough.
Well, we knew that.
Which is, of course, that's the next bounce now.
I told you that.
Yes, sure, we know that.
Some more.
But no, I think certainly what they're carrying on the news wrap-up now is good.
It's very good.
Henry's reaction is rather typical.
He's sort of waiting.
But we expect that, don't we?
Yes, pro-Henry.
This isn't an effort that's designed for the Henry types anyway.
No, you're right.
The main thing David was just saying is he didn't give a shit what all the press does.
He says, you got to the folks.
Well, that's the whole point.
We may have gotten to the folks.
I don't know.
You got to the press afterwards.
about your drop-by in the press room or whatever it was, where you made a comment about, you know— You can be hell when I'm wrong.
Yeah, but something about you hope you merit their confidence or their trust or something.
And they picked that up.
CBS, particularly, for some reason, thought that was very impressive.
I'll keep the pay though, boy.
Right.
Always.
Don't give up.
Never.
Goodbye.
Okay.

NARA Description

On April 30, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:50 pm and 11:53 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 045-072 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 45-72

Date: April 30, 1973
Time: Between 11:50 pm and 11:53 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

     Watergate
          -President’s speech
                -Congressional reaction
                -Press reaction
                      -Carl T. Rowan
                -Congressional reaction
                      -Jacob K. Javits, Howard H. Baker, Jr.
                -Democratic governors’ reaction
                      -Resignations
                -Henry A. Kissinger’s reaction
                -Press coverage
                -[Dwight] David Eisenhower, II’s view
                      -Press reaction
                      -Popular reaction
          -President’s visit to press room
                -Press reaction
                -Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS]
                                             -53-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Also recorded on May 1, 1973

  • 045-064 11:23 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:23 pm and 11:24 pm.
  • 045-065 11:24 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 11:24 pm to 11:28 pm.
  • 045-066 11:28 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:28 pm and 11:30 pm.
  • 045-067 11:30 PM · 14 sec — White House operator and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at 11:30 pm.
  • 045-068 11:36 PM · 41 sec — Tricia Nixon Cox, White House operator, President Richard M. Nixon, and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 11:36 pm to 11:37 pm.
  • 045-069 11:41 PM · 1 min — White House operator, Tricia Nixon Cox, President Richard M. Nixon, and James D. ("Don") Hughes talked on the telephone from 11:41 pm to 11:42 pm.
  • 045-070 11:47 PM · 3 min — Tricia Nixon Cox, White House operator, President Richard M. Nixon, Robert H. Abplanalp, and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:47 pm and 11:49 pm.
  • 045-071 11:49 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:49 pm and 11:50 pm.

All 181 conversations from May 1, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 045-072, May 1, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/045-072 (accessed October 5, 2026).