{"conversationCode":"045-126","tapeNumber":45,"conversationNumber":126,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-045-126","startDateTime":"1973-05-02T03:35:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1973-05-02T03:36:00.000Z","startDate":"1-May-1973","startTime":"11:35 PM","endDate":"1-May-1973","endTime":"11:36 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.;","description":"On May 1, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 11:35 pm to 11:36 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 045-126 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"WHT","recordingDevice":"White House Telephone","latitudeEstimated":38.89767,"longitudeEstimated":-77.03655,"chronCode":"5.5","chronRelease":"Fifth Chronological Release: Part V","chronReleaseDate":"21-Aug-2013","aogpRelease":"Abuse of Governmental Power Release","aogpSegment":"Segment 0","lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 45-126\n\nDate: May 1, 1973\nTime: 11:35 pm - 11:36 pm\nLocation: White House Telephone\n\nThe President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler.\n\n     Watergate\n          -President’s schedule\n          -Ziegler meeting with William E. Timmons\n                -Thomas C. Korologos\n                -Lobbying with Judiciary Committees\n                      -Elliot L. Richardson’s nomination\n                      -Special Prosecutor\n                      -James O. Eastland\n                            -Democrats\n                            -Meeting with Richardson\n\f                                                -81-\n\n                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM","filename":["045-126.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Ziegler, Ronald L."],"prevCode":"045-125","nextCode":"045-127","transcript":[{"start":0.49,"end":1.49,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":1.51,"end":1.87,"text":"Yes, sir."},{"start":2.65,"end":28.5,"text":"Ron, in the morning I notice I have an 830 meeting and consequently I'd like you to get Timmons in and tell him that it's of utmost importance that he and Carl Lucas, Carl Lucas particularly, work on the members of the Judiciary Committee and the Senate generally and also the House and so forth to, you know, to support Richardson and to support the fact that, well, the special prosecutor is exactly what"},{"start":28.73,"end":30.22,"text":"he has authority to do."},{"start":30.24,"end":30.56,"text":"Okay."},{"start":31.4,"end":33.26,"text":"Don't you think that's important or not?"},{"start":33.28,"end":35.02,"text":"Yes, I do."},{"start":35.05,"end":37.95,"text":"I told him as to get on the offensive, get off his ass."},{"start":38.03,"end":41.84,"text":"You know, we need some—we want congressional support."},{"start":41.86,"end":45.3,"text":"I guess, generally speaking, we've gotten some Republican support, haven't we?"},{"start":45.48,"end":45.74,"text":"Oh, yes."},{"start":46.12,"end":46.5,"text":"Yes, sir."},{"start":47.06,"end":51.67,"text":"Well, I'll get together with Bill and go over this with him."},{"start":52.04,"end":56.73,"text":"Fine, and to work on as many Democrats as he can, Eastland, for example, and people like that."},{"start":57.23,"end":62.62,"text":"Eastland, Bill did tell me that Richardson had a very successful meeting with Eastland."},{"start":62.64,"end":64.94,"text":"Yeah, I know, but the other day."},{"start":65,"end":67.06,"text":"But you see, we want something done right now."},{"start":67.26,"end":73.29,"text":"Eastland and all these guys who use the special prosecutor crap have got to knock that down fast."},{"start":73.55,"end":73.99,"text":"Right."},{"start":74.01,"end":75.01,"text":"And hit it hard in the morning."},{"start":75.35,"end":75.95,"text":"I will."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon directed Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler to coordinate with William Timmons on an aggressive lobbying strategy targeting members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. The primary objective was to secure bipartisan congressional support for Elliot Richardson’s nomination and to push back against legislative scrutiny regarding the special prosecutor’s authority. Nixon emphasized the immediate need for Timmons to move past defensive posturing and proactively cultivate key Democrats, such as James O. Eastland, to stabilize the administration's position amidst the Watergate fallout.","topics":["Watergate","Elliot L. Richardson","Special Prosecutor","Congressional lobbying","James O. Eastland","William E. Timmons"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T07:11:51.805Z"},"topicSlugs":["watergate","elliot-l-richardson","special-prosecutor","congressional-lobbying","james-o-eastland","william-e-timmons"],"audioDurationSec":83,"audioFiles":[{"file":"045-126.mp3","bytes":2666496,"durationSec":83.24,"bitrate":256270,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:20:02.407Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:42:44.628Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/045-126.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/045-126","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/45/conversation-045-126","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}