Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 45 › Conversation 045-209

Nixon phone call with Woods on Watergate and Republican Fundraising Dinner

Thursday, May 10, 1973 · 5:17 PM–5:20 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Woods, Rose MaryConversation045-209 on Tape 45StartThursday, May 10, 1973 at 5:17 PMEndThursday, May 10, 1973 at 5:20 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 045-209 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and his personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, discuss the enthusiastic reception Nixon received at a recent Republican fundraising dinner. The conversation shifts to the ongoing Watergate scandal, specifically focusing on the legal troubles and reputations of Maurice Stans and John Mitchell. Nixon expresses personal sympathy for both men, while Woods provides updates on her efforts to maintain contact and support them during their testimony and legal challenges.

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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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 was wondering, you were telling me who was at your table last night, and you said Hope Lewis was there and the Marriotts, huh?
Hope Lewis and the Marriotts and George Champion and... And George, George Champion.
How did he look?
Is he...
He looked fine.
He looked fine.
Fine, fine.
And they were all... And he brought three tables up from... Who?
His son, who's been very... Oh, yeah.
Oh, he's terrific.
He's been our chairman in Florida.
He brought tables up from, three full tables up from...
But you said they were all very, very enthusiastic about it, huh?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, it's nice to have such good friends, isn't it, John?
It really is.
You know, it's really tragic to have such a day to have such great guys as Mitchell and Stans invited, son of a bitch.
Yeah.
I got Stans.
He was out at the hospital.
Poor old Mitchell's been testifying in front of the Senate committee, I guess, today.
Yeah.
And he drove—he had a driver bring him down, I suppose, so he wouldn't get heckled on the plane.
Oh, be damned.
Or, you know, or bothered.
Good for him.
And then he's going to drive back.
I didn't want to place a call to the house because he'd be calling someone.
Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure.
Well, that's all right.
Just the main thing is he must know he's got friends.
That's right.
Well, I told the officer I'd call him in the morning.
Good.
And Mari really appreciated it.
And he just, he's sure that...
He said, you know, it's hard to believe all this.
He said, one day I'll walk back in with my head high, and I said, you keep it high now, Martha.
Oh, the hell with it.
You know, Maury wouldn't lie, you know.
He probably forgot this, and you know how it is.
He was having a lot of things, and he never intended to do a thing, you know.
And I'm sure John was just so plagued by that goddamn Martha.
You know, Rose, I know these men.
They are good men.
If it burns my tail about all this, you know?
Yeah, it's just incredible.
Well, anyway.
He did appreciate it.
Maury appreciated the call, and I'm sure John will.
I'll get him in the morning, because I want to try it.
But at your party last night, you said they were really quite enthusiastic.
Oh, yes.
Yeah.
And I thought the ovation was really great, didn't you?
was the best we ever had.
Yeah, it was just marvelous.
You know, I've been to those dentists before, they don't even care usually, but you know, when you're under attack, they all care.
Yeah, the ones who've got any backbone do.
And the other thing, too, is that I think
The new team in running that thing was so much better.
Yes, yes.
You mean Bush and— Yeah, Bush and— Brock and Michael.
Right.
So much better.
Rather than, you know, the poor Bob Wilson and Bob Dole and the others.
Bob Dole wasn't bad.
He was a pretty good speaker, but poor Bob Wilson was pathetic.
Yeah, I know.
And Dominic was pathetic.
Dominic was head-headed, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, you're right.
Bob Dole wasn't bad as a speaker, but Bush is better.
Bush has got a cleaner look.
Oh, Bush, he's just a terrific guy.
Right, right.
But I must say that, you know, the ovation was something because everybody thought that nobody would cheer.
They all came off their seats.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Bush is great.
Yeah.
Well, okay.
Okay.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.

NARA Description

On May 10, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 5:17 pm to 5:20 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 045-209 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 45-209

Date: May 10, 1973
Time: 5:17 pm - 5:20 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Rose Mary Woods.

*****************************************************************
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]

     Republican fundraising dinner
          -People at Woods’s table
                -Hobart D. (“Hobe”) Lewis, Mr. and Mrs. J. Willard (“Bill”) Marriott, and
                 George Champion, Jr.
                -Champion’s son
                      -Florida campaign chairman
                -Enthusiastic response

[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
*****************************************************************

     Watergate
          -Maurice H. Stans, John N. Mitchell
          -Woods’s call to Stans
          -Mitchell
               -Testimony to Senate Committee
               -Transportation to DC
          -Woods’s call to Stans
               -Stans’s veracity
          -Mitchell
               -Martha Mitchell

*****************************************************************
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
                                              -134-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                           Conversation No. 45-209 (cont’d)

     Republican fundraising dinner
          -Reaction to President
          -George H. W. Bush, William E. Brock, III, Robert H. Michel
          -Robert J. Dole, Robert C. (“Bob”) Wilson, Peter H. Dominick
          -Bush compared to Dole
                -Appearance
          -Ovation for President

[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
*****************************************************************

Also recorded on May 10, 1973

  • 045-203 4:54 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 4:54 pm to 5:00 pm.
  • 045-204 5:00 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:00 pm and 5:01 pm.
  • 045-205 5:01 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 5:01 pm to 5:04 pm.
  • 045-206 5:04 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:04 pm and 5:17 pm.
  • 045-207 5:04 PM · 13 sec — White House operator and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:04 pm and 5:17 pm.
  • 045-208 5:04 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:04 pm and 5:17 pm.
  • 045-210 5:20 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:20 pm and 5:23 pm.
  • 045-211 5:23 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 5:23 pm to 5:26 pm.

All 86 conversations from May 10, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 045-209, May 10, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/045-209 (accessed October 5, 2026).