Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 46 › Conversation 046-031

Nixon phone call with Ziegler on Watergate scandal and William D. Ruckelshaus

Monday, May 14, 1973 · 4:00 PM–4:04 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation046-031 on Tape 46StartMonday, May 14, 1973 at 4:00 PMEndMonday, May 14, 1973 at 4:04 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 046-031 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler discuss the public reception of William D. Ruckelshaus's statement regarding FBI files recovered from John Ehrlichman's safe. They aim to frame the narrative to demonstrate that the White House was transparent rather than obstructive in handling these documents. Additionally, they monitor developments regarding John Dean's files currently under judicial review and prepare for upcoming testimony from General Vernon A. Walters.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Did Recklesau survive?
Yeah, I think he did a pretty good job.
Right, right.
We're getting a readout now.
We don't have a readout quite yet.
Right, right.
Our initial indications are that he did well.
Yeah, yeah.
I trust it can be, and so forth, that it could be played more a case of a B.I.,
I was trying to hide anything.
He said, Al Haig was just saying to me, he said, within 24 hours after we were informed, we had, you know, that they were looking for the papers, we found them and turned them over.
This doesn't suggest that the White House was trying to hide anything.
It doesn't suggest that these FBI people were, it doesn't suggest that the FBI people were
involved in warfare in those terms.
It simply points out that Ruckelshaus said today that after an investigation, the bar tab files were found in a safe of former presidential aide John Ehrlichman.
It does not suggest there was an effort to hide them or to withhold them now.
It's playing pretty straight, as a matter of fact.
Point out that Hoover and
And Mitchell disagreed as to whether they were destroyed.
Well, it goes on.
I don't have a total readout yet, but it goes on to say that the judge, I understand, is now reading the papers from Dean's safe.
According to Al, he was going to read them at 3 o'clock in the court.
The court feels that he can get a readout on that in about an hour.
He's not going to read the papers before the court.
He's going to read them privately.
He's not going to read the papers publicly.
And then determine to give them to the Senate and maybe... And to the Justice Department.
Yeah.
To give them to the Justice Department, we should have them.
That's right.
Okay.
A little talk with Alan today.
He agrees totally with your philosophy.
He just says this is an old...
You know, so many big stories in a day, it's hard to handle them, you know what I mean?
That's right.
But on the other hand, your philosophy is so correct.
We just keep our balance and keep trying to do our thing.
That's right.
It's not mine.
It's yours.
I mean, that's what you pointed out in Florida in Camp David.
I heard with her.
Right.
And I see the Ruckelshaus papers and so forth.
Well, I don't think it—I mean—
Well, we should have, you know, a pretty good indication on how all of this played in a couple hours, and then we can report to you when we have it in full detail, which we'll be prepared to do.
We should have an indication about it.
We'll have a good indication on how the Ruckelshaus thing is moving and what the papers are, and we'll be able to report to you and maybe have an assessment.
And they have our friend the general up, Walters, up at the Armed Services.
Well, he'll be a damn good witness.
We should have a readout on that at that time, too.
All right.
Should we say about 6 o'clock?
Yes, sir.
5.30 maybe, okay.
5.30.
Yes, sir.
All right, good.
I'm going to see Rockwell.
All right.

NARA Description

On May 14, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 4:00 pm to 4:04 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 046-031 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 46-31

Date: May 14, 1973
Time: 4:00 pm - 4:04 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler.

[See also Conversation No. 436-13]

     Watergate
          -William D. Ruckelshaus
                -Statement, May 14
                      -Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] activities
                      -FBI files in John D. Ehrlichman’s safe
                      -J. Edgar Hoover and John N. Mitchell
          -John W. Dean, III’s documents
                -Judge
                      -J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr.’s viewpoint
                      -Senate
                      -Justice Department
          -President’s conversation with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
          -News leads
                                              -19-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                 -Ruckelshaus’s statement
                 -Dean’s documents
                 - Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters’s testimony
                        -Senate Armed Services Committee

     President’s schedule
           -Nelson A. Rockefeller

Also recorded on May 14, 1973

  • 046-029 3:51 PM · 36 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 3:51 pm to 3:52 pm.
  • 435-032 3:51 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:51 pm and 4:19 pm.
  • 435-033 3:51 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:51 pm and 4:19 pm.
  • 436-010 3:51 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 3:51 pm.
  • 436-011 3:51 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:51 pm to 3:52 pm.
  • 046-030 3:52 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:52 pm and 4:00 pm.
  • 436-012 3:52 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:52 pm and 4:00 pm.
  • 436-013 4:00 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:00 pm to 4:04 pm.

All 102 conversations from May 14, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 046-031, May 14, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/046-031 (accessed October 1, 2026).