Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 46 › Conversation 046-050
Nixon phone call with Higby on Watergate and H.R. Haldeman
Monday, May 14, 1973 · 9:47 PM–9:53 PM ET · White House Telephone · 7 min
AI Summary
President Nixon and aide Lawrence Higby discuss the need for H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman to publicly refute any implication that their past actions involving the CIA and national security matters constituted a Watergate cover-up. The President emphasizes that his top advisors must be assertive and non-apologetic regarding their efforts to investigate leaks, specifically concerning the 'Plumbers' operation and Daniel Ellsberg. Additionally, they discuss strategy for addressing negative stories regarding the President's finances, emphasizing a planned aggressive pushback against the Ervin Committee.
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Transcript (AI-generated)
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I have Mr. Higby.
All right, thanks.
See you later.
Hello, Larry?
Yes, sir.
You got home, huh?
Yeah, I'm sorry.
I got your report, and the thing that I particularly think you should get Bob and John alerted to is that they must not allow, on the basis of the fact that it was national security, this implication to be...
how could they, you know, we're trying to have a CIA cover-up for this goddamn thing, you know what I mean?
And so I think on that, they should just hit it hard, publicly say this is a, you know, you understand what I mean?
Sure, they don't need to give any executive privilege away, but they've got to say, you understand, I don't want them to be in a position where Walter's affidavit and all the rest lose them in a position where
It looks as if they were trying to do something where this goddamn dean was the guy that did it.
Would you agree?
Yeah.
The only thing is I think Bob's position has been all the way through on this thing and has held him in good stead so far.
The two's going to come out and what he says publicly really isn't going to make that much difference.
They hit him on it, from what he told me today at the latter part of the hearing.
And he very precisely said that he only had one meeting and explained as much as he could without getting into national security what it was about, stressing that he had to draw the line on a good portion of it because it was national security.
But you see, he must not leave the implication, Larry, neither he nor John, that they, on the basis of national security, are...
have participated in any effort to have the CIA cover up this goddamn thing, which they weren't trying to do.
Right.
In other words, what you're suggesting is a blanket sort of a statement that just flatly puts it down.
Well, they've got to consider that, because I don't want to take a look at the news in the morning and so forth, and I don't want to do anything that will jeopardize their legal thing, but I think that on the other hand, they must not have hanging out there any implication that they...
uh participated in or ordered or encouraged a uh you know a cia uh cover-up of this goddamn thing which is what they didn't do right they were simply trying to get the goddamn facts right right right precisely and also as i understand it prevent prevent uh
for what could have been some subsequent national security problems had the thing continued down the line, which was the point I think Bob was trying to make, that eventually you're going to cross over the area.
You're no longer in Watergate.
You're in national security area.
And I think he was trying to make that point to Walter also.
Yes, I know.
Right.
Well, you know, what I mean is that all this is in the public area as well as the private area.
Right.
And I tell them don't do anything to hurt their case, but have in mind the fact that they must not leave hanging out there any implication that they, Haldeman or Ehrlichman, either one, were involved in trying to use the CIA as a cover-up of this thing.
They were not.
They were trying to get the goddamn facts.
Right.
Understand precisely what you're saying.
Right.
Bob had a rough time, but he handled himself well, I understand.
Yep, that's what he said.
And he's in good spirits this evening.
In fact, he wanted me to go hit a tennis ball with him for a while.
I told him we had a few other things to do, but I think he's in good shape.
And I'll talk to him tomorrow.
I'm going to drop off this, give him a little better fill on what Walter's apparently said up there.
Right.
Which is kind of ridiculous.
Well, Walters was just trying to, you know, cover the CIA.
Everybody's playing for his own ass.
That's what Al did.
Yeah, you know, and basically Bob and John, they don't attack Walters, but they just simply say, look, he may have misunderstood.
We had no intention of doing any goddamn thing here.
And they didn't.
Nope, clearly not.
That's Bob.
He, on the other hand, did follow up in a way that was totally...
you know, what he tried to do.
Hell yeah.
He went over and tried to get Walters to agree to put these people on their payroll to pay their legal expenses and all that.
But God damn it, Bob and John never suggested such a God damn thing.
No.
Not at all.
Totally.
It's ridiculous.
The whole way that... And Walters pretty clearly says that.
He thanks me.
I know he does that, but...
He also leaves an implication on Bob and John, which is not healthy for them.
You understand?
Right.
I understand.
And I want them to use their judgment.
It's up to them.
Okay.
But use their judgment as to whether they want to crack this thing.
I don't think they should go up to the Armed Services Committee.
Don't broaden the inquiry any.
But, boy, every opportunity they get, they should knock that thing right out of the park.
Yep.
Right?
Yes, sir.
No question.
When is John going back?
I don't know at this point whether he'll have to go back or not.
You know, they may have finished up with him.
He's got this new front he's got to handle now.
What's that?
I've just heard it on the radio coming home tonight, the whole inquiry.
It's something about that subsequent grand jury hearing is going to be held now in Los Angeles connected with the old Ellsbury thing.
Oh, well.
That's all right.
He'll handle that.
Sure.
I mean, on that, he simply got to say there was a national security investigation, period.
Yeah, yeah.
And what are they going to look into in that hearing, did they say?
You know, the Krogh stuff, the whole Plumbers operation.
Well, fine.
There, take a very positive, strong position.
Yes, we were trying to stop the leaks.
Hell, yes.
And this was our position.
And we did everything we could to do it.
That was it.
You didn't be a damn bit apologetic.
You've got to be very strong and affirmative on it.
Yep.
No question.
It shouldn't, exactly as you say, it should not be in the tone of apology at all.
No, sir.
Very affirmative.
Very strong.
Okay, Larry.
Well, they sure did a good job on the other thing.
I heard that on the way home tonight.
Ziegler just knocked the whole house thing just out of the park.
We're going to hit it again tomorrow.
Yeah, I know it.
We've got DeMarco working right now.
Because basically that is such a goddamn lie that we're going to force the committee to publicly retract or else we're going to demolish the committee tomorrow.
Sure.
Good.
Don't you agree?
Oh, boy, I'll tell you, I sure do.
See you tomorrow.
NARA Description
On May 14, 1973, Lawrence M. Higby and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone from 9:47 pm to 9:53 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 046-050 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 46-50
Date: May 14, 1973
Time: 9:47 pm - 9:53 pm
Location: White House Telephone
Lawrence M. Higby talked with the President.
Watergate
-29-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
-Higby’s report
-Higby’s forthcoming meeting with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman and John D.
Ehrlichman
-Possible Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] cover-up of Watergate
-Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters
-John W. Dean, III
-Haldeman’s grand jury testimony
-National security
-Haldeman’s and Ehrlichman’s possible statements
-CIA cover-up
-National security
-Walters
-CIA cover-up
-Haldeman’s grand jury testimony
-Haldeman’s mood
-Higby’s forthcoming meeting with Haldeman
-Walters’s statements
-Walters’s testimony
-Dean
-Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Haldeman’s and Ehrlichman’s possible statements
-Ehrlichman’s schedule
-Grand jury
-Grand jury in Los Angeles
-Daniel Ellsberg
-Egil (“Bud”) Krogh, Jr.
-Possible testimony regarding leaks
-Ervin Committee story regarding the President’s finances
-Ronald L. Ziegler’s statement
-Frank DeMarco, Jr.Also recorded on May 15, 1973
- 046-043 9:15 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 9:15 pm to 9:22 pm.
- 046-044 9:22 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:22 pm and 9:32 pm.
- 046-045 9:32 PM · 15 sec — White House operator and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at 9:32 pm.
- 046-046 9:33 PM · 13 sec — White House operator and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at 9:33 pm.
- 046-047 9:33 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:33 pm and 9:40 pm.
- 046-048 9:33 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:33 pm and 9:40 pm.
- 046-049 9:40 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Leonard Garment, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone from 9:40 pm to 9:46 pm.
- 046-051 9:55 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Herbert G. Klein talked on the telephone from 9:55 pm to 10:02 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 046-050, May 15, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/046-050 (accessed October 1, 2026).