Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 46 › Conversation 046-077

Nixon phone call with Buzhardt on Watergate and John W. Dean III

Wednesday, May 16, 1973 · 10:25 AM–10:27 AM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Buzhardt, J. Fred, Jr.Conversation046-077 on Tape 46StartWednesday, May 16, 1973 at 10:25 AMEndWednesday, May 16, 1973 at 10:27 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 046-077 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and White House counsel J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. discussed the identification and control of sensitive internal intelligence documents provided by John W. Dean, III. Buzhardt confirmed that he had secured materials including memos from Dean to John Mitchell and Tom Huston to H.R. Haldeman regarding 1970 intelligence operations. To mitigate potential exposure, the administration moved to secure the documents within the Justice Department and implement strict oversight for their storage.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hi, Fred.
Yes, sir.
Did you get the stuff yet?
Yes, sir.
They're making us a copy now.
We have identified it.
It is all positively related.
The other pieces is a synthesis of the original document.
Some of it is, well, there's one memo from John Dean to...
the Attorney General, with reference to this.
There are several memos by, I guess, two, three, four, five, six, six memos from Tom Houston, who was a White House rep for this agency committee, to Bob Haldeman, kind of giving him progress reports.
They all date between July 1970 and September 21, 1970.
All related to the same subject.
and the whole business of this internal intelligence.
Well, I can assure you it was done.
And it wasn't very successful either.
We are moving out, Mr. President, to control this document.
Okay, it should be.
The Justice Department have evolved.
We're asking the committee to initial the document and it be stored for the MSI here on that call.
Good job, Fred.
Thank you, sir.

NARA Description

On May 16, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. talked on the telephone from 10:25 am to 10:27 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 046-077 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 46-77

Date: May 16, 1973
Time: 10:25 am - 10:27 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr.

[See also Conversation No. 919-14]

      Watergate
           -John W. Dean, III’s documents
                                               -47-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                -Contents described
                -Memoranda from Dean to John N. Mitchell
                -Memorandum from Tom C. Huston to H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
                -Dates
                -Internal intelligence
           -Control of documents
                -Storage
                       -Justice Department
                       -National Security Agency [NSA]

Also recorded on May 16, 1973

  • 919-010 9:54 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 9:54 am.
  • 046-076 10:23 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:23 am and 10:25 am.
  • 919-012 10:23 AM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:23 am and 10:25 am.
  • 919-013 10:23 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:23 am and 10:25 am.
  • 919-014 10:25 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:25 am to 10:27 am.
  • 919-015 10:27 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:27 am to 10:31 am.
  • 919-016 10:31 AM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at 10:31 am.
  • 919-017 10:31 AM · 1 hr 41 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:31 am to 11:35 am.

All 73 conversations from May 16, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 046-077, May 16, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/046-077 (accessed October 24, 2026).