Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 46 › Conversation 046-098

Nixon, Buzhardt & Ziegler on Huston Plan and Affidavits

Thursday, May 17, 1973 · 3:11 PM–3:16 PM ET · White House Telephone · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Buzhardt, J. Fred, Jr.; Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation046-098 on Tape 46StartThursday, May 17, 1973 at 3:11 PMEndThursday, May 17, 1973 at 3:16 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 046-098 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with J. Fred Buzhardt regarding the collection of affidavits from various officials to document that the Huston Plan was never fully implemented. Nixon emphasized the urgency of gathering these testimonies to prepare a defense strategy, while also discussing media efforts to highlight how upcoming Ervin Committee hearings might jeopardize ongoing legal trials. Finally, the President and Ronald Ziegler discussed countering allegations regarding a past political opponent's medical history, with Nixon demanding that negative information about the source of these rumors be leaked to the press to discredit the accuser.

Audio

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NARA Description

On May 17, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr., and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 3:11 pm to 3:16 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 046-098 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 46-98

Date: May 17, 1973
Time: 3:11 pm - 3:16 pm
Location: White House Telephone
                                                  -58-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

The President talked with J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr.

[See also Conversation No. 438-15A]

      Watergate
           -Huston Plan
                -Affidavits
                       -Donald V. Bennett
                       -Noel Gayler
                -Unknown person’s conversations with Bennett and Gayler
                -Buzhardt’s conversation with Tom C. Huston
                       -Affidavit
                       -Huston’s notes
                       -Indianapolis
                -Louis W. Tordella
                       -Affidavit
                             -William C. Sullivan,[first name unknown] Brennan and [first
                 name unknown] Miller
                       -Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]
                       -Affidavits
                       -Recollections regarding implementation
                -Richard M. Helms
                       -Affidavit
                       -Contact
                                   -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
                                   -James R. Schlesinger
                       -Recollection
                -[First name unknown] McManus’s role
           -News
                -Ervin Committee
                       -Possible effect on trials

The President conferred with Ronald L. Ziegler at an unknown time.

[Begin conferral]
Show the rest of the log (28 more lines)
[See Conversation No. 438-15]

[End conferral]
                                             -59-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

     Watergate
          -News
               -Ervin Committee
                     -Washington Post story
                     -Forthcoming trials

     Thomas F. Eagleton’s medical history
         -Unknown doctor in New York
         -Location of treatment
               -New York
               -Philadelphia
               -Washington
               -Mayo Clinic
               -Barnes hospital
                     -St. Louis
               -Letter to Haig regarding alleged break-in
                     -Break-ins at the President’s doctor’s offices
                           -Medical files
                                 -Photographs
               -Leaks
               -Record

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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Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Hello?
This is your doctor, sir.
Great.
How are you coming in?
David, is it getting any in?
Pretty good.
I do not actually have any in hand yet, but I have them all working at the present.
Give me a quick rundown, can you?
All right, sir.
I have Minnit and Gowler that are due in here in the morning.
They're coming in, but they don't know what it's about yet.
Yes, sir.
I've got the plow to talk to them on secure plow and tell them that they had keynotes on the subject matter to bring them with them.
Uh, Houston, I'm trying to get his prepared on the telephone.
He told us where his notes were here.
If any exist, we're looking for them.
I'm working with him on the telephone to get his affidavit there.
I've been following his...
I found his note kit.
Well, just have him get his ass on that phone from Indianapolis and get in here.
All right, sir.
We'll...
There you go.
We've got, uh...
He has read it.
He's going to bring the draft in here to me tonight.
Of all his recollections, I have located, in addition to Sullivan, and Sullivan, as I say, is flying back from New Hampshire, a fellow named Miller and a fellow named Brennan at the Bureau worked on this.
Brennan has files.
He's searching his files.
And affidavits from both of them.
What are their recollections, if that's worth louder than we know?
You know, the same thing we know already.
But they seem to recollect the same thing, that it was approved and then disproved.
Yes, sir.
Approval and then withdrawn, basically.
Yes, sir.
It never really went.
Right.
It's the story we get everywhere.
That's what we want to get.
It's been inconsistent.
That's what I want to know.
I have Helms making an affidavit now.
Well, have you found him?
Because Al Haig can't reach him.
Well, Jim Schlesinger reached him for me.
Jim's getting it late.
Helms, but does Helms have the same recollection?
Jim tells me that nothing happened out there.
That it never went.
Now, we have found, and I'm fixing to call him over here, McManus in the situation room.
assisted Houston.
Houston track election and getting this thing turned off.
So we're moving on the whole front.
I hope before tomorrow night we have a whole series of affidavits set in time.
Stuff.
Be ready for them because then we're ready to fire with a big gun if we need to.
Right.
So we're good.
What else is new?
I guess that's good news that not too much more is popping today, Mr. President.
That's the Urban Committee coming, that great big sideshow.
It's interesting.
I think...
Frankly, we have finally managed to get the idea across to the newsmen, and I'm sure you knew we were working on this hard.
They were going to mess up the trials.
They went through with this thing.
We've got a story in the Post this morning that discussed the implications of my hearings in connection with the...
And we've got the television commentators actually talking about it as they go in their commentary.
So we're beginning to get this idea surfaced.
Well, I hope they mess the trials up, frankly, the way I feel about it now.
We hope that this will keep surfacing as it goes along.
Otherwise, it's moving along very well.
All right.
How about... Oh, one other thing.
Ron just walked in.
I just want to be sure I'm correct on this.
We checked this business that you were concerned about so much this morning about that crazy doctor.
Yes, sir.
This man was never treated in New York or Philadelphia or Washington or anyplace else.
He was treated only in Mayo Clinic and...
Lawrence Hospital in St. Louis, so... You have no idea what this is about, Sal.
Sal, we... Look, understand.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
That's not the way to look at it.
Sure, we aren't interested.
We're interested in the facts, of course.
Right.
But goddamn, this sort of thing should be put out.
Do you understand?
Yes, sir.
Let's understand.
This son of a bitch should be destroyed for this sort of thing.
You get my point?
Yes, sir.
This is a crank letter, which we have hundreds, you know.
Don't you agree?
This is a crank litter, you know, where they write Al Haig and said that he was burglarized.
Now, they made nothing out of the fact that they broke into my doctor's office twice, Fred, and photographed all of my medical files.
Now, God damn it, here's a guy that says that two federal officers approached him.
First, get the facts, but as soon as the facts get out, then leak them out in a proper way.
Don't you agree?
Yes, sir.
Absolutely.
I mean, play the game the way they play it.
And we're fixing the record, you know.
So we'll have a very complete run.
That's the stuff, boy.
Okay.
We're being careful.
Good luck.
Good luck.
Thank you, sir.

Also recorded on May 17, 1973

  • 046-096 3:05 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 3:05 pm to 3:06 pm.
  • 438-012 3:05 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:05 pm to 3:06 pm.
  • 046-097 3:06 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:06 pm and 3:11 pm.
  • 438-013 3:06 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 3:06 pm and 3:11 pm.
  • 438-014 3:06 PM · 10 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 3:06 pm and 3:11 pm.
  • 438-015 3:11 PM · 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon, J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr., and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:11 pm to 3:43 pm.
  • 046-099 3:43 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:43 pm and 3:53 pm.
  • 438-016 3:43 PM · 55 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:43 pm and 3:53 pm.

All 70 conversations from May 17, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 046-098, May 17, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/046-098 (accessed November 2, 2026).