Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 46 › Conversation 046-107

Nixon phone call with Haig on Watergate and Ervin Committee

Thursday, May 17, 1973 · 7:55 PM–7:58 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation046-107 on Tape 46StartThursday, May 17, 1973 at 7:55 PMEndThursday, May 17, 1973 at 7:58 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 046-107 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Haig discussed the negative public perception surrounding the opening days of the Ervin Committee hearings and the ongoing witness testimony. They reviewed the progress of J. Fred Buzhardt’s document preparations, setting a goal to have materials finalized by Sunday. Additionally, Haig provided an update on Elliot Richardson’s confirmation process and they coordinated the agenda for an upcoming Cabinet meeting intended to boost administration morale.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello, Mr. President?
Hi, Al.
Yes, sir.
Anything late to report?
No, nothing of any significance now since he left.
Same stuff, though.
Yes, sir.
We're trying to pull our work together for tomorrow.
We've had not a very happy day on television, of course.
You mean with the... Yeah, with the first day, and we knew it would be a...
with Odle and Curly and so forth.
Is that what you meant?
That's right, the earrings.
That's right.
And that's going to be unhappy for about a week.
Sure.
I mean, for a month.
Sure, that's right.
And then they're going to get tired of it, believe me.
That's right.
It shouldn't depress you too much, though, really.
I mean, you never know what's going to be happy or unhappy, you know, with these people.
They gave them a pretty rough time, huh?
No, I don't think so.
You know, I just think it's just the...
the conveyor belt thing, here it is now, it's on television, and these guys are getting hit.
They all did well.
They all presented their positions well.
And there wasn't anything stopping them.
Did Bazaar Gooding do anything?
Has he got any more affidavits, or is he still just digging away?
No, we got everything in that package being as well on the way.
So I think we're going to be in good shape, at least by Sunday noon.
I talked to him earlier and he said he thought he might be ready Saturday.
I said, well, I hope so.
But that's all right.
But Sunday noon is good.
I mean, if we don't, because if they want to strike earlier, that's fine.
We don't want to strike the moment thereafter.
We could take a day.
That's right.
That's right.
And in fact, we ought to keep making it better and better.
But all right.
Because on this issue.
We want to hit one.
We're in a pretty good position now.
We're in a pretty good position.
Well, it's an issue that I just hope that it turns on because we couldn't be in a better position.
Right.
How about Richardson?
How's he doing?
He's doing all right.
I talked to him at about one o'clock and he seems to be more confident.
Right.
Good.
He's not having any problems.
He hasn't got his man yet, but
I think you'll get through, don't you?
Oh, I'm sure he's going to get through.
Yeah, right.
It'll be hard to figure any basis for nothing.
Yeah, but tomorrow you think you just ought to make it a sort of, you know, ray-ray sort of type of session, everybody report?
Yes, sir.
I think what I'd do is to give them a chance to tell what they're doing that's of importance.
That's right.
All right.
And then a rah-rah at the end of it.
Right.
Okay, boy.
All right, sir.
Bye.
Bye.

NARA Description

On May 17, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 7:55 pm to 7:58 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 046-107 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 46-107

Date: May 17, 1973
                                               -65-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Time: 7:55 pm - 7:58 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

     Watergate
          -Ervin Committee hearings
                 -Witnesses
                      -Robert C. Odle, Jr. and Bruce A. Kehrli
                      -Testimony
          -J. Fred Buzhardt’s activities
                 -Deadline

     Elliot L. Richardson
            -Conversation with Haig at 1:00 pm
            -Confirmation

     Cabinet meeting
          -Agenda

Also recorded on May 17, 1973

  • 046-102 4:01 PM · 55 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 4:01 pm to 4:02 pm.
  • 438-021 4:02 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:02 pm and 4:08 pm.
  • 046-103 4:08 PM · 26 sec — Rose Mary Woods and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone from 4:08 pm to 4:09 pm.
  • 438-022 4:08 PM · 25 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:08 pm to 4:34 pm.
  • 046-104 4:36 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:36 pm and 4:58 pm.
  • 046-105 4:58 PM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon and J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. talked on the telephone from 4:58 pm to 5:16 pm.
  • 046-106 7:52 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:52 pm and 7:55 pm.
  • 046-108 7:58 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 7:58 pm and 8:01 pm.

All 70 conversations from May 17, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 046-107, 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/046-107 (accessed October 12, 2026).