Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 46 › Conversation 046-109

Nixon phone call with Buzhardt on Huston Plan and Watergate scandal

Thursday, May 17, 1973 · 8:01 PM–8:04 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Buzhardt, J. Fred, Jr.Conversation046-109 on Tape 46StartThursday, May 17, 1973 at 8:01 PMEndThursday, May 17, 1973 at 8:04 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 046-109 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. discuss the ongoing gathering of affidavits and records related to the Huston Plan in preparation for potential defense strategies. The conversation also addresses the recent performance of witnesses before the Ervin Committee, with Nixon dismissing the committee's effectiveness and encouraging Buzhardt to focus on legal preparations rather than media coverage. Buzhardt reports on the status of various individuals, including Tom C. Huston and William C. Sullivan, who are assisting in the documentation process.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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No.
Yes, Mr. President.
Anything new?
No, sir.
Not really since I talked to you last time.
You haven't got any more affidavits, huh?
No, sir.
We didn't turn up any records here.
But they...
They're still searching?
Yes, sir.
Good.
You may find them, though, you know.
It takes time to find records.
That's true.
We've got another source to check tomorrow morning.
Although it was out today and we'll be back tomorrow morning.
But as far as your oral... That's the oral still, sir.
That's good.
Your oral's still solid.
Right.
So we'll keep moving on it.
Tomorrow morning we should begin to get the affidavits.
That's the stuff.
Get your affidavits, get everything in a row, and be ready to hit on it.
All right, so we'll be all lined up.
Yeah.
And, uh...
Well, the television they went about is what we expected it to be.
They really badgered these guys, you understand?
They badgered them.
I really didn't get a chance to watch it, some of the transcripts tonight, and I just glanced through them.
I talked briefly to Bruce Curlie.
He's a good man.
Very well.
He's a good man.
David thought he did damn well.
Yes.
They said he gave a little hard time, but
You know, the committee's going to do that, though, Fred, we have to remember.
But they can overplay their hands.
I don't know.
There are few times when I know where a committee has beaten the witness in this case.
They don't very easily.
It's damn hard.
It is when the witness runs.
Because they aren't.
Because basically the committee members are not well prepared, and they don't look very good.
And they put the witness in the position of being badgered and arrested, and they just knock the shit out of them.
Well, I gather that all the witnesses did very well today.
That's your impression?
Yes, sir.
As I say, I didn't get to watch it, but the report I got wasn't there.
Don't you watch it.
Don't waste your time on it, please.
We're doing more important things.
But on your affidavits, then you're going to work again on those tomorrow?
Right, sir.
And they're coming in.
And you haven't found any notes yet, though?
Nobody's come up with any notes?
God damn it, do you think they destroyed their notes?
Well, Brennan at FBI has records, and he's going through them.
I'm sure he has some notes on him.
Cordello had three LIMCONS of telephone conversations.
Oh.
Not helpful, huh?
And they're looking at the agency, CIE.
Right.
And... Sullivan's coming down.
Right, Sullivan's coming.
Houston's coming in.
Houston, yes, sir.
All right.
Okay, you're going to win this one, boy.
We're going to try.
Try?
Hell, you're going to win it.
Right.
Okay.
Good.

NARA Description

On May 17, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. talked on the telephone from 8:01 pm to 8:04 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 046-109 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 46-109

Date: May 17, 1973
Time: 8:01pm - 8:04 pm
Location: White House Telephone
                                                  -66-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

The President talked with J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr.

      Watergate
           -Huston Plan
                 -Affidavits
                 -White House records
                 -Affidavits
           -Ervin Committee
                 -Witnesses
                       -Handling
                       -Bruce A. Kehrli
                              -Conversation with Buzhardt
                              -[Dwight] David Eisenhower, II’s views
                       -Robert C. Odle, Jr.
                       -Handling
           -Huston Plan
                 -Affidavits
                 -Notes
                       -[First name unknown] Brennan
                       -Louis W. Tordella
                 -William C. Sullivan
                 -Tom C. Huston

Also recorded on May 18, 1973

  • 046-110 8:04 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:04 pm and 8:07 pm.
  • 046-111 8:07 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 8:07 pm to 8:17 pm.
  • 046-112 10:37 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:37 pm and 10:41 pm.
  • 046-113 10:41 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 10:41 pm to 10:54 pm.
  • 922-001 8:18 AM · 27 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:18 am and 8:38 am.
  • 922-002 8:18 AM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:18 am and 8:38 am.
  • 922-015 8:18 AM · 2 min — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:18 am and 8:38 am.
  • 121-002 8:38 AM · 1 hr 41 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, and Cabinet officers and staffers, including [David] Kenneth Rush, William E. Simon, Elliot L. Richardson, Rogers C. B. Morton, Earl L. Butz, Frederick B. Dent, Richard F. Schubert, Frank C. Carlucci, James T. Lynn, John W. Barnum, Roy L. Ash, John A. Scali, Anne L. Armstrong, George H. W. Bush, Dr. James R. Schlesinger, Arthur J. Sohmer, General Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Peter M. Flanigan, William E. Timmons, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., Leonard Garment, Raymond K. Price, Jr., General Brent G. Scowcroft, Frederic V. Malek, David N. Parker, Herbert G. Klein, and the White House photographer, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 8:38 am and 11:59 pm.

All 43 conversations from May 18, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 046-109, May 18, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/046-109 (accessed October 23, 2026).