Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 46 › Conversation 046-175

Nixon phone call with Richardson on Senate confirmation and Watergate

Wednesday, May 23, 1973 · 4:04 PM–4:08 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Richardson, Elliot L.Conversation046-175 on Tape 46StartWednesday, May 23, 1973 at 4:04 PMEndWednesday, May 23, 1973 at 4:08 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 046-175 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon calls Elliot L. Richardson to congratulate him on his Senate confirmation as Attorney General, commending his skill in navigating the difficult confirmation process. The conversation shifts to the Watergate investigation, specifically addressing the role of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox and concerns regarding the continuity of ongoing work by U.S. Attorneys. Nixon emphasizes the importance of the administration’s recent public statement on the scandal and confirms logistics for Richardson’s upcoming swearing-in ceremony at the Department of Justice.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Hello.
Well, I want to be among the first to congratulate you and just tell you why, how'd you lose three votes?
I don't know.
Well.
Who were they?
Ravel, Biden, and Hughes.
Well, my goodness.
Couldn't have three.
Ravel is nuts and Hughes, of course, since Biden is new.
that's really great elliot and uh i know i know it was a tough deal to have to go through it and everything but i i think it but you but you know but you handled it in great skill that's my point i told that i was talking now this dropped in and i said i've never seen any more skill because you were running into a meat grinder there you know with that darn crow crap and all the other stuff with you had nothing whatever to do well i wanted to preserve so far as possible it seemed to me that
You're having asked me to do this, and what you've said about what you hoped I could contribute by coming into here, I wanted to get as good a vote as possible.
Right.
Because it would otherwise have undercut it, and I didn't want to have it.
I didn't want to back off so far on the independence that it made no sense for you to move me out of this department.
Well, it didn't.
You didn't do that.
I think it came out okay, but it did take a little footwork.
That's putting it mildly.
It's nice of you to call.
Well, I do appreciate it.
That statement that we put out yesterday was a real contribution.
We worked our tails off on it.
And Elliot, all I can tell you is, you know, and someday when this is all over we can talk about it, but you try to reconstruct these events and who did what to whom and so forth and so on.
But that, believe me, is the
We went, we combed everything we possibly can, and that's about it.
Yeah.
They'll throw a lot of crap around, but that's it.
Now the thing to do is to have your friend Cox do his job.
Well, he is a really fair man.
The one thing that I noted in the press, which I want to get your judgment on, I
I can ask you now, is this a concern expressed by Silbert to the effect that Cox is going to start all over again and it's taking 10 months for the grand jury to act?
I would certainly hope that Cox isn't thinking in those terms.
No, I don't think he is.
He said at the hearing, and of course he couldn't say anything else, that he would have to familiarize himself with what had been done, that he would scrutinize it.
Sure.
But that no U.S. attorney should assume that he intended to displace it.
Well, actually, the U.S. attorneys have a lot of work here and so forth.
But anyway, it's irrelevant to me.
He wants to wait eight months, let him wait eight months.
But, you know, that's his job.
Yeah, that's right.
But I'm sure he doesn't start out on that basis.
In fact, he had to call the U.S. attorney yesterday and quiet him down.
And he's met with him today.
I haven't heard the result, but I know his approach has been to try to
that he wasn't a presumption.
I was very proud of you to call, Mr. President.
You celebrate with thoughtfulness after taking you from one splendid, prestigious position and giving you a tough one like this, and then you're handling it.
Believe me, I'm darn proud of you, and I'm proud to be with our team.
Our first cabinet meeting will be Friday.
It'll be a brief one, about an hour.
You ought to be sworn in, don't you think?
We plan to make some arrangements for doing it on Friday.
Oh, I see.
He'll be here Friday.
I talked to Dick about doing it in the Great Hall of the Department of Justice.
Although I think my staff was going to talk to
Alice, here, I'll talk to him and have him be back in touch with you.
How about that?
We can check her out.
But any of that, my goodness, get a good night's rest and give your wife my best.
Okay.
Thanks very much.

NARA Description

On May 23, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Elliot L. Richardson talked on the telephone from 4:04 pm to 4:08 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 046-175 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 46-175

Date: May 23, 1973
Time: 4:04 pm - 4:08 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Elliot L. Richardson.

[See also Conversation No. 439-47B]

     Richardson’s confirmation
          -Michael Gravel, Joseph R. Biden and Harold E. Hughes
          -Richardson’s skill
                -President’s conversation with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
                -Egil (“Bud”) Krogh, Jr.
                -Votes
                      -Independents
                -President’s conversation with Richardson

     Watergate
          -President’s statement on Watergate
                -Preparation
          -Special Prosecutor
                -Archibald Cox
                -Earl J. Silbert’s statement
                -Cox’s timetable
          -Cox’s conversations with United States Attorney

     Richardson confirmation
          -Position change
          -President’s support
                                             -104-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

           -Schedule
                -Cabinet meeting
                -Swearing-in
                     -Justice Department
                            -Great Hall
                     -President’s conversation with Haig

Also recorded on May 23, 1973

  • 046-172 3:39 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:39 pm and 3:58 pm.
  • 439-045 3:39 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 3:39 pm and 3:58 pm.
  • 046-173 3:58 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 3:58 pm to 4:01 pm.
  • 439-046 3:58 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:58 pm to 4:01 pm.
  • 046-174 4:01 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:01 pm and 4:05 pm.
  • 439-047 4:05 PM · 47 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., White House operator, Elliot L. Richardson, and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:05 pm to 4:58 pm.
  • 046-176 4:08 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:08 pm and 4:24 pm.
  • 046-177 4:24 PM · 58 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 4:24 pm to 4:26 pm.

All 56 conversations from May 23, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 046-175, May 23, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/046-175 (accessed October 12, 2026).