Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 164 › Conversation 164-006

Nixon phone call with Rogers on Watergate and H.R. Haldeman

Saturday, April 28, 1973 · 9:02 AM–9:07 AM ET · Camp David Study Table · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Rogers, William P.Conversation164-006 on Tape 164StartSaturday, April 28, 1973 at 9:02 AMEndSaturday, April 28, 1973 at 9:07 AMRecording deviceCamp David Study TableSourceNixon Library record for 164-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with Secretary of State William P. Rogers to coordinate a strategy for responding to the escalating Watergate scandal and to arrange a meeting at Camp David. Nixon informed Rogers that H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman were preparing to resign and that he intended to remove John Dean from his position. The President further outlined his plan to deliver a televised address to assure the public that his administration was actively investigating the matter and remaining in control.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Hello.
Hi.
Secretary Rogers.
Well, Mr. President, how are you?
You're not going to play golf today, are you?
I don't believe it, no.
It's raining, isn't it?
Well, not much.
I could play, but Jeff and his wife are here.
Oh, I...
So we're going to spend some time with them.
Oh, they are?
Uh-huh.
Yeah, I'm at Camp David, so I'm over here doing a few things and so forth and so on.
Well, it's supposed to clear up a little bit this afternoon.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, I don't want you to get all...
all ready to throw in the sponge because of the gaggle of headlines this morning.
These were inevitable things, you know, that were going to happen.
That gray thing is, you know, where I told you about that.
One of those things.
But I wanted you to...
I was wondering if Jeff there, maybe you might have time to...
Sure, I can do it.
I mean, we could get the helicopter.
You'd probably have to land at the thermon if you wouldn't mind and then drive up.
Fine.
Yeah, I wanted to tell you, so that you can have this thought in mind, John and Bob are going to make their move.
I worked it out with them finally.
They're going to make it, they're going to come up to see me Sunday with their letters.
They're going to, it's going to be a leave of absence.
They realize that it's going to be more than that, but, you know, they feel that, you know, and it's the only right thing to do.
I mean, the arguments we made that they've got to get through the grand jury, and then they're going to say, well, in view of this, we did too much time, and so on and so on.
So they're going to do that Sunday, and it'll come out Sunday night for Monday papers.
Then I'm going to move on Dean.
I'm just going to move on him in a peremptory way, but the same way.
Then I am planning, for your information, I'm going to do a broadcast Monday night, which I'm now working on, which I think is the time to do it, because I want to, not for the purpose of saying everything that happened, but because I just
I just want the country to know that I am in charge, that we're getting to the bottom of it, you know, and all that sort of thing, and that I'm going to call on anybody that knows anything about it to come in.
And it'll be a pretty good speech, actually.
Pretty good speech, but it'll be Monday night.
All this is untramovable until—because we're going to have to— Well, what time would you like me up there, Mr. President, as soon as I can?
Frankly, the sooner the better, but Bill, if you could come up and what do you want us to do with regard to arranging a helicopter?
Should I call Steve Bull and tell him to... All right, why don't you do that?
And he'll call your office and arrange for a helicopter to bring you up.
I'll tell you, it might be just as well as long as I'm home to do it out from Bethesda.
They have a pad out there at Bethesda Naval Hospital.
I'll tell you, why don't you let me worry about that?
I'll tell you what to do.
Just call Steve and tell him...
that you want, or another thing, I can just call the military aid and tell them to arrange it.
Shall I do that?
Or Steve.
I don't know.
Steve's fine.
Let me do it.
All right.
I'll arrange it with Steve.
I'll tell him to call you and arrange for the helicopter to come up and let me know when you're going to arrive.
Fine.
We'll try not to take all your day.
Oh, no, that's all right.
I don't mind.
All right, Mr. President.
You and I are going to work it out.
Right.
Don't get discouraged.
No, I'm not discouraged.
Oh, well, you know, the main difference between this, you know, and our...
good old friends that you and I helped, particularly you, in the later stages bring about.
You know, I remember the time that McGrath, the day that McGrath fired, fired Newbold Morris and Truett fired McGrath.
Well, we got a little more than that, but the point is it came just a month, a year before the election.
I mean, we've got three and a half years.
We've got goddamn important things to do for this country.
And, you know, frankly, Bill, I'm glad to get it all out.
I want to get it done.
Done, done, done.
I think so.
Do you agree or not?
I sure do.
All right, I'll see you in a little while.
Bye.

NARA Description

On April 28, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone at Camp David from 9:02 am to 9:07 am. The Camp David Study Table taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 164-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 164-6

Date: April 28, 1973
Time: 9:02 am - 9:07 am
Location: Camp David Study Table

The President talked with William P. Rogers.

     Rogers’s schedule
          -Weather
                 -Golf
          -Jeffrey Langston Rogers, Mrs. J. L. Rogers

     President’s schedule
           -Camp David

     Watergate
          -Headlines, April 28, 1973
                -L[ouis] Patrick Gray, III
          -Rogers’s schedule
                -Meeting at Camp David
                      -Helicopter
                            -Thurmont, Maryland
          -John D. Ehrlichman and H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
                -Schedule
                -Leave
          -John W. Dean, III
          -President’s schedule
                -Television [TV] speech, April 30, 1973
                      -Content

     Rogers’s schedule
                                             -7-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                           Conversation No. 164-6 (cont’d)

           -Stephen B. Bull
                 -Arrangement for helicopter
                      -Bethesda Naval Hospital
                      -Military aide

     Rogers’s morale

     Watergate
          -Harry S. Truman administration
                -J. Howard McGrath’s firing of Newbold Morris
                      -Rogers’s role
                -Comparison with Watergate
                      -Timing
                      -Significance
          -Disclosures

Also recorded on April 28, 1973

  • 164-003 8:41 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 8:41 am and 8:43 am.
  • 164-004 8:43 AM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at Camp David from 8:43 am to 9:01 am.
  • 164-005 9:01 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:01 am and 9:02 am.
  • 164-007 9:07 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:07 am and 9:08 am.
  • 164-008 9:08 AM · 58 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone at Camp David from 9:08 am to 9:09 am.
  • 164-009 9:09 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:09 am and 9:13 am.
  • 164-010 9:13 AM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry E. Petersen talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 9:13 am and 9:25 am.
  • 164-011 9:27 AM · 21 sec — Stephen B. Bull and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at Camp David from 9:27 am to 9:28 am.

All 30 conversations from April 28, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 164-006, April 28, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/164-006 (accessed October 12, 2026).