Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 424 › Conversation 424-005

Nixon alone in his EOB office on Watergate and Special Prosecutor

Tuesday, March 27, 1973 · 5:34 PM–5:46 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 7 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation424-005 on Tape 424StartTuesday, March 27, 1973 at 5:34 PMEndTuesday, March 27, 1973 at 5:46 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 424-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon recorded a memorandum for the file to document his internal deliberations regarding the escalating Watergate scandal. He analyzed the political viability of appointing an independent commission or special prosecutor, weighing those options against the potential for White House cooperation and the impact of a televised public address. The discussion also addressed potential legal vulnerabilities for key administration officials, including John Mitchell, Jeb Magruder, and John Ehrlichman, while drawing historical parallels to the political challenges faced by the Lyndon B. Johnson administration.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 4 minutes of this recording (about 56% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Uh, this is being dictated to later in the day by my side.

And, uh, they don't even know something about the fact that they ordered a boat.

It's actually a 300.

I didn't have the rockets in.

The rockets were a nice boat, but the boat was really not really a good path.

And it was a right-of-charge boat.

I hope so.

You said earlier that you considered all the problems that we had to deal with, and that we had to get you to talk to us about these problems.

Also, my heart is pumping a lot.

I don't know what happened.

I don't know.

Thank you.

... ... ... ... ...

Thank you.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you.

... ...

Thank you.

... ... ... ... ...

you

NARA Description

On March 27, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:34 pm and 5:46 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 424-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 424-5

Date: March 27, 1973
Time: Unknown between 5:34 and 5:46 p.m.
Location: Executive Office Building

The President dictated a memorandum for the file.

*****************************************************************

[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift during
chronological review 2007-2013]

       Watergate
            -Difficulty
            -Meeting with William P. Rogers
                  -Rogers’s opinion of independent commission
                  -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman’s suggestion
                  -Comparison to Lyndon B. Johnson
                        -Walter Jenkins
                        -Robert D. (“Bobby”) Baker
                  -President’s television [TV] appearance
                        -Value
            -Special prosecutor
                  -White House cooperation
            -Grand jury
                  -John N. Mitchell, Jeb Stuart Magruder, John D. Ehrlichman
                  -Charles W. Colson [?]
                  -Haldeman [?]
            -TV
            -F. Lee Bailey

*****************************************************************

Also recorded on March 27, 1973

044-031 5:20 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:20 pm and 5:22 pm.
424-002 5:20 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:20 pm and 5:22 pm.
044-032 5:22 PM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:22 pm and 5:34 pm.
424-003 5:22 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:22 pm to 5:34 pm.
044-033 5:34 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 5:34 pm.
424-004 5:34 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 5:34 pm.
044-034 5:46 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:46 pm and 5:56 pm.
424-006 5:46 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:46 pm to 5:56 pm.

All 50 conversations from March 27, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 424-005, March 27, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/424-005 (accessed October 2, 2026).