{"conversationCode":"426-016","tapeNumber":426,"conversationNumber":16,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-426-016","startDateTime":"1973-03-29T22:35:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1973-03-29T23:24:00.000Z","startDate":"29-Mar-1973","startTime":"5:35 PM","endDate":"29-Mar-1973","endTime":"6:24 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.;","description":"On March 29, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:35 pm and 6:24 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 426-016 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"EOB","recordingDevice":"Old Executive Office Building","latitudeEstimated":38.897567,"longitudeEstimated":-77.039147,"chronCode":"5.4","chronRelease":"Fifth Chronological Release: Part IV","chronReleaseDate":"8-Dec-2010","aogpRelease":"Abuse of Governmental Power Release","aogpSegment":"Segment 0","lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 426-16\n\nDate: March 29, 1973\nTime: Unknown between 5:35 pm and 6:34\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President met with John D. Ehrlichman.\n\n       President's forthcoming speech\n             Final editing\n\f                                             -17-\n\n                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM\n\n                                                             Conversation No. 426-17 (cont’d)\n\n                  -Interpretation\n\n       President's meeting with Henry A. Kissinger [?]\n\n       Watergate\n            -President's conversation with H. R. Haldeman, William P. Rogers\n            -White House cooperation\n                  -President's press conference\n                  -Ronald L. Ziegler\n            -John W. Dean, III's call to Ehrlichman\n                  -James W. McCord, Jr.'s testimony to grand jury\n                  -Dean's possible appearance before grand jury\n                         -President's forthcoming statement\n\nEhrlichman left at an unknown time before 6:24 pm.","filename":["426-016.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Ehrlichman, John D."],"prevCode":"426-015","nextCode":"426-017","transcript":[{"start":0.49,"end":3.47,"text":"Redrafted?"},{"start":3.69,"end":8.82,"text":"I didn't redraft it."},{"start":8.84,"end":27.04,"text":"You always have to read the..."},{"start":27.06,"end":29.99,"text":"It's kind of a suggestion in terms of this thing"},{"start":35.99,"end":63.82,"text":"ways"},{"start":64.98,"end":81.19,"text":"Also, I think the recent bill, I think the recent bill, because I don't know what the hell to say."},{"start":81.21,"end":81.81,"text":"Now, I just want to thank you."},{"start":81.83,"end":87.5,"text":"Frankly, part of our problem here has been a failure."},{"start":90.67,"end":116.03,"text":"... ... ... ..."},{"start":121.48,"end":122.08,"text":"."},{"start":122.1,"end":122.52,"text":"."},{"start":122.54,"end":122.56,"text":"."},{"start":122.58,"end":122.72,"text":"."},{"start":122.74,"end":123.24,"text":"."},{"start":123.26,"end":124.68,"text":"."},{"start":124.74,"end":124.94,"text":"."},{"start":124.98,"end":126.06,"text":"."},{"start":126.08,"end":130.97,"text":"."},{"start":131.15,"end":148.03,"text":"."},{"start":148.63,"end":170.68,"text":"his reasoning is that McCord has made these charges only to the Senate, that none of these charges have been allowed to pass the grand jury, and in point of fact, all of these bills, the two of them, and the committee and the others, are all denying that these have been pardoned when they're asked."},{"start":170.7,"end":174.08,"text":"So there's nothing before the grand jury which in any way influences"},{"start":175.73,"end":180.2,"text":"His lawyer says to volunteer to go before the grand jury."},{"start":180.22,"end":185.99,"text":"Under those circumstances, he is asking for trouble, and an attorney can't advise his client to let himself in for it."},{"start":186.01,"end":188.28,"text":"It's about conciseness."},{"start":188.3,"end":193.75,"text":"Now, I said to John, well, it is going to go tomorrow morning."},{"start":194.55,"end":198.1,"text":"There are many pluses to this, as well as those minuses that you mentioned."},{"start":198.94,"end":205.55,"text":"And just as I was going out the door, my secretary told me that he was going to call me."},{"start":205.57,"end":209.54,"text":"So I should have called him back."},{"start":209.6,"end":210.92,"text":"Oh, it's all right."},{"start":210.94,"end":214.45,"text":"All right."},{"start":214.47,"end":215.69,"text":"Thank God we didn't pull this out."},{"start":215.71,"end":219.74,"text":"Well, either that or maybe the vote is the same."},{"start":219.78,"end":221.18,"text":"No, I don't know."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and John Ehrlichman met to finalize edits for an upcoming presidential speech while addressing political pressures regarding the ongoing Watergate investigations. The discussion touched on the legal strategy surrounding James McCord’s testimony before the Senate, specifically weighing the risks of allowing individuals to testify before a grand jury. The pair also assessed the potential political fallout and strategic considerations regarding an imminent vote.","topics":["Watergate scandal","James McCord","Presidential speechwriting","Grand jury proceedings","Legal strategy"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T19:27:31.484Z"},"topicSlugs":["watergate-scandal","james-mccord","presidential-speechwriting","grand-jury-proceedings","legal-strategy"],"audioDurationSec":226,"audioFiles":[{"file":"426-016.mp3","bytes":1122304,"durationSec":226.15,"bitrate":39701,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:47.376Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:43:38.372Z","transcriptGapSeconds":88,"transcriptGapShare":0.39,"transcriptQuality":"incomplete","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/426-016.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/426-016","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/426/conversation-426-016","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}