Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 429 › Conversation 429-021

Nixon & Ehrlichman on Watergate and H.R. Haldeman

Thursday, April 19, 1973 · 6:00 PM–6:03 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ehrlichman, John D.Conversation429-021 on Tape 429StartThursday, April 19, 1973 at 6:00 PMEndThursday, April 19, 1973 at 6:03 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 429-021 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with attorneys John J. Wilson and Frank H. Strickler to discuss the evolving Watergate scandal and its potential legal impact on H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman. The participants reviewed the status of federal investigations, the handling of secret funds, and the potential for upcoming indictments against White House staff. They also deliberated on the political implications of keeping or removing Haldeman and Ehrlichman from their positions, comparing the situation to historical precedents regarding presidential staff resignations.

Audio

Download MP3 · 2.4 MB

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 65% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

No.
Yeah.
No.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But I just can't have anything to do with one of you, I'm sure.
The day, the day after, we talked to each other.
And what I thought was, is to say, what office are you coming from, John?
Or, if I, if I think, you know, if I'm going to be the one to come.
And, uh, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,
That's the point of the thing.
We've got words that manage it, like 24 hours a day.
Right.
That's the spiritual test of that.
Right, just all that.

NARA Description

On April 19, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:00 pm to 6:03 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 429-021 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 429-021

Date: April 19, 1973
Time: 6:00 pm - 6:03 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with John D. Ehrlichman.

[See Conversation No. 038-123]

Also recorded on April 19, 1973

  • 038-119 5:10 PM · 12 sec — White House operator and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at 5:10 pm.
  • 429-018 5:15 PM · 25 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, Manolo Sanchez, unknown person(s), and Julie Nixon Eisenhower met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:15 pm to 5:45 pm.
  • 038-120 5:43 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 5:43 pm to 5:45 pm.
  • 038-121 5:45 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:45 pm and 5:48 pm.
  • 038-122 5:58 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 5:58 pm to 5:59 pm.
  • 429-019 5:58 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:58 pm to 5:59 pm.
  • 429-020 5:59 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:59 pm to 6:00 pm.
  • 038-123 6:00 PM · 3 min — John D. Ehrlichman and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone from 6:00 pm to 6:03 pm.

All 54 conversations from April 19, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 429-021, April 19, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/429-021 (accessed October 5, 2026).