Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 430 › Conversation 430-001

Nixon & Ziegler on Watergate scandal and H.R. Haldeman

Wednesday, April 25, 1973 · 10:51 AM–10:58 AM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation430-001 on Tape 430StartWednesday, April 25, 1973 at 10:51 AMEndWednesday, April 25, 1973 at 10:58 AMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 430-001 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler consulted on managing the media narrative regarding the Watergate scandal, specifically addressing the potential implications for H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman. They discussed John Connally’s perspective on the situation and emphasized a strategy of denying presidential involvement in any cover-up. The pair coordinated talking points for an upcoming press briefing to clarify the President’s role in initiating an internal investigation and to distance his administration from the unfolding legal issues.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Bob did talk to Connolly.
Yeah.
Go ahead.
And had about 45 minutes of conversation with him, apparently.
And Connolly, in this conversation with Bob, indicated that it was not inevitable that he'd leave, and applied a caveat.
This represents you to the president.
The state said, no, you absolutely did not.
He said, but the point of it is that if the facts, which I don't know, suggest that they will be implicated, then my position stands.
But he said, that is something I can't do.
So John, so Bob took comfort with that.
Bob said, well, he's not going to be implicated.
That's correct.
In any case.
That is the position that you should be aware of when you raise the kind.
This is a, so he didn't give it to him horribly.
Conley said, John, I did what you said.
I gave it to him with a bark off, but I gave it to him on a position that if they are implicated or it's assumed that they will be.
Bob's position, of course, and I have to believe him, and I assume that's what you want to discuss, is that they are not.
If that's the case, well, then the whole premise falls apart.
I also think you have the level of education, legally, which I'm discussing with the lawyers, which you've got the level of education.
And publicly.
That's the thing.
Harold and all the rest are talking about it.
They don't make any sense.
I'll say it on the back.
And perhaps they're giving some instigators.
I just don't know.
If what I've given you is fair, but I've given it to you straight, then it could be on the basis of .
Now Bob and John, of course, are going to take the view, I'm quite sure.
But they're not going to take the view.
The entire house has to go through it.
Like, who else?
You know, I don't know who else, but on and on and on.
So, yeah, I don't know who else.
I think it's secondary to Michelle, and that's my point.
There's everyone in here who's involved in the discussions and so forth, and I'm sure there's a lot of people in the situation that wouldn't find out about it.
I mean, you know, for example, as the investigation proceeded, even more early than when he was proceeding with his work,
What do you mean?
The cover-up?
No, not the cover-up.
The finding out about the vaccine.
Oh, well, I bet you didn't want to have, of course, everybody on the whole timeline.
Okay.
Well, I'm not worried about that.
We released the...
I'm going to start reading every day.
You're done?
Yeah.
And so that would be my guess on that.
Sure, it'd be a hard idea.
The President had no knowledge of that.
The President did not belong in the sector, nor by anybody in the sector.
Of course, he followed the press and so forth.
Why did the President, did the President conduct an investigation on it?
Of course, he was interested in this problem, and he was leading the responsibility for the investigation on other people.
You know what I mean?
Members of the staff, he was representing the other members on the 21st,
personally is so responsible.
It doesn't mean he didn't use other people, but he was very member of the staff that he personally was so responsible for.
So that worked a lot.
I think maybe, I think perhaps I'm going to take the charge of the question.
The president originally said at some point
We will be in a position to respond to your questions.
Yeah.
But I want you to know that that name of the president is very much involved in this since he said on April 17th in terms of the investigation.
And as a result, there's information that he came to his attention on March 24th at the bridge off of that dragon position.
All right.
Information.
All right.
Now, before we begin, I'm going to try to get you.

NARA Description

On April 25, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 10:51 am to 10:58 am. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 430-001 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 430-001

Date: April 25, 1973
Time: 10:51 am - 10:58 am
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler. The recording began at an unknown time while the
conversation was in progress.

       Watergate
             -John B. Connally
                    -Conversation with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
                    -Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman
                             -Guilt
                             -Bryce N. Harlow
             -Haldeman and Ehrlichman
                    -Involvement of White House staff
             -Ehrlichman’s investigation
             -Ziegler’s forthcoming press briefing
                    -President’s activities concerning Watergate

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

                       -Haldeman, Ehrlichman
                       -Investigation after March 21, 1973
                               -Ehrlichman
                       -Knowledge
                       -President’s statement

Ziegler left at 10:58 am.

Also recorded on April 25, 1973

  • 904-009 10:46 AM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:46 am and 10:51 am.
  • 904-011 10:46 AM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:46 am and 10:51 am.
  • 430-002 10:58 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 10:58 am and 11:06 am.
  • 430-003 10:58 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 10:58 am and 11:06 am.
  • 038-138 11:06 AM · 32 sec — John D. Ehrlichman, White House operator, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:06 am and 1:51 pm.
  • 038-139 11:06 AM · 1 min — John D. Ehrlichman and Geoffrey C. Shepard talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:06 am and 1:51 pm.
  • 038-140 11:06 AM · 25 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, unknown person(s), and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:06 am and 1:51 pm.
  • 038-141 11:06 AM · 1 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, President Richard M. Nixon, and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:06 am and 1:51 pm.

All 59 conversations from April 25, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 430-001, April 25, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/430-001 (accessed October 5, 2026).