On April 30, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 8:25 pm and 8:58 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 432-006 of the White House Tapes.
Transcript (AI-Generated)This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.
Good evening.
I want to talk to you tonight, from my heart, on the subject of deep concern about Ray Martin.
Twice in months, members of my administration officially campaigned for the re-election of the president, including some of my closest friends, and only just today, have been charged with involvement in what has become known as the Watergate Effect.
These include charges of illegal activity during and preceding the 1970 presidential election,
in charges that responsible officials participate in efforts to cover up that illegal activity.
The inevitable result of these charges is meant to raise serious questions about the integrity of the White House itself.
And I wish to address those questions.
Last June 17, when I was imploring the trying-to-get-accelerated transgender contract in Boston, I first learned from military reports of a watergate break-in
I was appalled at this senseless, illegal action and shocked over it.
The employees for the election committee were apparently almost no guilty.
I immediately ordered an investigation by appropriate government authorities.
On September 15th, indictments were filed against seven defendants in the case.
As the investigations went forward, I repeatedly asked those conducting the investigation
Whether there was any reason to believe that members of my administration were involved, I received repeated assurances that they were not.
Because of these contingent reassurances, because I believed the reports I was getting, because I had faith in the persons from whom I was getting, I discounted stories in the press that appeared to implicate members of my administration or other officials of the campaign committee.
and departure this year, I remained convinced that the denials were true and that the charges of involvement by members of the White House staff were false.
The comments I made during this period, comments made by my last press secretary on my behalf, were based on the information provided to us at that time.
However, new information then came to me which persuaded me that there was a real possibility that some of these charges were true
and suggesting further that there had been an effort to conceal the facts both from the public and from me.
As a result of March 21, I personally assumed the responsibility for coordinating and tensing building for his end of the matter.
I personally ordered those conducting the investigations to get all the facts and report them directly to me.
I again ordered that all persons in the network or the re-election committee to cooperate fully with the FBI, the prosecutors,
I also ordered that anyone who refused to cooperate in telling the truth would be asked to resign from government court service.
And with Brown rules adopted to preserve the basic constitutional separation of powers between the Congress and the presidency, I directed that members of the White House staff should appear and testify voluntarily under oath before the Senate committee investigating White House.
I was determined that we should get to the bottom of that.
and that the truth should be fully brought out, no matter who is involved.
At the same time, I was determined not to take precipitous action, to avoid, if at all possible, any action that would appear to reflect those innocent people.
I wanted to be fair, but I knew that in the final analysis, the integrity of this office, and public faith in the integrity of this office, would have to take priority over all personal considerations.
Today, in one of the most difficult decisions of my presidency, I accepted the resignations of two of my closest associates in the White House, Bob Hogan, General, two of the finest public servants it has ever been my privilege to know.
I want to stress that in accepting these resignations, I mean to leave no implication whatever of personal wrongdoing on their part or on the part of others against whom charges have been made.
but it matters as sensitive as guarding the integrity of our democratic process.
It is essential not only that rigorous legal and ethical standards be observed, but also that the public have total confidence that they are both being observed and enforced by those in authority.
They agreed with me that this rule was necessary in order to restore that confidence.
Because Attorney General Kleinbeek
Though a distinguished public servant, my personal friend for 20 years with no personal involvement whatever in this matter, has been a close personal and professional associate with some of those who are involved in the case, he and I both felt that it was also necessary to include him in the case.
The counsel of the President, John Dean, has also resigned.
As the new attorney general, I am today named Elliot Richards, a man of unimpeachable integrity and rigorous with high confidence.
I have directed him to do everything necessary to ensure the Department of Justice has the confidence and trust of every law-abiding person in our country.
I have given him absolute authority to make all decisions bearing upon the prosecution of the Watergate case and related matters.
I have instructed him that if he should consider it appropriate, he has the authority to name a special supervising prosecutor for matters arising on this case.
Whatever may appear to have been the case before,
and whatever improper activities may yet be discovered in connection with this old soldier affair, I want the American people to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I want you to know that during my term as President, justice will be pursued fully, fairly, and impartially.
This office is a sacred trust.
I have determined to be worthy of that trust.
Looking back at the history of this case, two questions arise.
How could it have happened?
Who is the one?
Littleton found it is incorrectly observed that during my twenty-seven years of politics, I have always rated the future to no right.
I can't name the wrong.
In 1972, we presented a different situation.
In both domestic and foreign policy, 1972 was a year of crucially important decisions and intense negotiations to find new directions, particularly in working toward a goal which has been my overriding concern throughout my public career, and that of bringing peace to America, peace to the world.
That is why I decided as the 1972 campaign approached it, the presidency should come first, politics second.
to the maximum extent possible medical, I sought to delegate campaign operations to remove the day-to-day campaign decisions from the President's office.
I also severely limited the number of money on campaign appearances.
Who then is to blame for what happened this year?
For specific criminal actions by specific individuals, those who committed them must, of course, bear the liability and pay the penalty.
For the fact that if alleged improper actions took place within the White House or within my campaign organization, the easiest course would be for me to blame those to whom I delegated the responsibility to run the campaign.
But that would be a cowardly thing to do.
I will not place the blame on someone, on people who deceived or exceeded their judgment, and who did wrong in a case they believed was right.
In any organization, the man at the top must bear the responsibility.
That responsibility belongs to you in this office.
I accept it.
And I pledge to you tonight from this office that I will do everything in my power to ensure that the guilty are brought to justice and such abuses are purged from our political processes in the years to come.
Some people are quite properly appalled that the abuse of the Kurds will say that Watergate demonstrates the bankruptcy of the American political system.
I believe for Fleiss to be honest, this group, Watergate, have had a seriously legalized bankruptcy as a government division.
It was the system that has brought the factional life of the Kurds fully to justice.
The system, in this case, is the leader of the Grand Kyrgyz, honest prosecutors, a courageous judge, John Sarita, who made this brief reference.
It's essential now that we place our faith
There we go.