Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 433 › Conversation 433-018

Nixon & Timmons on Watergate and Political Strategy

Tuesday, May 1, 1973 · 1:22 PM–1:23 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 42 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Timmons, William E.Conversation433-018 on Tape 433StartTuesday, May 1, 1973 at 1:22 PMEndTuesday, May 1, 1973 at 1:23 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 433-018 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon rebukes William E. Timmons for his perceived passivity and negative attitude regarding legislative affairs. Nixon explicitly commands Timmons to abandon his lethargy and proactively mobilize supporters to publicly counter negative narratives. This directive reflects the President's urgent need to bolster political messaging amidst the growing pressures of the Watergate scandal.

Audio

Download MP3 · 1.3 MB

Transcript (AI-generated)

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Well, I don't want you to have the negative attitude you had this morning.
I want you to get off your ass and just talk to Aaron and the rest, and by God, you don't simulate anything, but there's a lot of people that are for us.
Now, you get off your ass and get up and get them to say negative things.
Is that clear?
He talked a lot.
I think he was complaining about the fact that you weren't doing his job.
That makes you get off your ass and do something.
All right.

NARA Description

On May 1, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and William E. Timmons met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:22 pm to 1:23 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 433-018 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 433-18

Date: May 1, 1973
Time: 1:22 pm - 1:23 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with William E. Timmons.

[See Conversation No. 45-86]

Also recorded on May 1, 1973

  • 045-084 1:18 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Leslie C. Arends talked on the telephone from 1:18 pm to 1:20 pm.
  • 433-016 1:18 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Leslie C. Arends met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:18 pm to 1:20 pm.
  • 045-085 1:20 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:20 pm and 1:22 pm.
  • 433-017 1:20 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:20 pm and 1:22 pm.
  • 045-086 1:22 PM · 44 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and William E. Timmons talked on the telephone from 1:22 pm to 1:23 pm.
  • 045-087 1:23 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Gerald R. Ford talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:23 pm and 1:24 pm.
  • 433-019 1:24 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:24 pm to 1:26 pm.
  • 433-088 1:26 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:26 pm and 1:28 pm.

All 181 conversations from May 1, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 433-018, May 1, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/433-018 (accessed October 5, 2026).