Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 433 › Conversation 433-044

Nixon & Finch on Watergate and Political resignations

Tuesday, May 1, 1973 · 6:45 PM–6:47 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); White House operator; Finch, Robert H.Conversation433-044 on Tape 433StartTuesday, May 1, 1973 at 6:45 PMEndTuesday, May 1, 1973 at 6:47 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 433-044 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consults with Robert H. Finch regarding the political fallout of the Watergate scandal and the departure of key administration officials. Nixon expresses frustration toward critics, particularly Senator Charles Percy, while emphasizing the administration's commitment to self-investigation. He urges Finch to maintain high morale and discourages personnel from resigning immediately to avoid the appearance that such departures are linked to the ongoing scandal.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Thank you.
I'll hang up.
Hello?
I hear you're between speeches, Robert.
Well, I hope your morale's all right.
I take two men that are so selfless and so dedicated and, you know, to have to say, all right, Paulson, you know they're innocent.
You have to leave, but we had to do it, Bob.
And, uh, that was a hard Sunday, and I had to get up for a speech, and Carter said, did it come over all right in television?
Were you out there?
Yeah.
How did it, what kind of affected that?
What do you get down on the day if you talk to around people?
He didn't say he was positing that.
He is a special prosecutor.
Yeah, and Percy, he cooked his boost with me when he came out and said, well, we've got to have one to distrust Elliot.
My God.
That son of a bitch.
If you're going to find him around when you're people, I'd always just say, we just have confidence in the integrity of the president.
This is one of those rare presidents who has the guts to investigate.
I mean, to conduct an investigation of his own team.
You know, it's true.
And they're going to realize that this whole goddamn Watergate thing was all about a crappy little thing that everybody shouldn't have gotten that excited about.
It'll pass.
It'll pass.
And it's going to be hard, but it'll pass.
Well, keep your overall up, boy.
I know you've called three or four times, and I deeply appreciate it, Bob.
I don't want him to leave for a month now.
I mean, he's got this beautiful job.
I don't want him to leave, maybe because it'll look like he's leaving because of this.
Okay.

NARA Description

On May 1, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Robert H. Finch met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:45 pm to 6:47 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 433-044 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 433-44

Date: May 1, 1973
Time: 6:45 pm - 6:47 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with the White House operator and Robert H. Finch.

[See Conversation No. 45-105 and 45-106]
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                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Also recorded on May 1, 1973

  • 045-106 6:44 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Robert H. Finch talked on the telephone from 6:44 pm to 6:47 pm.
  • 045-107 6:47 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:47 pm and 6:49 pm.
  • 433-045 6:47 PM · 9 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 6:47 pm and 6:49 pm.
  • 045-108 6:49 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:49 pm and 6:51 pm.
  • 433-046 6:49 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:49 pm to 6:51 pm.
  • 045-109 6:51 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:51 pm and 6:53 pm.
  • 433-047 6:51 PM · 9 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 6:51 pm and 6:53 pm.
  • 045-110 6:53 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and David Packard talked on the telephone from 6:53 pm to 6:55 pm.

All 181 conversations from May 1, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 433-044, 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/433-044 (accessed October 5, 2026).