President Nixon and Alexander Haig met to discuss managing the ongoing Watergate investigation and coordinating the testimony of CIA Deputy Director Vernon Walters. Nixon emphasized that he wanted Walters to reassure officials like Elliot Richardson, William Colby, and James Schlesinger of the President’s innocence and his desire for a full investigation. The conversation centered on the potential legal exposure of H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, the status of sensitive memoranda of conversation, and ensuring the loyalty of key administration appointees amidst the political fallout.
On May 11, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:24 pm to 2:47 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 434-016 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding AidConversation No. 434-16
Date: May 11, 1973
Time: 2:24 pm - 2:47 pm
Location: Old Executive Office Building
The President met with Stephen B. Bull.
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
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Conversation No. 434-9 (cont’d)
President’s schedule
Alexander M. Haig, Jr. entered at 2:25 pm.
Bull left at 2:26 pm.
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[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
Refreshment
-Dubonet
-Lunch
-Alcohol
[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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Watergate
-Vernon A. Walters
-William E. Colby
-Dr. James R. Schlesinger
-Memorandum of conversation [memcon]
-President
-L[ouis] Patrick Gray, III
-H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman
-J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr.
-Cover-up
-Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
-Buzhardt
-Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Memcons
-Elliot L. Richardson’s possible request
-Walters’s preparation of sanitized version
-Timing of delivery to Richardson
-Haig’s concern
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
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Conversation No. 434-9 (cont’d)
-Senate committee
-Colby, Richardson, Schlesinger
-President’s role
-Haldeman, Ehrlichman
-President’s intentions
-Richard M. Helms’s subsequent conversation with President
-Haig’s forthcoming meeting with Walters
-Colby, Schlesinger, Richardson, and Henry E. Petersen
-President’s conversation with Gray
-Walters’s memory
-Walters’s testimony
-Haldeman, Ehrlichman
-Buzhardt’s fears
-President’s conversation with Gray
-Haldeman’s and Ehrlichman
-Haig’s conversation with Buzhardt [?]
-Guilt
-“Conduit theory”
-President’s support
-Compared to Henry A. Kissinger
-Compared to Adm. Thomas A. Moorer
-Pentagon
-Jack N. Anderson story
-Buzhardt
-Walters
-Possible conversations
-Colby and Schlesinger
-Richardson
-Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Contact with Walters
-Meetings
-John W. Dean III
-National security leaks
-Ehrlichman’s possible approval
-Buzhardt’s viewpoint
-Ehrlichman’s and Haldeman’s indictments
-National security issue
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
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Conversation No. 434-9 (cont’d)
-President’s trust
-Buzhardt
-Dean
-Buzhardt
-H[orace] Chapman (“Chappie”) Rose
-Leonard Garment
-Buzhardt
-Raymond K. Price, Jr.
-Watergate break-in
-President’s beliefs concerning CIA
-Funds for defendants
-President’s knowledge
-President’s judgment in personnel
-Moorer
-Joint Chiefs of Staff [JCS]
-Henry A. Kissinger
-State Department
-Bugging
-Walters
-President’s conversation with Gray regarding Watergate investigation
-Gray’s grand jury testimony
-Possible statement to Petersen
-President’s conversation with Gray
-Buzhardt
-Walters
-Haldeman’s involvement
-Walters
-Possible statement regarding Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-National security
-Forthcoming conversation with Haig
-Walters’s statement
-Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-Dean
-Meeting with President
-Meeting with Petersen
-Haig’s support
-CIA involvement
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
(rev. September-2012)
Conversation No. 434-9 (cont’d)
-Helms
-Conversation with President regarding CIA involvement in
Watergate
-Colby
-Nomination
-Walters’s testimony
-Possible conversations
-Schlesinger and Richardson
-Memcons
-White House files
-Ownership
-Contents
-Possible copies
-Richardson, Colby, Schlesinger
-Nominations
-Walters
-Conversation with Colby
Rose Mary Woods talked with the President between 2:42 pm and 2:43 pm.
[Conversation No. 434-16A]
[Begin telephone conversation]
[See Conversation No. 46-7]
The President conferred with Haig during the conversation.
[Begin conferral]
Watergate
-Woods
-Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] files
[End conferral]
[End telephone conversation]
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
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Conversation No. 434-9 (cont’d)
Watergate
-President’s previous conversation with Woods
-FBI files
-Ehrlichman
-Woods
-Lawrence M. Higby
Haig
Watergate
-Haldeman and Ehrlichman
-White House response
-Judge John J. Sirica [?]
-Ehrlichman
-William M. Byrne, Jr.
-Leak
Haig left at 2:47 pm.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.