Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 435 › Conversation 435-008

Nixon & Ziegler on Watergate and John Mitchell

Thursday, May 10, 1973 · 2:56 PM–3:00 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation435-008 on Tape 435StartThursday, May 10, 1973 at 2:56 PMEndThursday, May 10, 1973 at 3:00 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 435-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler discussed public perception of the administration during the ongoing Watergate fallout, specifically regarding the recent appearances of John Mitchell and Maurice Stans. Nixon expressed a desire to frame these events as evidence of proactive accountability while cautioning against being swayed by negative media narratives. The two also touched upon diplomatic strategy, specifically determining how to handle public messaging regarding upcoming summit announcements.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 38% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hello.
Well, I guess you're briefly kind of wiped out by Mitchell and Stan today, huh?
Yeah, I deserve my degree, but I do.
And the best of me is, yeah.
As a matter of fact, I think that's good, though.
I mean, it doesn't mean anything perfectly.
I don't want to say good or not for that, but God damn it, it does show we're moving against people in the administration.
Or don't you agree with me?
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
I understand at least four or support a kid who didn't play the last night.
I guess nobody else.
But I think he played not as well.
I mean, probably.
Excuse me.
The enthusiasm is what the important thing is.
Good.
Well.
Well, I have a feeling.
I have a feeling, too, that the thing is being planned out somewhere.
I don't know.
Somebody's screwing with the...
But his source was the dean and was not a prisoner on the president.
That's right.
Because he's talking about the, I don't know, bullshit.
Somebody's out to get him.
He's out to get other people.
That's right.
But in the meantime, the thing that they kept up this morning was that it would take time before our supporters would be able to come up and just hammer it, hammer it, and hammer it, and eventually they would come up.
Like Henry's announcement to the summit, due to the fact that the assholes started to play the fact that there wasn't going to be one now, and that's not going to be a good story long.
But let them hold, let the thinkers, let them make the summit on their own clear.
Let's leave that out of it.
Okay.
Okay.
But I thought, as we're looking at the press calories, they had to be impressed with that meeting last night.
What's the situation in that boat in the house?
Well, maybe we'll see what we do and don't get, you know, disturbed.
If I kick him in the ass on a little bit, he doesn't have enough of a staff there.
We work for that time.
All right.

NARA Description

On May 10, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:56 pm to 3:00 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 435-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 435-8

Date: May 10, 1973
Time: 2:56 pm-3:00 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler.

[See Conversation No. 45-189]
                                               -5-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Also recorded on May 10, 1973

  • 045-187 2:49 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 2:49 pm to 2:51 pm.
  • 045-188 2:51 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:51 pm and 2:56 pm.
  • 435-007 2:51 PM · 10 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 2:51 pm and 2:56 pm.
  • 045-189 2:56 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 2:56 pm to 3:00 pm.
  • 045-190 3:00 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:00 pm and 3:02 pm.
  • 435-009 3:00 PM · 10 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 3:00 pm and 3:02 pm.
  • 045-191 3:02 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 3:02 pm to 3:05 pm.
  • 435-010 3:02 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:02 pm to 3:05 pm.

All 86 conversations from May 10, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 435-008, May 10, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/435-008 (accessed October 1, 2026).