Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 436 › Conversation 436-002

Nixon & Haig on Watergate scandal and William D. Ruckelshaus

Monday, May 14, 1973 · 12:59 PM–1:15 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation436-002 on Tape 436StartMonday, May 14, 1973 at 12:59 PMEndMonday, May 14, 1973 at 1:15 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 436-002 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Haig coordinate the administration's public response to ongoing Watergate-related pressures, specifically addressing critical statements made by William D. Ruckelshaus. They discuss drafting a formal White House statement intended to emphasize the administration's cooperation with the FBI. The two men also strategize on how to frame internal narratives regarding John D. Ehrlichman and the handling of the investigation to minimize political damage.

Audio

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NARA Description

On May 14, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:59 pm and 1:15 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 436-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 436-2

Date: May 14, 1973
Time: Unknown between 12:59 pm and 1:15 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

     Watergate
          -Ronald L. Ziegler [?]
          -William D. Ruckelshaus’s statement
          -Forthcoming White House statement
                -White House cooperation with Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]
                                              -2-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                       -John D. Ehrlichman

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

And that, like Senator Robinson said, is very important.

First of all, there's been total cooperation with the White House and the Department of Defense.

I'm not going to tell you anything.

After all, he puts in a self-serving statement there that the Bureau in conducting this investigation was dispatched onto a ship.

The Bureau, you know the Bureau has been covering its own tracks, but after all that, it wasn't meant for any cooperation.

I mean, after all, Ehrlichman wasn't here.

Yeah.

Well, I think there should be a sentence.

As soon as this matter is brought to the... the problem is brought to the White House, a search profile is made in the dispatch, and the... right?

Do you think a sentence could go into that, but could not as of too late?

Put in that kind of sentence, okay?

Also recorded on May 14, 1973

917-030 12:53 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:53 pm and 12:59 pm.
917-031 12:53 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:53 pm and 12:59 pm.
917-032 12:53 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:53 pm and 12:59 pm.
436-001 12:59 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:59 pm and 1:15 pm.
436-003 12:59 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:59 pm and 1:15 pm.
435-021 1:04 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 1:04 pm and 1:07 pm.
435-022 1:07 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:07 pm to 1:08 pm.
436-004 1:15 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:15 pm to 1:24 pm.

All 113 conversations from May 14, 1973 →

Nixon & Bull on Watergate scandal and Executive privilege May 1, 1973 · 7 min
Nixon phone call with Ziegler on Watergate and Presidency May 17, 1973 · 13 min
Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Watergate scandal and Daniel Ellsberg case April 26, 1973 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Kleindienst on Watergate and FBI April 27, 1973 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Haig on Watergate and Wiretapping May 11, 1973 · 12 min
Nixon, Ruckelshaus & Ehrlichman on FBI and Watergate April 27, 1973 · 42 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 436-002, May 14, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/436-002 (accessed November 15, 2026).