{"conversationCode":"436-002","tapeNumber":436,"conversationNumber":2,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-436-002","startDateTime":"1973-05-14T16:59:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1973-05-14T17:15:00.000Z","startDate":"14-May-1973","startTime":"12:59 PM","endDate":"14-May-1973","endTime":"1:15 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.;","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.","locationCode":"EOB","recordingDevice":"Old Executive Office Building","latitudeEstimated":38.897567,"longitudeEstimated":-77.039147,"chronCode":"5.5","chronRelease":"Fifth Chronological Release: Part V","chronReleaseDate":"21-Aug-2013","aogpRelease":"Abuse of Governmental Power Release","aogpSegment":"Segment 0","lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 436-2\n\nDate: May 14, 1973\nTime: Unknown between 12:59 pm and 1:15 pm\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.\n\n     Watergate\n          -Ronald L. Ziegler [?]\n          -William D. Ruckelshaus’s statement\n          -Forthcoming White House statement\n                -White House cooperation with Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]\n\f                                              -2-\n\n                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM\n\n                       -John D. Ehrlichman","filename":["436-002.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Haig, Alexander M., Jr."],"prevCode":"436-001","nextCode":"436-003","transcript":[{"start":0.13,"end":11.28,"text":"And that, like Senator Robinson said, is very important."},{"start":11.3,"end":13.22,"text":"First of all, there's been total cooperation with the White House and the Department of Defense."},{"start":13.24,"end":14.24,"text":"I'm not going to tell you anything."},{"start":15.02,"end":27.79,"text":"After all, he puts in a self-serving statement there that the Bureau in conducting this investigation was dispatched onto a ship."},{"start":27.81,"end":31.61,"text":"The Bureau, you know the Bureau has been covering its own tracks, but after all that, it wasn't meant for any cooperation."},{"start":31.64,"end":33.38,"text":"I mean, after all, Ehrlichman wasn't here."},{"start":35.06,"end":37.55,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":37.65,"end":42.12,"text":"Well, I think there should be a sentence."},{"start":42.13,"end":53.63,"text":"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?"},{"start":53.66,"end":55.14,"text":"Do you think a sentence could go into that, but could not as of too late?"},{"start":55.16,"end":56.7,"text":"Put in that kind of sentence, okay?"}],"aiSummary":{"text":"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.","topics":["Watergate scandal","William D. Ruckelshaus","FBI investigation","Public relations","John D. Ehrlichman","White House strategy"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T20:03:49.647Z"},"topicSlugs":["watergate-scandal","william-d-ruckelshaus","fbi-investigation","public-relations","john-d-ehrlichman","white-house-strategy"],"audioDurationSec":64,"audioFiles":[{"file":"436-002.mp3","bytes":2037760,"durationSec":63.53,"bitrate":256590,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:20:04.739Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:43:40.226Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/436-002.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/436-002","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/436/conversation-436-002","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}