Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 447 › Conversation 447-022
Nixon, Ziegler & Haig on Leonid Brezhnev and Watergate
Tuesday, June 19, 1973 · 2:00 PM–2:59 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 58 min
AI Summary
President Nixon met with Ronald Ziegler, Alexander Haig, and Henry Kissinger to coordinate the upcoming state visit of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and manage the ongoing Watergate crisis. The group planned the logistical details of the summit, including travel to Camp David, photograph opportunities, and public relations strategies for the Brezhnev visit. Simultaneously, they discussed political damage control, specifically preparing for John Dean's upcoming testimony before the Ervin Committee and determining the White House's public stance regarding the Watergate investigation and the role of special prosecutor Archibald Cox.
Audio
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Transcript (AI-generated)
This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 30 minutes of this recording (about 52% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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NARA Description
On June 19, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, unknown person(s), Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:00 pm to 2:59 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 447-022 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 447-22
Date: June 19, 1973
Time: 2:00 pm - 2:59 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with Ronald L. Ziegler.
Leonid I. Brezhnev visit
-Sequoia
-Timing
-Possible demonstrations
-Jews [?]
-Afternoon meeting
-Mount Vernon
-Helicopter to Camp David
-Return to White House, June 22, 1973
-Leak by Viktor Louis [?]
-Friday [June 22, 1973] announcement
-Henry A. Kissinger’s concern
-Photograph opportunity, June 22, 1973
-George P. Shultz
-Camp David
-San Clemente
-Reception, June 23, 1973
An unknown man entered at an unknown time after 2:00 pm.
Unknown matter
The unknown man left at an unknown time before 2:31 pm.
-19-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 447-40 (cont’d)
Brezhnev visit
-Signing ceremony
-Photograph opportunity
-Economic meeting
-Sequoia
-Shultz, Nikolai S. Patolichev
-Press relations
-Secret Service
-Photographs
-Camp David
-Importance
-Sequoia
-Economic meeting
-Shultz
-Camp David
-Photograph
-Shultz
-Economic agreement briefing
-Press relations
-Questions to Brezhnev
-Stephen B. Bull
-“Badgering”
-Women reporters
-Handshaking
-Soviet media
-Ziegler’s possible action
Press relations
-Martha (Beall) Mitchell
-Helen Thomas’s stories
-Washington Post
-Possible apology
-Comments about President
-Telephone calls to Betty Beall and Thomas
-Thomas
-Ziegler
-Future interactions with President
-Martha Mitchell
-20-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 447-40 (cont’d)
-[First name unknown] Fischer
Watergate
-John W. Dean, III
-Forthcoming Ervin Committee testimony
-Schedule
Brezhnev visit
-Communique
-Timing
John A. Love
-Announcement of White House staff position
-Energy
-Dean’s testimony
Watergate
-Dean
-Handling of funds
-Press coverage
-$4,000, $14,000
-Safety deposit box
-J. Fred Buzhardt
-Forthcoming Ervin Committee testimony
-Prosecutors
-Evidence
-Testimony
-Ziegler’s conversations with Richard A. Moore [?]
-Evidence against Dean [?]
-Leaks [?]
-Ervin Committee
-Howard H. Baker, Jr.
-Edward J. Gurney
-Buzhardt’s view
-White House response
-Buzhardt, Leonard Garment, Charles A. Wright
-Press relations
-White House staff
-21-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 447-40 (cont’d)
-Popular opinion
-Archibald Cox
-Ziegler’s conversation with Buzhardt, Garment and Wright, June 19, 1973
-Possible defense by a Senator
-White House response
-Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
-Prosecutors
-White House response
-Garment’s telephone calls to Senators
-Buzhardt
-Timing
-Cox
-Summit, President’s accomplishments
-Effect on White House staff
-Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Conversation with Ziegler, June 18, 1973
-Phil Donahue interview
-White House response
-Timing
-Dean
-California
-Press relations
-Intelligence
-Camp David [?]
-Dean
-Forthcoming Ervin Committee testimony
-White House response
-Strategy
-Senators’ possible response
-White House response
-Julie Nixon Eisenhower’s view
-White House staff and press
-Past statements
-Ziegler’s beliefs
-Julie Nixon Eisenhower
-Staff statements
The President met with an unknown man.
-22-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 447-40 (cont’d)
Russian vodka
-Sequoia
-Camp David
-Soviet rooms
The unknown man left at an unknown time before 2:31 pm.
Watergate
-Dean
-Forthcoming Ervin Committee testimony
-Timing
The President talked with Haig at an unknown time between 2:00 pm and 2:31 pm.
[Conversation No. 447-22A]
[Begin telephone conversation]
President’s schedule
-Melvin R. Laird
Patrick J. Buchanan
Brezhnev’s schedule
-Mt. Vernon
-President’s conversation with an unknown person
-Helicopter
-Driving
President’s schedule
-Laird
[End telephone conversation]
Brezhnev’s schedule
-Camp David
-Driving
-23-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 447-40 (cont’d)
-Thurmont
-Mt. Vernon
Watergate
-Dean
-Forthcoming Ervin Committee testimony
-White House response
Kissinger talked with the President between 2:31 pm and 2:36 pm.
[Conversation No. 447-22B]
[Begin telephone conversation]
[See Conversation No. 41-16]
[End telephone conversation]
Brezhnev visit
-Sequoia
-Ziegler’s schedule
-Forthcoming briefings
-Leonid Zamyatin
-Sequoia
-Zamyatin
-Dinner
-Ambassadorial rank
-Telegrafnoye Agentstvo Sovetskovo Soyuza
[Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union] [TASS]
-Ziegler’s forthcoming conversation with Kissinger
-John B. Connally
-Forthcoming conversation with Ziegler
-Potential Soviet clients
-Air travel to San Clemente
-Private dinner
-Media relations
-Speculation
-Ziegler’s forthcoming conversation with Kissinger and Haig
-24-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 447-40 (cont’d)
-Helicopter
-Photograph opportunities
-Camp David
-Zamyatin
-San Clemente
-Agreement signing
-Camp David
-Stairs
-Golf course
-President and Brezhnev
-Walking
-Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins
-Soviet photographers
Watergate
-Ervin Committee hearings
-Press relations
-Dean’s forthcoming testimony
-Gurney [?]
-White House response
Brezhnev visit
-Rogers’s view
-View
Watergate
-Hearings
-Dean
-Ziegler’s belief
-White House response
-Timing
-Press conference
Brezhnev visit
-President’s possible report to nation
-Kissinger’s view
-Communique
-Departing statement by President and Brezhnev
-25-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 447-40 (cont’d)
-Preparation
-Delivery
Watergate
-Jeb Stuart Magruder
-Ziegler’s belief
-Prosecutors
-Immunity
-Charges
Brezhnev’s schedule
-Sequoia
-Camp David
-Travel by automobile
The President talked with Kissinger at an unknown time between 2:00 pm and 2:31 pm.
[Conversation No. 447-22C]
[Begin telephone conversation]
Brezhnev’s schedule
-Camp David
-Travel by automobile
-Sequoia
-Sequoia
-Soviet sensitivities
[End telephone conversation]
Brezhnev’s schedule
-Camp David
-Travel by automobile
-Sequoia
-Kissinger’s view
-Mt. Vernon
-George Washington’s home
-Sequoia
-26-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 447-40 (cont’d)
Brezhnev
-Strategic abilities
-Political skill
-Relations with people
-Comparison to Irish ward politician
-Receiving line
-Jews [?]
-Undersecretaries
-Bravery
-Bodyguard and translator [?]
Treaty signing
-Ziegler’s conversation with Zamyatin
-Prisoners of War [POWs] room
-Media relations
-Size of press corps
Brezhnev visit
-Communique
-Ziegler’s conversation with Helmut (“Hal”) Sonnenfeldt
-Press relations
-Relations between President and Brezhnev
-Kissinger [?]
-Text of speech
-Sonnenfeldt
-Media relations
-Cooperation
-Ziegler’s forthcoming conversation with Kissinger
-Sequoia
-Ziegler and Zamyatin
-Camp David
-Camp David
-Economic meeting
Ziegler left at 2:59 pm.
-27-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 447-40 (cont’d)Also recorded on June 19, 1973
- 041-013 1:52 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at 1:52 pm.
- 041-014 1:52 PM · 26 sec — White House operator and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:52 pm and 1:54 pm.
- 447-017 1:52 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 1:52 pm.
- 447-018 1:52 PM · 27 sec — White House operator and President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:52 pm and 1:54 pm.
- 041-015 1:54 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:54 pm and 2:36 pm.
- 447-019 1:54 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 1:54 pm.
- 447-020 1:54 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:54 pm and 2:00 pm.
- 447-021 1:54 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:54 pm and 2:00 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 447-022, June 19, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/447-022 (accessed October 9, 2026).