Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 866 › Conversation 866-017

Nixon & Dean on Watergate investigation and Executive privilege

Thursday, March 1, 1973 · 1:06 PM–1:14 PM ET · Oval Office · 10 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); [Unknown person(s)]; Dean, John W., IIIConversation866-017 on Tape 866StartThursday, March 1, 1973 at 1:06 PMEndThursday, March 1, 1973 at 1:14 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 866-017 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and John Dean discussed strategies for managing the Watergate investigation, specifically focusing on the administration’s position regarding executive privilege and the release of FBI information to Congress. Dean reviewed historical precedents, such as the Truman administration's refusal to release investigative files, to support a policy of providing relevant information while resisting congressional demands for White House staff testimony. The two also addressed the perceived political vulnerability of former Attorney General John Mitchell and the necessity of managing Attorney General Richard Kleindienst’s loyalties during the ongoing inquiry.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
I just re-read that and marked a really key part where it was towards the end that was noted throughout the difficulty.
And then towards the end on the... Yeah, it's in the back here on what's number page 1005.
on August 5th, the day Mr. Hiss first appeared before the committee.
Now it's the charge of the committee to mention the presence of the president.
Where?
Ah, the statement.
He issued a presidential directive which ordered all administrative agencies of the government to refuse to come over any information related to the employment of any government employees in the federal committee.
Now what the hell is that?
What if the wall fell in right down?
Well, totally, totally, from that time on, we didn't get anything from the FBI or anything else.
That's what I meant.
That's a pretty shocking record.
It is.
There's another example here that I found in the record that
That's my file, so it'll be Dr. Conley.
Where the double lines are there is the pertinent remarks you made at that point.
I think that's what Malenhov might at some point raise with you to try to impeach any position
One, the posture we're taking in the statement you're issuing on executive privilege, and that's talking about under normal circumstances, a White House member declines to appear.
It's not talking about appearance of members of the President's staff.
It's talking about procedures for gaining information.
We're talking about a different situation.
We have never said that we wouldn't provide information.
We don't say that in that statement either.
That's all I was asking for.
I wasn't asking for people to testify.
You were asking for the information.
I was asking for the information.
You're exactly right.
And therefore, you could point that out to our friend, that's right, that all we have is information, and they refuse information.
And therefore, we've got to be particularly strong on that way, that we were willing to furnish the information, but it's on the basis of the proper way that it's going to be on the basis of the erotic rights and not on the basis of
That preserves the precedent, the principle, and doesn't let them make a circus out of who they bring up to the hill.
That's right, obviously.
I think we can do that.
We can make that distinction, and we can keep ourselves well-postured so that they can't say that you're hiding information about anything related to the Watergate at any time, and we can supply the information.
The question is, when they get up there and start some
And one word and things like that.
Oh, boy.
All right, sir.
All right.
Yes, sir, you will.
I will do it.
But I think the point is to keep a close touch.
I did it hard on him.
I mean, I watched him for a few years, worked with him for a while.
I know the best way is to suddenly and constantly keep his attention on him.
I mean, you know, that's the right thing.
Oh, Dick is a loyal... Oh, I see.
Yeah, he's a great...
That's the guy that's most vulnerable here.
I don't think we need it today.
It's warm.
All right.
All right.
All right.
All right.
All right.
For him, too, he of course is just enormously indebted to anyone, loves him like a father, and I just gotta tell him that that's the guy that's most vulnerable here.
He is, in fact, he is.
You talk about the White House staff and everybody else, sir, they might have known something.
I don't think they did, at least, or somebody's lifeline counsel, but in this case, the presumption is he did.
I don't think we need it today.
It's warm.
It's warm.
It's nice out.

NARA Description

On March 1, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), and John W. Dean, III met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:06 pm to 1:14 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 866-017 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 866-17

Date: March 1, 1973
Time: 1:06 pm – 1:14 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with an unknown person.

       John W. Dean, III’s arrival

Dean entered and the unknown person left at 1:06 pm.

       Watergate investigation
            -The President's conversation with Richard G. Kleindienst
            -Dean's notes on precedents on information release
            -A "freeze" order
                  -Page in report
                        -Information from Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]

             -Dr. Connally
             -FBI files
                   -Raw files to Congress
                   -Harry S. Truman precedent
                   -Clark R. Mollenhoff
                         -Executive privilege

             -White House Staff
                   -Procedures for obtaining information
                         -Mollenhoff
                   -Willingness of White House to reveal information to Congress
                   -Testimony issue characterized
             -Attorney General
                   -Dealings with Dean
                         -Pressure on Kleindienst
                               -Loyalty
                               -Affection for John N. Mitchell
                   -Mitchell
                         -Vulnerability
                                            -39-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                            Conversation No. 866-17 (cont’d)

       Weather

Dean left at 1:14 pm.

Also recorded on March 1, 1973

  • 866-016 12:41 PM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:41 pm to 1:06 pm.
  • 866-022 1:14 PM · 25 sec — unknown person(s) and United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:14 pm and 3:06 pm.
  • 416-003 1:15 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, Stephen B. Bull, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:15 pm to 1:25 pm.
  • 416-004 1:25 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:25 pm and 3:02 pm.
  • 416-005 1:25 PM · 12 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 1:25 pm and 3:02 pm.
  • 416-006 1:25 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:25 pm and 3:02 pm.
  • 416-051 3:02 PM · 21 sec — unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:02 pm and 3:35 pm.
  • 866-018 3:02 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:02 pm and 3:06 pm.

All 53 conversations from March 1, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 866-017, March 1, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/866-017 (accessed October 1, 2026).