Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 903 › Conversation 903-016

Nixon & Brennan on Watergate scandal and Public relations

Friday, April 20, 1973 · 12:04 PM–12:07 PM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Brennan, Peter J.Conversation903-016 on Tape 903StartFriday, April 20, 1973 at 12:04 PMEndFriday, April 20, 1973 at 12:07 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 903-016 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Secretary of Labor Peter J. Brennan met briefly to discuss the administration's ongoing struggle with the intensifying Watergate scandal and the negative impact of unauthorized leaks. Nixon emphasized the necessity of surviving the political crisis and outlined the need for a more coherent public relations strategy to protect innocent staff members from unfair allegations. The two men also confirmed that Brennan had submitted his policy recommendations for upcoming initiatives.

Audio

Download MP3 · 3.5 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
I saw Shelly Grayton yesterday, and she said you had a good time.
How was the weather?
Pretty good?
Yeah.
Good, good, good.
Well, we had a very rough time since you, I guess we call that a week hell weekend.
Yeah.
And I, but what we've got to do is just survive the damn thing, and I think we will.
Oh, you did?
Fine.
He'll be on the plane.
Fine.
You've got your recommendations in there.
Oh, good.
I just wanted to see that if you passed them on to him.
Fine.
You approved of what I, my statement on Tuesday, I assume, or whatever it was.
Yeah.
That happened.
Yeah.
But I'll say there's a problem with the leaks and everything coming out.
You really need a PR program, don't you?
But all above my head, when I say PR, not for the purpose of telling things that they aren't, but for the purpose of having a line, you know, so that every time somebody, you know, pops off with something in charge of this or that, that you don't get innocent people hurt.
You have to deal with it right and justice, which is what we're trying to do.
And it's too bad that time has shown the system.
It's poor, it's not a good system.
It's too bad, it's too bad.
It's up there today.
But if you've got any thoughts that I'm going to share

NARA Description

On April 20, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Peter J. Brennan met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:04 pm to 12:07 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 903-016 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 903-16

Date: April 20, 1973
Time: 12:04 pm - 12:07 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Patrick J. Buchanan.

[See Conversation No. 38-131; one item has been withdrawn.]

Also recorded on April 20, 1973

  • 903-012 11:40 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:40 am and 11:43 am.
  • 903-014 11:43 AM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:43 am to 12:02 pm.
  • 038-130 12:02 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:02 pm and 12:04 pm.
  • 903-015 12:02 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:02 pm and 12:04 pm.
  • 038-131 12:04 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Peter J. Brennan talked on the telephone from 12:04 pm to 12:07 pm.
  • 903-017 12:07 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:07 pm and 12:15 pm.
  • 903-018 12:07 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:07 pm and 12:15 pm.
  • 903-019 12:15 PM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, John D. Ehrlichman, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:15 pm to 12:34 pm.

All 34 conversations from April 20, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 903-016, April 20, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/903-016 (accessed October 5, 2026).