Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 908 › Conversation 908-003
Nixon, Timmons & Baroody on Watergate and Special Prosecutor
Tuesday, May 1, 1973 · 8:13 AM–8:18 AM ET · Oval Office · 11 min
AI Summary
President Nixon met with William E. Timmons and William J. Baroody, Jr. to discuss the administration's political strategy and public messaging following his April 30 speech regarding the Watergate scandal. The President emphasized the need for his staff to maintain an upbeat, aggressive demeanor while navigating congressional inquiries and the potential appointment of a special prosecutor by Elliot Richardson. Nixon specifically directed the team to monitor staff members like W. Richard Howard to ensure they remained focused and avoided legal exposure as the administration braced for continued political pressure.
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Oh, hi, how are you?
Sit down.
I want to see what both of you are doing in regard to the street.
Support for our position.
And so we were in Congress last night.
I'm going to go again this morning to stand out.
I thought they were behaving well.
Most of our loyal Republicans are.
Scott Ford said good things last night.
The Democrats are not.
Some of them are special prosecutors, and they're not satisfied.
But I mean, they've had their rug pulled off a little.
But I'm tired of this.
Richardson has the responsibility.
He can appoint a special prosecutor if he wants, but I don't go to hell.
But our gas is standing pretty good, Mr. President.
It did last well.
Don't put it that way.
It'd be more positive if we could just get down there and get off their asses and start fighting.
Is that clear?
They should have had a good reaction last night.
They'll probably hear the talk.
Probably not.
They're such a lot of lightweights.
Right?
But, uh, Scott Ford came out pretty good last night, and we'll get more of him today, I'm sure.
I talked to Betts after the speech and told him that it's positive.
But you don't have the Democrats, of course.
Some of them are just going to be raising hell from now on, regardless.
And there'll be such...
uh the uh um the key thing i did last night was uh with respect to labor leaders and and ethnics uh got together with
How did they get along?
How were they observing?
I did not connect with them last night.
I got a list from Mike McDonald for getting in contact with them this morning to get some statements.
What kind of reaction did you get?
The reaction I got was very good, but very minimal.
We did not call.
We did not call out and ask people to call in.
And by virtue of that fact, we did not get.
No, no, they don't respect me.
They don't think that's true.
They couldn't, because we didn't have any calls in here.
I could be big on myself.
But you're on top of it, right?
Yes, sir.
Let me ask you about your status.
Dick Howard and any of the others, you know, that you have, if any call them, don't let them get caught.
You understand?
Yes, sir.
Tell them to just step right up and say, look, we want to move out, you know, and do something else or something of that sort.
I think he's a wonderful guy, but hell, if he knows anything about this goddamn thing, you understand what I'm talking about?
Yes, sir, I do indeed.
Do you have any, do you have in mind any people like him?
Uh...
I know you know him.
Right.
You were convinced.
Yes, sir.
Um... No, I don't, uh... What, any?
Except...
Except Dick?
Except Dick, and I don't know of any, uh...
Except Dick?
I, as far as, I don't know the Pope X on Dick, but I, I will, uh... Have a hard talk with him?
Yes sir.
Yes sir.
I will do that this morning.
The main thing, you guys have got to be not coming in with long faces.
I never want to see a long face around here.
You've got to be upbeat.
Is that clear?
Yes, sir.
You understand that, Bill?
Yes, sir.
It's going to be tough.
No, I mean, I never want to hear watery disgust again this morning.
That's right.
I'm sure of it.
And all the rest of you are just a bunch of assholes.
Now I'm going to give you a process.
You've got to have your interests at stake.
You've got the power to find the right prosecutor if you want to see him in.
That's up to you.
You can't hurt him if he gets a damn bad grand jury.
Otherwise, it's extended for six months.
We've all got a bit of challenges ahead of time.
We've just got to go ahead and tackle these problems.
That's right.
We're going into the big thing now.
All right, boys.
We're counting on you.
OK?
Yes, sir.
Tell all your team that you don't care about the poor crowd.
OK?
That's OK. OK?
And so we're going to go to Congress last night.
We're going to go again this morning to stand out.
They're behaving well.
Most of our loyal Republicans are.
Scott Ford said good things last night.
The Democrats are not.
Some of them want special prosecutors, and they're not satisfied.
But I mean, they've had their rug pulled off.
But our tiger, Richardson, has the responsibility.
He can appoint a special prosecutor if he wants.
He's got to go to hell.
But I guess it sounded pretty good, Mr. President.
They did last night.
Well, don't put it that way, President.
It'd be more positive if you just get down there and get off their asses and start fighting them.
Is that correct?
Yes.
Yeah.
They should have had a good reaction last night.
They'll probably hear.
Probably not.
They're such a lot of lightweights.
Right?
But our, uh, Scott Ford came out pretty good last night, and we're getting more of him today, I'm sure.
I talked to Betchev after the speech and told him it was positive.
But you don't have the Democrats, of course.
Some of them are just going to be raising hell from now on, regardless.
There'll never be such John Moss.
That's what they're after.
Moss resistance.
Fine, fine, fine.
Fine.
Now, what have you done?
The key thing I did last night was, with respect to labor leaders and ethnics, got together with them.
How'd you get along?
How were they?
How was everything?
We didn't get, I did not connect with them last night.
I got a list from Mike Bogdano for getting in contact with them this morning to get some statements.
How did you get along there?
What kind of reaction did you get?
The reaction I got was very good, but very minimal.
We did not call.
We did not call out and ask people to call in.
No, that's right.
And by virtue of that fact, we did not get.
No, no, they don't respect me.
Yes, sir.
They don't get through, and they couldn't, because we didn't have any calls in here.
I could be big on myself.
But you're on top of it, right?
I think your staff, Dick Howard, and any of the others, you know, that you have, if any call them, don't let them get caught.
Do you understand?
Yes, sir.
Tell them to just step right up and say, look, we want to move out, you know, and do something else, or something of that sort.
I think he's a wonderful guy, but, hell, if he knows anything about this goddamn thing, or...do you want to tell them what I'm talking about?
Yes, sir, I do indeed.
Do you have any, do you have in mind any people like him?
Uh...
I know you know him.
Right.
You were convinced.
Yes, sir.
Um... No, I don't, uh... What, didn't he?
Except...
Except Dick?
Except Dick, and I don't know of any, uh...
Except Dick?
I, I, as far as, I don't know the Pope X on Dick, but I, I will, uh... Have a hard talk with him?
Yes sir.
Yes sir.
I will do that this morning.
The main thing, you guys have got to be not coming in with long faces.
I never want to see a long face around here.
You've got to be upbeat.
Is that clear?
Yes, sir.
You understand that, Bill?
Yes, sir.
It's going to be tough.
I never want to hear watery disgust again in this home.
That's right.
I'm sure of it.
and all the rest of your business after all.
So now I'm going to give you a process.
You've got to have the resources.
You've got the power to find the right prosecutor if he wants, and he may.
That's up to you.
I can't hope that we get to have that grand jury here.
Otherwise, it'd be extended for six months.
We've all got a bit of challenges ahead of time.
We've just got to go ahead and tackle these.
Right.
We're going into the big thing now.
All right, boys.
We're here to count on you.
OK.
Yes, sir.
Tell all your team that you don't care about the poor crowd.
OK. That's OK. OK.
Good job.
NARA Description
On May 1, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, William E. Timmons, and William J. Baroody, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:13 am to 8:18 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 908-003 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 908-003
Date: May 1, 1973
Time: 8:13 am - 8:18 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with William E. Timmons and William J. Baroody, Jr.
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542
Watergate
-Reactions to President’s previous speech, April 30
-Congress
-Hugh Scott and Gerald R. Ford
-Special Prosecutor
-Democrats’ requests
-Elliot L. Richardson
-Republicans
-Timmons’s telephone calls
-Jackson E. Betts [?]
-Democrats
-John E. Moss
-Labor leaders and ethnics
-Michael P. Balzano’s list
-Telephone calls
-Baroody’s staff
-W. Richard Howard
-Meeting with Baroody
-H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman
-Baroody and Timmons
-Attitude
-J. William Fulbright
-Investigation
-Richardson and Special Prosecutor
-Grand jury
Timmons and Baroody left at 8:18 am.Also recorded on May 1, 1973
- 908-001 7:59 AM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, unknown person(s), and Nellie L. Yates met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:59 am and 8:13 am.
- 908-002 7:59 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:59 am and 8:13 am.
- 908-004 8:18 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:18 am and 8:26 am.
- 908-005 8:18 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), and Kenneth R. Cole, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:18 am and 8:30 am.
- 908-006 8:30 AM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:30 am and 8:33 am.
- 908-007 8:30 AM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:30 am and 8:33 am.
- 123-003 8:33 AM · 1 hr 37 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Spiro Agnew, William P. Rogers, and bipartisan Congressional leaders, including Dr. John A. Hannah, Michael J. ("Mike") Mansfield, Hugh Scott, J. William Fulbright, George D. Aiken, John L. McClellan, Daniel K. Inouye, Edward W. Brooke, Sam Nunn, Jesse A. Helms, Carl B. Albert, Thomas P. ("Tip") O'Neill, Jr., Gerald R. Ford, John J. McFall, Leslie C. Arends, Dr. Thomas E. ("Doc") Morgan, William S. Mailliard, George H. Mahon, Richard W. Bolling, William L. Dickinson, Roy L. Ash, William E. Timmons, Thomas C. Korologos, Max L. Friedersdorf, Gerald L. Warren, and John F. Lehman, Jr., met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 8:33 am to 10:05 am.
- 908-008 10:14 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:14 am to 10:26 am.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 908-003, May 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/908-003 (accessed October 5, 2026).