Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 908 › Conversation 908-011

Nixon & Woods on White House Scheduling and Watergate

Tuesday, May 1, 1973 · 10:27 AM–10:34 AM ET · Oval Office · 5 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Woods, Rose Mary; [Unknown person(s)]Conversation908-011 on Tape 908StartTuesday, May 1, 1973 at 10:27 AMEndTuesday, May 1, 1973 at 10:34 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 908-011 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Rose Mary Woods discussed the management of his presidential schedule, emphasizing the need for stricter screening of appointments and visitor access to minimize distractions. The conversation further addressed the administration's reaction to Nixon's April 30 Watergate speech, with the two reviewing incoming phone calls and feedback from prominent supporters. Nixon expressed personal frustration regarding Vice President Spiro Agnew's conduct and discussed his reliance on Woods to organize incoming correspondence and messages during this period of political pressure.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Rose, uh, I wanted to tell you that, uh, I had told Steve this morning, but, um, people wanted to have, you know, the cats and dogs, uh, in terms of, uh, scheduling, of course, uh, you know, if they had to see anybody to work them out, in terms of working out, uh, you know, what, uh,

between the captain and so forth, like children and so forth.

I'm going to do that with the budget man who I'm going to see this afternoon.

But I hope, Steve, that in terms of you and your partner sitting down in terms of friends and even captain members and so forth, that we have to see the president.

You sit down and you screen him and have him come in.

The vice president, for example, he's always whining and bitching and so forth.

Actually, he didn't call.

No.

He's not a big man, Rose.

You don't get to see anything on top of him.

Right.

It's a very, very small thing.

But I don't know.

I don't get it.

I'm perfectly resigned to it.

the situation is we did the very best job we can and I think we have lost more than a bunch of your guests oh I'm sure you had a lot of guests have you had any more press calls?

I've got a whole stack of calls that have been coming in this morning and I'm pressing all the calls that we know the important ones have called and it's sort of a rundown so I don't know who they are and I don't know who else left the day I couldn't speak to myself that's all fantastic

He didn't even mention his name on the phone.

He just went off and thought that had happened.

This is the person that got through because he asked for me.

Did you know that Rogers and

This is what he called, like, to the Holy Spirit.

And there's just, in all his hands, he called, and like, just gave the message, you know, a long time ago.

Jesus Christ, what a burden.

See, they don't know the people who used to pray.

Now I'm used to praying the Christ comes in here.

That's your job.

You know what I mean?

They don't understand.

Jesus Christ.

Well, you see, they're just starting, you know.

Well, the boys, the boys don't know a goddamn thing, huh?

No, and that's the reason they don't grow up, too.

Because the town guys are just starting, you know.

The town guys are always backed up so that you never get them.

Who was it that called and wanted to treat them last night?

Billy Graham did, I guess.

Cole Lewis, huh?

Billy Graham, Cole Lewis, of course.

Ambassador Moseley called, but he really wasn't, he was so pleased about it.

Don Kendall thought it was the most courageous speech he'd heard.

I've got notes that I want to recall, there was an awful lot of them.

Hey Rose, while I have it, do your best.

Okay, there's another one I've got, but I can't do it yet.

Thank you.

NARA Description

On May 1, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:27 am and 10:34 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 908-011 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 908-011

Date: May 1, 1973
Time: Unknown between 10:27 am and 10:34 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Rose Mary Woods.

       President’s schedule
              -Appointments
              -President’s conversation with Stephen B. Bull
              -David N. Parker
              -Conflicts
                      -George P. Shultz
                      -Roy L. Ash

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

                                -Office of Management and Budge [OMB]
               -Screening
                      -Friends
                      -Cabinet
                      -Spiro T. Agnew

       Watergate
             -President’s speech
                    -Telephone calls
                            -Agnew
                            -List
                            -Agnew
                            -John B. Connally
                                   -Woods
                            -William P. Rogers and Elliot L. Richardson

       President’s schedule
              -Woods’s role, screening

       President’s Watergate speech, April 30
              -Telephone calls
                     -William F. (“Billy”) Graham
                     -Hobart D. (“Hobe”) Lewis
                     -John A. Volpe
                     -Donald McI. Kendall

       Edmund G. (“Pat”) Brown
            -Letter [?]

An unknown man entered and Woods left at 10:33 am.

       Willy Brandt
              -Henry A. Kissinger

The unknown man left at an unknown time before 10:34 am.

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

Also recorded on May 1, 1973

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.
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.
908-009 10:26 AM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:26 am and 10:27 am.
908-010 10:26 AM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:26 am and 10:27 am.
908-012 10:34 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:34 am to 10:36 am.
908-025 10:36 AM · 1 min — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:36 am and 10:44 am.
908-013 10:44 AM · 1 hr 38 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Willy Brandt, unknown person(s), Henry A. Kissinger, Egon Bahr, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:44 am to 12:24 pm.

All 181 conversations from May 1, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 908-011, 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/908-011 (accessed October 12, 2026).