Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 917 › Conversation 917-008

Nixon & Higby on Watergate and Document control

Monday, May 14, 1973 · 11:25 AM–11:28 AM ET · Oval Office · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Higby, Lawrence M.Conversation917-008 on Tape 917StartMonday, May 14, 1973 at 11:25 AMEndMonday, May 14, 1973 at 11:28 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 917-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Lawrence Higby discussed the integrity and control of internal White House documents and potential records related to the Watergate scandal. Nixon expressed deep concern over the handling of sensitive materials and instructed Higby to verify the origin and distribution of specific files and copies. The exchange highlights the President's anxiety regarding the potential paper trail and his efforts to manage internal information security during the investigation.

Audio

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NARA Description

On May 14, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Lawrence M. Higby met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:25 am to 11:28 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 917-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 917-008

Date: May 14, 1973
Time: 11:25 am - 11:28 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Lawrence M. Higby.

[See Conversation No. 046-025]

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Hello.
What have you found out so far?
Oh, I don't see everyone.
They said they'd never give a number in for Dean.
And they, their memories are good, aren't they?
Could you see what would have happened if the memorandum, you see, Larry, would have been done to deem what I would have done with that?
I mean, I might have had to pay the memorandum and make the copy to him and not have any copy made, just have the tape returned to me and then file.
And those, I've got myself, so I can check those.
No, I wouldn't go over to him and tell him.
You're welcome to vote.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, okay.
Very nice of you.
I want you to get her on the phone and ask her right now.
Come on.
Were there many calls when you were gone?
Now, wait a minute.
At what time did they...
But these were ones where copies were made, were they not?
In other words, these were ones where she made the...
In other words, you saw the copies, in a sense, instead of you.
Oh, what about the other one?
I didn't see that.
I guess you're right.
In other words, they all came from your office.
Well, if God saves her from this, and I can cover it up, I mean, I wouldn't have written one of these without having her... Oh, look, I never wrote any goddamn things on Watergate, you know.
No, we weren't thinking about that.
I mean, that's what people are forgetting around this damn place.
But I just wanted to check the files, you know, so that...
because there's some, you know what I mean?
You just figure there's some time in the middle.
The night you met him, he had a pretty, I don't know if you can make this word, Jack and Terry.
Yeah, but each of the girls told me this.
And they said, I heard what you asked, that he had a right around duty.
Yeah, all right.
Yeah, but each of the girls .
And they said, I heard what you asked, and he had a random 2D.
All right.
Good.
All right.
Why don't you wander across the table and report back to me.
You call me.
I'll call me and have you hear from Jerry.

Also recorded on May 14, 1973

  • 046-025 11:25 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Lawrence M. Higby talked on the telephone from 11:25 am to 11:28 am.
  • 917-009 11:28 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:28 am and 11:40 am.
  • 917-011 11:28 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:28 am and 11:40 am.
  • 917-013 11:28 AM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:28 am and 11:40 am.
  • 917-014 11:28 AM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:28 am and 11:40 am.
  • 917-015 11:28 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:28 am and 11:40 am.
  • 917-016 11:28 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:28 am and 11:40 am.
  • 917-017 11:28 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:28 am and 11:40 am.

All 113 conversations from May 14, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 917-008, May 14, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/917-008 (accessed November 15, 2026).