President Nixon and his personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, met to discuss the mounting political pressure from the Watergate scandal and strategies for maintaining a strong public image. They strategized on counter-messaging, including encouraging supporters to write letters to editors defending the administration and framing the opposition as McCarthyist. Additionally, they reviewed Nixon’s recent public appearances and discussed the need to project resilience and resolve in the face of calls for the President’s resignation.
On May 16, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:49 am and 12:34 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 919-024 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding AidConversation No. 919-24 (cont’d)
Conversation No. 919-24
Date: May 16, 1973
Time: Unknown between 11:49 am and 12:34 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Rose Mary Woods.
Weather
G. Bradford Cook
-Robert L. Vesco
-Resignation
-$48,000 for Hubert H. Humphrey
-John Loeb
-Indictment
David Marx
-Telephone call to Rose Mary Woods
-Uncle to Daniel Ellsberg’s wife [Patricia Marx]
-J. Edgar Hoover’s inaction
-Impact on White House investigation
-Affinity for Marx family
-Telephone call to Woods
-Television [TV]
-Meeting with Walter L. Cronkite, Jr.
President’s possible resignation
-Reason
-Partisanship
Watergate
-Effect on nation
Woods’s conversation with Marx
-Santa Ana Register
-George H. W. Bush and Republican National Committee [RNC]
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
(rev. September-2012)
Conversation No. 919-24 (cont’d)
Watergate
-Calls for President’s resignation
-Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony J. Russo, Jr.
-National opinion
-Theft of national security information
-Appointment
-Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]
-Service on Scranton Committee
-Patrick J. Buchanan [?]
-Russo’s work in Chicago
-Angela Y. Davis
-Chicago Seven
-Impeachment
-Congressional action
-Impeachment
Henry A. Kissinger
-Letter for President to sign
-Leonid I. Brezhnev and Nicolai Ceausescu
Presidency
-Difficulty
-State Dinner, May 15
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[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 8 s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
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Conversation No. 919-24 (cont’d)
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Julie Nixon Eisenhower’s schedule
-Indiana
[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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Julie Nixon Eisenhower’s schedule
-Popular reception
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[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 26 s ]
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
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[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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Watergate
-Possible letters to editors
-President’s accomplishments
-McCarthyism
-Santa Ana Register story regarding the President’s San Clemente property
-Trust
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
(rev. September-2012)
Conversation No. 919-24 (cont’d)
-Nixon Foundation
-Samuel J. Ervin, Jr.’s comment
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[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]
President’s schedule
-Tiredness
-State Dinner
-Preoccupations
[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
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Watergate
-President’s response
-Peter J. Brennan’s telephone call to Woods
-White House response
-Helen A. Thomas
-President’s activities
-Woods’s schedule
-Social event at Iranian ambassador’s residence
-Amir-Alsan Afshar’s demeanor [?]
-Frank N. Ikard [?]
-Jean Ikard
-Edward W. Brooke
-Robert Gray
-Woods’s demeanor
-Support for President
-Haircut
-Style
-Egil (“Bud”) Krogh, Jr.
Weather
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NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
(rev. September-2012)
Conversation No. 919-24 (cont’d)
Cook
President’s supporters
Woods left at an unknown time before 12:34 pm.This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.