Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 937 › Conversation 937-018

Nixon & Buzhardt on Watergate scandal and Public opinion

Tuesday, June 12, 1973 · 11:44 AM–11:54 AM ET · Oval Office ·12 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Buzhardt, J. Fred, Jr.Conversation937-018 onTape 937StartTuesday, June 12, 1973 at 11:44 AMEndTuesday, June 12, 1973 at 11:54 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 937-018 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. discuss the ongoing Watergate investigation and the public perception of the administration's involvement. The two men review the political implications of the case, expressing frustration over public sentiment and the perceived bias of investigators, while emphasizing the need to frame their own narrative. Nixon explicitly rejects any possibility of delaying the proceedings, insisting that the administration must maintain a posture of transparency and innocence regarding the scandal.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Hello?
Oh, yeah, Frank.
Well, uh, as, uh, I guess it'd be predicted, the enemy then came true.
Yeah.
That's the use of the enemy plan, isn't it?
Right.
And with the elevation from center to center, uh, he, he had no, he had no choice.
He's pretty worried about the station.
He should be.
All these people have been convicted already, let's face it.
I couldn't find an average jury that wouldn't hang them all.
That's what I mean.
That's what I mean.
Well, that doesn't matter to me.
That jury is the public.
That's right.
Right, what is the situation?
Now, the informant is about the same.
They do this, we're going to talk on Friday.
I'm waiting.
I'm waiting.
You know, I think you're right.
Mm-hmm.
Sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Also the ones that you're putting in .
Get it away, I agree.
He would go on publicly then, uh, Zachary from Gresham shared it.
That's all right, let it go on Gresham, I'll share it, bye.
Who?
Oh, I see.
Oh, well, that's pretty subtle.
Uh-huh.
Wow.
Well, it looks like we've got a couple of guys here that are trying to get a question on the street around here.
I agree with you.
They'll probably be independent.
No, I don't.
Yes, sir.
Well, I think they're being adjusted here.
Probably very helpful in the school district.
And Peterson and all those people together.
Yeah, yeah.
Interesting that you made on the second letter that the prosecutors are caught away in the president's money.
Yeah.
Well, gosh, I can't help but believe that they're true.
I'm not sure if we can get them out now.
And if they're not true, we can't, of course, ever see them again.
But goodness, I mean, gosh, I mean, oh, it's amazing.
It's a lie.
It's basically a lie.
Tomorrow I couldn't do it because I'm doing these and I don't think, but I can certainly do it, say, Thursday morning.
All right.
Good night.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Sure.
Well, at any point you need me, you should run a motor with me.
I don't know if I recollected this, uh, well, except I, uh, the only reason is I don't remember, but I, uh, I think it was last year, we had a scientific scan.
I can no more, I can no more recall things that happened in 72, except that, because I wasn't thinking about the darn thing in 72.
Try it with me, damn it.
Well, Bob was the...
I'm sorry.
And I can assure you there was no talk about money, there was no talk about cover-up, there was no talk about people lying.
That's our brief report on the fact that they invited these people and on other subjects that we're going to see what's happening to the investigation of the IRS and Larry O'Brien and, you know, the truth was under way and so forth and so on.
The reservation for Brandon Hanks was huge.
That's the kind of thing that Bobby calls.
But there's not a mayor.
I know that.
Yeah.
Who?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
My wife.
My goodness.
Yeah.
Well, Harlow was quite close to the head of the, you know, we recommended him to me, you know.
He never had questions for me.
No, yes.
Yeah, anyways.
Anyway, well, Bryce, or somebody else, so that people who are concerned about the outside of the home, just say, for God's sake, I'm not going to do these kind of crazy things.
Just, you know, in a casual way, how about it?
I'm sure every person has their own history.
Yeah.
But, uh,
Why haven't they gone into those?
What are you talking about?
Because the bureaucracy doesn't want them to do that.
Oh.
Yeah.
And they think they have anything to do with the Democrats in the Congress that they haven't done.
Well, that's fine.
You know, I did problems.
I'm glad, totally, uh, strong on this idea that the, I guess I know you had a coach sit down here at Leningrad and said that, you know, kind of sized their, uh, request that we postpone.
And boy, we're never going to do that, Fred.
Never, never, never.
Have a lesson with being on one compression.
Go see if that's fine.
Let's prove we're a free society.
Huh?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That they did it.
They're responsible, they're not ours.
Oh, well.
Yeah, the Father is going to believe everything the Lord can do.
He'll just, you know, believe everything the Lord says.
But the Christ is going to care less.
Long time.
That's right.
That's right.
That's right.
And also, instead of that being no story, I kind of will have a story I want to do, which is not basket.
Well, good luck.
Good luck.
Right.
Huh.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's what they did.
They're responsible, they're not ours.
Oh, well.
Yeah, the Father is going to believe everyone, or can do.
He'll just, you know, believe everything it all says, but the brain is going to care less.
It's a long time.
That's right.
That's right.
That's right.
And also, instead of that being no story, I kind of will have a story I want to do, which is not basketball.
Well, good luck.
Good luck.

NARA Description

On June 12, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:44 am to 11:54 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 937-018 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 937-18

Date: June 12, 1973
Time: 11:44 am - 11:54 am
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr.

[See Conversation No. 40-28]

Also recorded on June 12, 1973

  • 937-014 11:15 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:15 am and 11:17 am.
  • 937-015 11:17 AM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Gen. Brent G. Scowcroft met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:17 am to 11:31 am.
  • 040-027 11:31 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:31 am and 11:34 am.
  • 937-016 11:31 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:31 am and 11:44 am.
  • 937-017 11:31 AM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:31 am and 11:44 am.
  • 040-028 11:44 AM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon and J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr. talked on the telephone from 11:44 am to 11:54 am.
  • 937-019 11:57 AM · 42 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:57 am to 12:36 pm.
  • 937-020 12:36 PM · 1 min — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:36 pm and 11:59 pm.

All 70 conversations from June 12, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 937-018, June 12, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/937-018 (accessed September 18, 2026).