Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 944 › Conversation 944-006

Nixon & Haig on Watergate and White House public relations

Monday, June 18, 1973 · 6:15 PM–6:16 PM ET · Oval Office · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.Conversation944-006 on Tape 944StartMonday, June 18, 1973 at 6:15 PMEndMonday, June 18, 1973 at 6:16 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 944-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Alexander M. Haig, Jr. for a brief discussion regarding the White House's ongoing public relations strategy concerning the Watergate scandal. The two conferred on administrative messaging and the potential involvement of Ronald L. Ziegler in addressing queries from the Ervin Committee and television networks. The conversation resulted in a minor directive to refine a prepared statement by removing a concluding sentence.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Why don't you just take off the last sentence?

All right.

Who, uh, who won?

Who won the ass?

So you think we're going to be honest?

It's just an awesome.

NARA Description

On June 18, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 6:15 pm to 6:16 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 944-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 944-6

Date: June 18, 1973
Time: 6:15 pm - 6:16 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
                                              -17-

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                            Conversation No. 944-6 (cont’d)

      Watergate
           -White House response
                -Ronald L. Ziegler
                -Ervin Committee
                -Unidentified person
                      -State Department
                      -Television [TV] networks
                -Ziegler

Haig left at 6:16 pm.

Also recorded on June 18, 1973

447-008 4:31 PM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:31 pm and 5:15 pm.
447-009 4:31 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:31 pm and 5:15 pm.
447-010 4:31 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:31 pm and 5:15 pm.
944-004 5:49 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:49 pm and 6:14 pm.
944-005 5:49 PM · 25 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John A. Love, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:49 pm to 6:14 pm.
944-007 6:19 PM · 1 hr 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 6:19 pm to 6:54 pm.
944-010 6:54 PM · 6 sec — Ronald L. Ziegler and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:54 pm and 11:59 pm.
041-006 7:12 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:12 pm.

All 38 conversations from June 18, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 944-006, June 18, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/944-006 (accessed October 9, 2026).