Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 949 › Conversation 949-014

Nixon, Kissinger & Haig on Watergate and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

Thursday, July 12, 1973 · 8:22 PM–8:44 PM ET · Oval Office · 14 min

ParticipantsKissinger, Henry A.; [Unknown person(s)]; Haig, Alexander M., Jr.; Ziegler, Ronald L.; Nixon, Richard M. (President); White House operatorConversation949-014 on Tape 949StartThursday, July 12, 1973 at 8:22 PMEndThursday, July 12, 1973 at 8:44 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 949-014 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Henry Kissinger, Alexander Haig, and Ronald Ziegler to coordinate the public response to his health issues and the subsequent adjustments to his official schedule, including the potential cancellation of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s state visit. The participants discussed how to manage the optics of these changes to avoid political embarrassment while navigating the ongoing pressures of the Watergate investigation. Nixon and his advisors also weighed the implications of the Ervin Committee's proceedings and potential witness testimony on the administration's stability.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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I see you.

You know, I'm not as good as you can see him, but I am saying we've got to offer him a chance of not coming.

Because he might consider it a humiliation.

Right.

But if it's a potential conflict,

I mean, one thing for you to see now of me is another for you to speak for two hours on the phone and kind of say, all right, two hours, without saying a word.

I mean, Buddha can understand.

I mean, you don't have to see nobody.

the impression we left that when Dr. Prakash

world.

I don't know how to write it.

I think it was on accident.

and all those people, you know, with their calculators

He was alright.

Thank you very much.

That just isn't the oldest feeling.

Oh, they can't cope with this.

There's nothing they can do.

Okay.

Well, I'll be checking.

Yeah.

I'll be glad.

NARA Description

On July 12, 1973, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Ronald L. Ziegler, President Richard M. Nixon, and White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:22 pm and 8:44 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 949-014 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 949-14

Date: July 12, 1973
Time: Unknown between 8:22 pm and 8:44 pm
Location: Oval Office

Henry A. Kissinger met with an unknown man.

       President’s schedule
              -Departure

Alexander M. Haig, Jr. entered at an unknown time after 8:22 pm.

       President’s health
              -President’s schedule
                      -Departure
                             -Bethesda Naval Medical Center
                             -Earlier trip
                      -Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
                             -Spiro T. Agnew, Kissinger
                             -Thelma C. (“Pat”) (Ryan) Nixon
                                     -Planning
              -Announcement

Ronald L. Ziegler entered at an unknown time after 8:22 pm.

       Announcement
                                             -49-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                             Conversation No. 949-14 (cont’d)

              -Timing
              -Length
              -President’s health

Ziegler left at an unknown time before 8:44 pm.

The President entered at an unknown time after 8:22 pm.

       President’s health
              -Rest

The President talked with the White House operator at 8:33 pm.

[Conversation No. 949-14A]

[Begin telephone conversation]

[See Conversation No. 41-68]

[End telephone conversation]

*****************************************************************
[Begin segment reviewed under deed of gift]

       President’s health
              -Treatment

[End segment reviewed under deed of gift]
*****************************************************************

       President’s schedule
              -Bhutto’s state visit
                      -Cancellation
                      -Agnew
                      -Rome
                                             -50-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                              Conversation No. 949-14 (cont’d)

                      -William P. Rogers
                      -Compared to Congress members
                      -President’s support
                      -Delay
                      -Agnew
                      -Thelma C. (“Pat”) (Ryan) Nixon
                      -Hospital
                      -Cancellation
                             -Humiliation
                             -President’s support
                      -Compared to Samuel J. Ervin, Jr.
                      -Compared to John C. Stennis
                      -Confrontation
                             -Hospital
                      -Cancellation
              -Signature
                      -Haig
              -Staff and family
              -Bhutto
                      -Compared to Ervn
                      -Kissinger’s forthcoming telephone call to Pakistani ambassador
              -Hospital
                      -Duration

Ronald L. Ziegler entered at an unknown time after 8:33 pm.

       President’s health
              -Announcement

Ziegler left at an unknown time before 8:44 pm.

       President’s health
              -Announcement
                      -Dr. Walter Tkach’s diagnosis
                      -Effect on American people
              -President’s schedule
                      -Effect on Ervin and Archibald Cox
                                            -51-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                             Conversation No. 949-14 (cont’d)

       Watergate
             -President’s conversation with Ervin
                     -Ervin’s goal
                     -Leaks
             -Ervin Committee
                     -John N. Mitchell’s testimony
                     -Richard A. Moore’s testimony
                     -John W. Dean, III’s testimony
                     -John D. Ehrlichman’s possible testimony
             -Gordon C. Strachan
                     -Possible Ervin Committee testimony
                     -Immunity
             -Effect

       President’s meeting with Walter Scheel

       President’s foreign policy accomplishments
              -Year of Europe
              -Summit
              -Vietnam War

       Watergate
             -President’s opponents
                    -Rowland Evans

       President’s health
              -Ziegler’s announcement
              -White House press corps
              -President’s schedule
                      -Kissinger

       Haig’s schedule

       Ziegler’s location

Kissinger and Haig left at an unknown time before 8:44 pm.
                                               -52-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                             Conversation No. 949-17 (cont’d)

Also recorded on July 13, 1973

949-013 8:22 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:22 pm and 8:33 pm.
949-015 8:22 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:22 pm and 8:44 pm.
949-016 8:22 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:22 pm and 8:44 pm.
041-068 8:33 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at 8:33 pm.
041-069 8:33 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:33 pm and 8:44 pm.
041-070 8:41 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 8:41 pm to 8:46 pm.
949-017 8:44 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:44 pm to 8:46 pm.
949-018 8:46 PM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:46 pm and 8:48 pm.

Cite this conversation

Conversation 949-014, July 13, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/949-014 (accessed October 12, 2026).