About this recording
918–25
- President Richard M. Nixon
- Alexander M. Haig
May 15, 1973
Conversation No. 918-25
Date: May 15, 1973
Time: 12:24 pm - 1:00 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
Watergate
-Henry A. Kissinger
-Seymour Hersch
-James B. (“Scotty”) Reston’s statement
-Story on wiretaps
-Haig’s call to Reston
-Hersch
-Wiretaps
-Kissinger
-Wiretaps on National Security Council [NSC]
-Hersch
-Pentagon Papers case
-33-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 918-25 (cont’d)
-Wiretaps
-White House handling
John B. Connally’s schedule
-George P. Shultz, Charles J. DiBona
-Haig, Shultz, and Roy L. Ash
-President
Watergate
-Special Prosecutor
-Elliot L. Richardson
-President’s role
-J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr.’s opinion
-Role
-Richardson’s ambitions
Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] director
-Haig’s forthcoming meeting with Jerry H. Jones
-William D. Ruckelshaus’s statement, May 14
-Tone
-Handling of question and answer [Q&A] period
Administration loyalists
-Earl L. Butz
-James T. Lynn
-Peter J. Brennan
-Cabinet
-Rogers C. B. Morton
-George H. W. Bush
-Ruckelshaus and Richardson
Watergate
-Special Prosecutor
-Richardson’s statement
-Ruckelshaus’s statement
-FBI files
-Retention
-34-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 918-25 (cont’d)
-Location
-William Sullivan’s statement regarding FBI files, May 14
-J. Edgar Hoover
-Robert Mardian
-Story in Washington Post
Kissinger
-Attitude
-Telephone call from Reston
-Hersch
-Continued role on White House staff
-Soviet Summit
-December bombing
-Psychological problems
-Possible replacement by Connally as Secretary of State
-Gen. Brent G. Scowcroft and NSC
-William P. Rogers’s possible resignation
-Possible Secretary of State
-Compared with Rogers
-Accomplishments
-Press’s view
-Possible replacement
-Timing
-Accomplishments
-People’s Republic of China [PRC], Soviet Union and Mideast
-Timing
FBI director
-Haig’s recommendation
Watergate
-Daniel Ellsberg’s wiretap
-Leak
-Special Prosecutor
-Buzhardt’s forthcoming meeting with Haig
President’s forthcoming speech at Norfolk, Virginia
-35-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 918-25 (cont’d)
-Timing of draft
-Armed Forces Day
-Audience
-Length
Message to Congress on election reform, May 16
-Carl B. Albert
-Response from House
-Gerald R. Ford
-Support from Senate
-Term of office for House members
-Response
Watergate
-John W. Dean, III’s documents
-Judge’s motives
-Possible content
-John D. Ehrlichman, H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman, and President
-Effect of delays
-Special Prosecutor
-Richardson
-Role as Attorney General, compared to Secretary of Defense
-Special Prosecutor
-President’s schedule
-Meeting with Buzhardt, Richardson
-President’s role in appointing
-Effect
-President’s previous speech
-Richardson and Richard G. Kleindienst
-Escalation of demands
-Special Prosecutor
-Richardson’s confirmation
-Richardson
-Special Prosecutor
-President’s role in appointing
-News story regarding the President’s San Clemente property
-Ervin Comittee
-36-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 918-25 (cont’d)
-White House reaction
-Press coverage
President’s schedule
-Meeting with Congress
-Meeting with Haile Selassie
-News story
-Possible speech
-Cabinet meeting
-Quadriad
-Shultz
Energy
-Need for action
-Advisory group
-Forthcoming summer challenges
-Shultz
-Ash and Charles DiBona
White House staff organization
-Haig
-Ash
-Kenneth R. Cole, Jr.
-Cabinet
-Connally
-Spiro T. Agnew
-Ruckelshaus
-Suitability, as compared to FBI directorship
Watergate
-FBI files
-Hoover
-Ziegler
-Sullivan, Mardian, Ehrlichman
-Ruckelshaus
-Sullivan’s statement
-President’s conversation with Henry E. Petersen, May 15
-37-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 918-25 (cont’d)
-Purpose
-Buzhardt
-Special Prosecutor
-National security
-E. Howard Hunt, Jr.’s photograph
-Dean’s statements
-Justice Department’s knowledge
-Dean
-Conversations
-Petersen, April 15
-President, Ehrlichman and Egil (“Bud”) Krogh, Jr.
-President’s conversation with Petersen, May 15
-National security
-Ellsberg
-Information to William H. Byrne, Jr.
-Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] involvement
-Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters’s statements
-Dean
-Possible knowledge of Hunt photography
-Reports to the President
-Possible report to Ehrlichman
-Buzhardt
-Ehrlichman, Haldeman
-Possible meeting with Charles W. Colson
-Richard M. Helms
-Walters’s forthcoming conversation with Haig
President’s schedule
-Forthcoming conversation with Shultz
Haig left at an unknown time before 1:00 pm.
-38-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Date: May 15, 1973
Time: 12:24 pm - 1:00 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
Watergate
-Henry A. Kissinger
-Seymour Hersch
-James B. (“Scotty”) Reston’s statement
-Story on wiretaps
-Haig’s call to Reston
-Hersch
-Wiretaps
-Kissinger
-Wiretaps on National Security Council [NSC]
-Hersch
-Pentagon Papers case
-33-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 918-25 (cont’d)
-Wiretaps
-White House handling
John B. Connally’s schedule
-George P. Shultz, Charles J. DiBona
-Haig, Shultz, and Roy L. Ash
-President
Watergate
-Special Prosecutor
-Elliot L. Richardson
-President’s role
-J. Fred Buzhardt, Jr.’s opinion
-Role
-Richardson’s ambitions
Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] director
-Haig’s forthcoming meeting with Jerry H. Jones
-William D. Ruckelshaus’s statement, May 14
-Tone
-Handling of question and answer [Q&A] period
Administration loyalists
-Earl L. Butz
-James T. Lynn
-Peter J. Brennan
-Cabinet
-Rogers C. B. Morton
-George H. W. Bush
-Ruckelshaus and Richardson
Watergate
-Special Prosecutor
-Richardson’s statement
-Ruckelshaus’s statement
-FBI files
-Retention
-34-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 918-25 (cont’d)
-Location
-William Sullivan’s statement regarding FBI files, May 14
-J. Edgar Hoover
-Robert Mardian
-Story in Washington Post
Kissinger
-Attitude
-Telephone call from Reston
-Hersch
-Continued role on White House staff
-Soviet Summit
-December bombing
-Psychological problems
-Possible replacement by Connally as Secretary of State
-Gen. Brent G. Scowcroft and NSC
-William P. Rogers’s possible resignation
-Possible Secretary of State
-Compared with Rogers
-Accomplishments
-Press’s view
-Possible replacement
-Timing
-Accomplishments
-People’s Republic of China [PRC], Soviet Union and Mideast
-Timing
FBI director
-Haig’s recommendation
Watergate
-Daniel Ellsberg’s wiretap
-Leak
-Special Prosecutor
-Buzhardt’s forthcoming meeting with Haig
President’s forthcoming speech at Norfolk, Virginia
-35-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 918-25 (cont’d)
-Timing of draft
-Armed Forces Day
-Audience
-Length
Message to Congress on election reform, May 16
-Carl B. Albert
-Response from House
-Gerald R. Ford
-Support from Senate
-Term of office for House members
-Response
Watergate
-John W. Dean, III’s documents
-Judge’s motives
-Possible content
-John D. Ehrlichman, H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman, and President
-Effect of delays
-Special Prosecutor
-Richardson
-Role as Attorney General, compared to Secretary of Defense
-Special Prosecutor
-President’s schedule
-Meeting with Buzhardt, Richardson
-President’s role in appointing
-Effect
-President’s previous speech
-Richardson and Richard G. Kleindienst
-Escalation of demands
-Special Prosecutor
-Richardson’s confirmation
-Richardson
-Special Prosecutor
-President’s role in appointing
-News story regarding the President’s San Clemente property
-Ervin Comittee
-36-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 918-25 (cont’d)
-White House reaction
-Press coverage
President’s schedule
-Meeting with Congress
-Meeting with Haile Selassie
-News story
-Possible speech
-Cabinet meeting
-Quadriad
-Shultz
Energy
-Need for action
-Advisory group
-Forthcoming summer challenges
-Shultz
-Ash and Charles DiBona
White House staff organization
-Haig
-Ash
-Kenneth R. Cole, Jr.
-Cabinet
-Connally
-Spiro T. Agnew
-Ruckelshaus
-Suitability, as compared to FBI directorship
Watergate
-FBI files
-Hoover
-Ziegler
-Sullivan, Mardian, Ehrlichman
-Ruckelshaus
-Sullivan’s statement
-President’s conversation with Henry E. Petersen, May 15
-37-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)
Conversation No. 918-25 (cont’d)
-Purpose
-Buzhardt
-Special Prosecutor
-National security
-E. Howard Hunt, Jr.’s photograph
-Dean’s statements
-Justice Department’s knowledge
-Dean
-Conversations
-Petersen, April 15
-President, Ehrlichman and Egil (“Bud”) Krogh, Jr.
-President’s conversation with Petersen, May 15
-National security
-Ellsberg
-Information to William H. Byrne, Jr.
-Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] involvement
-Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters’s statements
-Dean
-Possible knowledge of Hunt photography
-Reports to the President
-Possible report to Ehrlichman
-Buzhardt
-Ehrlichman, Haldeman
-Possible meeting with Charles W. Colson
-Richard M. Helms
-Walters’s forthcoming conversation with Haig
President’s schedule
-Forthcoming conversation with Shultz
Haig left at an unknown time before 1:00 pm.
-38-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. June-2012)