Nixon White House tapes

== Revelation of the taping system ==
{{Watergate|Events}}
The existence of the White House taping system was first confirmed by Senate Committee staff member [[Donald Sanders]], on July 13, 1973, in an interview with White House aide Alexander Butterfield. Three days later, it was made public during the televised testimony of Butterfield, when he was asked about the possibility of a White House taping system by Senate Counsel [[Fred Thompson]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-man-who-revealed-the-nixon-tapes/2012/06/14/gJQAsEZUdV_story.html | title=The man who revealed the Nixon tapes | first=Alicia | last=Shepard | date=June 14, 2012 | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | access-date=July 11, 2017 | archive-date=May 16, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516085927/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-man-who-revealed-the-nixon-tapes/2012/06/14/gJQAsEZUdV_story.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

On July 16, 1973, Butterfield told the committee in a televised hearing that Nixon had ordered a taping system installed in the White House to automatically record all conversations. Special Counsel [[Archibald Cox]], a former [[United States Solicitor General]] under President John F. Kennedy, asked District Court Judge [[John Sirica]] to [[subpoena]] nine relevant tapes to confirm the testimony of [[White House Counsel]] [[John Dean]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/072773-1.htm|title=WashingtonPost.com: Court Battle Set as Nixon Defies Subpoenas|website=www.washingtonpost.com|access-date=December 30, 2016|archive-date=December 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231075442/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/072773-1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Saturday Night Massacre ===
{{Main|Saturday Night Massacre}}
Nixon initially refused to release the tapes, putting two reasons forward: first, that the Constitutional principle of [[executive privilege]] extends to the tapes and citing the [[separation of powers]] and [[checks and balances]] within the Constitution, and second, claiming they were vital to national security.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/072473-1.htm|title=President Refuses to Turn Over Tapes; Ervin Committee, Cox Issue Subpoenas|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=December 30, 2016|archive-date=January 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113163112/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/072473-1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> On October 19, 1973, he offered a [[Stennis Compromise|compromise]]; Nixon proposed that Democratic U.S. Senator [[John C. Stennis]] review and summarize the tapes for accuracy and report his findings to the special prosecutor's office.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/watergate-constitution/chronology.html|title=Watergate and the Constitution|date=August 15, 2016|newspaper=National Archives|access-date=December 30, 2016|archive-date=December 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231080217/https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/watergate-constitution/chronology.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Cox refused the compromise and on Saturday, October 20, 1973, Nixon ordered Attorney General [[Elliot Richardson]] to fire Cox.<ref name=":3" /> Richardson refused and resigned instead, then Deputy Attorney General [[William Ruckelshaus]] was asked to fire Cox but also refused and resigned. Solicitor General and acting head of the Justice Department [[Robert Bork]] fired Cox.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/102173-2.htm|title=WashingtonPost.com: Nixon Forces Firing of Cox; Richardson, Ruckelshaus Quit|website=www.washingtonpost.com|access-date=December 30, 2016|archive-date=September 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903022254/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/102173-2.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Nixon appointed [[Leon Jaworski]] special counsel on November 1, 1973.<ref name=":3" />

=== 18½-minute gap ===
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According to Nixon's secretary [[Rose Mary Woods]], on September 29, 1973, she was reviewing a tape of the June 20, 1972, recordings,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://watergate.info/burglary/burglars.shtml |title=Watergate Burglars |publisher=Watergate.info |date=June 17, 1972 |access-date=June 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420103446/http://watergate.info/burglary/burglars.shtml |archive-date=April 20, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> when she made "a terrible mistake" during transcription. While playing the tape on a [[Uher (brand)|Uher 5000]], she answered a phone call. Reaching for the Uher 5000 stop button, she said that she mistakenly hit the button next to it, the record button. For the duration of the phone call, about five minutes, she kept her foot on the device's pedal, causing a five-minute portion of the tape to be rerecorded. When she listened to the tape, the gap had grown to {{frac|18|1|2}} minutes. She later insisted that she was not responsible for the remaining 13 minutes of buzz.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,908267,00.html|title=The Crisis: The Secretary and the Tapes Tangle|magazine=Time|date=December 10, 1973|access-date=March 29, 2022}}</ref>

The contents missing from the recording remain unknown, though the gap occurs during a conversation between Nixon and Haldeman three days after the Watergate break-in.<ref name=":2"/> Nixon claimed not to know the topics discussed during the gap.<ref name=Pelofsky/> Haldeman's notes from the meeting show that among the topics of discussion were the arrests at the Watergate Hotel. White House lawyers first heard of the gap on the evening of November 14, 1973, and Judge Sirica, who had issued subpoenas for the tapes, was not told until November 21, after the president's attorneys had decided that there was "no innocent explanation" they could offer.<ref name="washingtonpost.com">{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/120773-1.htm | title=Haig Tells of Theories on Erasure | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=December 7, 1973 | access-date=May 31, 2013 | archive-date=November 11, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111173125/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/120773-1.htm | url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Rose Mary Woods.jpg|thumb|Rose Mary Woods attempting to demonstrate how she may have inadvertently created the gap]]
[[File:Uher_5000.jpg|thumb|Uher 5000 with evidence tags]]
Woods was asked to demonstrate the position in which she was sitting when the accident occurred. Seated at a desk, she reached far back over her left shoulder for a telephone as her foot applied pressure to the pedal controlling the transcription machine. Her posture during the demonstration, dubbed the "Rose Mary Stretch", caused many political commentators to question the validity of the explanation.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30678-2005Jan23.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | title=Rose Mary Woods Dies; Loyal Nixon Secretary | first=Patricia | last=Sullivan | date=January 24, 2005 | access-date=May 27, 2010 | archive-date=May 13, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513234018/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30678-2005Jan23.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

In a grand jury interview in 1975, Nixon said that he initially believed that only four minutes of the tape were missing. He said that when he later heard that 18 minutes were missing, "I practically blew my stack."<ref name=Pelofsky>{{cite news |title=Nixon nearly 'blew my stack' over Watergate tape gap |author1=Jeremy Pelofsky |author2=James Vicini |date=November 10, 2011 |work=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nixon-tapes-idUSTRE7A96DR20111110 |access-date=November 10, 2011 |archive-date=March 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310105637/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nixon-tapes-idUSTRE7A96DR20111110 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In his 2014 book ''The Nixon Defense'', Nixon's White House Counsel John Dean suggests that the full collection of recordings now available "largely answer the questions regarding what was known by the White House about the reasons for the break-in and bugging at the Democratic National Committee headquarters, as well as what was erased during the infamous 18 minute and 30 second gap during the June 20, 1972, conversation and why."<ref name="justia.com">{{cite web |url=https://verdict.justia.com/2014/08/10/thoughts-nixons-resignation |access-date=April 7, 2015 |title=Thoughts on Nixon's resignation |date=August 10, 2014 |archive-date=April 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412140515/https://verdict.justia.com/2014/08/10/thoughts-nixons-resignation |url-status=live }}</ref>

A variety of suggestions have been made as to who could have erased the tape. Years later,  [[White House Chief of Staff]] [[Alexander Haig]] speculated that the erasures may conceivably have been caused by Nixon himself. According to Haig, the president was "spectacularly inept" at understanding and operating mechanical devices, and in the course of reviewing the tape in question, he may have caused the erasures by fumbling with the recorder's controls, though Haig could not say whether the erasures had occurred inadvertently or intentionally. In 1973, Haig had speculated aloud that the erasure was caused by an unidentified "sinister force."<ref>Slansky, Paul. ''Idiots, Hypocrites, Demagogues, and More Idiots: Not-So-Great Moments in Modern American Politics.'' Bloomsbury Publishing, 2007. p. 30 {{ISBN?}}</ref> Others have suggested that Haig was involved in deliberately erasing the tapes with Nixon's involvement, or that the erasure was conducted by a White House lawyer.<ref name="Truth in a Lie">{{cite web|last1=Robenalt|first1=James|title=Truth in a Lie: Forty Years After the 18½ Minute Gap|url=http://www.washingtondecoded.com/site/2014/05/robenalt.html|website=Washington Decoded|access-date=December 1, 2015|archive-date=December 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208082808/http://www.washingtondecoded.com/site/2014/05/robenalt.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Cracking Watergate's Infamous 18 1/2 Minute Gap">{{cite web|last1=Mellinger|first1=Phil|title=Cracking Watergate's Infamous 18 1/2 Minute Gap|url=http://www.forensicmag.com/articles/2011/02/cracking-watergates-infamous-18-1-2-minute-gap|website=Forensics Magazine|access-date=December 1, 2015|date=February 18, 2011|archive-date=December 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208094151/http://www.forensicmag.com/articles/2011/02/cracking-watergates-infamous-18-1-2-minute-gap|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Investigations ====
Nixon himself launched the first investigation into how the tapes were erased. He claimed that it was an intensive investigation but came up empty.<ref name=Pelofsky/>

On November 21, 1973, Sirica appointed a panel of persons nominated jointly by the White House and the Special Prosecution Force. The panel was supplied with the evidence tape, the seven tape recorders from the Oval Office and Executive Office Building and the two Uher 5000 recorders. One recorder, labeled as Exhibit 60, was marked "Secret Service" and the other, Exhibit 60B, was accompanied by a foot pedal. The panel determined that the buzz was of no consequence and that the gap was the result of an erasure<ref>Advisory Panel on White House Tapes (1974) page 4</ref> performed on the Exhibit 60 recorder.<ref>Advisory Panel on White House Tapes (1974) p. 11</ref> The panel also determined that the recording consisted of at least five separate segments, possibly as many as nine,<ref>Advisory Panel on White House Tapes (1974) p. 36</ref> and that at least five segments required hand operation; that is, they could not have been performed using the foot pedal.<ref>Advisory Panel on White House Tapes (1974) p. 44</ref> The panel was subsequently asked by the court to consider alternative explanations that had emerged during the hearings. The final report, dated May 31, 1974, found that these other explanations did not contradict the original findings.<ref>Advisory Panel on White House Tapes (1974) p. iv</ref>

The [[National Archives and Records Administration]] owns the tape and has tried several times to recover the missing minutes, most recently in 2003, but without success.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/watergate-tape-gap-still-a-mystery/|title=Watergate Tape Gap Still A Mystery|access-date=December 30, 2016|archive-date=February 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209042434/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/watergate-tape-gap-still-a-mystery/|url-status=live}}</ref> The tapes are now preserved in a climate-controlled vault in case future technology allows for restoration of the missing audio.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/09/us/national-archives-has-given-up-on-filling-the-nixon-tape-gap.html|title=National Archives Has Given Up On Filling the Nixon Tape Gap|last=Clymer|first=Adam|date=May 9, 2003|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=December 30, 2016|archive-date=May 27, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527231832/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/09/us/national-archives-has-given-up-on-filling-the-nixon-tape-gap.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Corporate security expert Phil Mellinger undertook a project to restore Haldeman's handwritten notes describing the missing {{frac|18|1|2}} minutes,<ref>{{cite magazine|author=David Corn |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/09/csi-watergate |title=CSI: Watergate |magazine=Mother Jones |access-date=June 7, 2012}}</ref> but that effort also failed to produce any new information.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2011/nr11-142.html |title=National Archives Releases Forensic Report on H.R. Haldeman Notes |publisher=Archives.gov |access-date=June 7, 2012 |archive-date=June 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601005525/http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2011/nr11-142.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==="Smoking Gun" tape ===
[[File:Nixon edited transcripts.jpg|thumb|left|Nixon releasing the transcripts]]
On April 11, 1974, the [[U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary]] subpoenaed the tapes of 42 White House conversations.<ref>{{cite book| title=[[The Final Days]]| first1=Bob| last1=Woodward| author-link1=Bob Woodward| first2=Carl| last2=Bernstein| author-link2=Carl Bernstein| publisher=Simon & Schuster| location=New York| date=1976| isbn=0-6712-2298-8| page=124}}</ref> Later that month, Nixon released more than 1,200 pages of edited transcripts of the subpoenaed tapes, but refused to surrender the actual tapes, claiming executive privilege once more.<ref name=Burglary2004CNN>{{cite news| title=A burglary turns into a constitutional crisis| url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/06/11/watergate/index.html| access-date=May 13, 2014| work=CNN| date=June 16, 2004| archive-date=November 26, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126023743/https://www.cnn.com/2004/US/06/11/watergate/index.html| url-status=live}}</ref> The Judiciary Committee rejected Nixon's edited transcripts, saying that they did not comply with the subpoena.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Nixon to Rodino: Description| url=https://history.house.gov/HouseRecord/Detail/15032449719| publisher=Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives| location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=December 5, 2019| archive-date=October 19, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019070527/https://history.house.gov/HouseRecord/Detail/15032449719| url-status=live}}</ref>

Sirica, acting on a request from Jaworski, issued a subpoena for the tapes of 64 presidential conversations to use as evidence in the criminal cases against indicted former Nixon administration officials. Nixon refused, and Jaworski appealed to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] to force Nixon to turn over the tapes. On July 24, 1974, the Supreme Court [[United States v. Nixon|ordered]] Nixon to release the tapes.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/court-orders-nixon-to-yield-tapes-president-promises-to-comply-fully/2012/06/04/gJQAZSw0IV_story.html|title=Court Orders Nixon to Yield Tapes; President Promises to Comply Fully|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=December 30, 2016|archive-date=March 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314072025/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/court-orders-nixon-to-yield-tapes-president-promises-to-comply-fully/2012/06/04/gJQAZSw0IV_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The 8–0 ruling (Justice [[William Rehnquist]] recused himself because he had worked for attorney general [[John N. Mitchell]]) in ''[[United States v. Nixon]]'' found that President Nixon was incorrect in arguing that courts are compelled to honor, without question, any presidential claim of executive privilege.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Nixon Oval Office meeting with H.R. Haldeman "Smoking Gun" Conversation June 23, 1972.wav|thumb|Nixon Oval Office meeting with H.R. Haldeman (the "Smoking Gun" conversation), June 23, 1972 ([https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/forresearchers/find/tapes/watergate/trial/exhibit_01.pdf Full Transcript] – via ''nixonlibrary.gov'')]]
The White House released the subpoenaed tapes on August 5. One tape, later known as the "[[Smoking Gun (Watergate)|Smoking Gun]]" tape, documented the initial stages of the Watergate coverup. On it, Nixon and Haldeman are heard formulating a plan to block investigations by having the CIA falsely claim to the FBI that national security was involved.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kopel |first=David |date=June 16, 2014 |title=The missing 18 1/2 minutes: Presidential destruction of incriminating evidence |language=en-US |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/06/16/the-missing-18-12-minutes-presidential-destruction-of-incriminating-evidence/ |access-date=December 6, 2022 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=March 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323014311/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/06/16/the-missing-18-12-minutes-presidential-destruction-of-incriminating-evidence/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Glass |first=Andrew |date=August 5, 2018 |title=Watergate 'smoking gun' tape released, Aug. 5, 1974 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/05/watergate-smoking-gun-tape-released-aug-5-1974-753086 |access-date=December 6, 2022 |website=Politico |language=en |archive-date=December 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206050908/https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/05/watergate-smoking-gun-tape-released-aug-5-1974-753086 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Andrew |date=May 16, 2017 |title=The Smoking Gun That Took Down Nixon: One From the History Books |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-16/the-smoking-gun-that-took-down-nixon-one-from-the-history-books |url-access=subscription |access-date=December 6, 2022 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112011845/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-16/the-smoking-gun-that-took-down-nixon-one-from-the-history-books |url-status=live }}</ref> This demonstrated both that Nixon had been told of the White House connection to the Watergate burglaries soon after they took place, and that he had approved plans to thwart the investigation. In a statement accompanying the release of the tape, Nixon accepted blame for misleading the country about when he had been told of White House involvement, stating that he had a lapse of memory.<ref>{{cite book| last=Ambrose| first=Stephen E.| author-link=Stephen E. Ambrose| year=1991| title=Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973–1990| publisher=Simon & Schuster| location=New York| isbn=978-0-671-69188-2| pages=414–416}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| author=<!--staff; no by-line.-->| agency=[[Associated Press|AP]]| title=Refusal-to-Resign Speech Was Prepared for Nixon| url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/nixon/stories/nixon121696ap.htm| date=December 16, 1996| newspaper=The Washington Post| access-date=December 5, 2019| archive-date=February 6, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206154159/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/nixon/stories/nixon121696ap.htm| url-status=live}}</ref>

Once the "Smoking Gun" transcript was made public, Nixon's political support practically vanished. The ten Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee who had voted against impeachment in committee announced that they would now vote for [[Impeachment process against Richard Nixon|impeachment]] once the matter reached the House floor. He lacked substantial support in the Senate as well; Senators [[Barry Goldwater]] and [[Hugh Scott]] estimated that no more than 15 senators were willing to even consider acquittal. Facing certain impeachment in the House of Representatives and equally certain conviction in the Senate, Nixon announced his resignation on the evening of Thursday, August 8, 1974, effective as of noon the next day.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/watergate/part3.html|title=The Watergate Story {{!}} Nixon Resigns|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=December 30, 2016|archive-date=November 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161125171439/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/watergate/part3.html|url-status=live}}</ref>