April 30, 1973: Nixon Vows Never to Discuss Watergate Again

About an hour after President Nixon’s televised speech announcing the firing of his top staffers H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman (see April 30, 1973), Nixon calls Haldeman. The conversation is recorded on Nixon’s secret taping system. Nixon says to Haldeman, “Hope I didn’t get you down.” Haldeman is reassuring: “No, sir. You got your points over. You’ve got it set right.” Nixon replies: “Well, it’s a tough thing, Bob, for you, for John, the rest, but g_ddamn it, I’m never going to discuss this son-of-a-b_tching Watergate thing again. Never. Never. Never. Never.” [PBS, 1/2/1997]