Nixon tapes
The Nixon tapes refer to a series of more than four thousand hours of audio recordings made in the Oval Office during President Richard M. Nixon's administration, beginning with a voice-activated taping system installed in 1971. Initially used to document key discussions, the tapes became infamous following the Watergate burglary in 1972, as they captured candid conversations between Nixon and his aides regarding the ensuing scandal, including attempts to obstruct the FBI's investigation and discussions of hush money payments. The existence of the tapes was revealed in 1973, leading to intense legal and political battles over their release. Notably, an 18-and-a-half-minute gap in one tape heightened suspicions of wrongdoing. Following pressure from the public and the courts, Nixon eventually released transcripts of many conversations, which tarnished his reputation and highlighted his use of vulgar language and schemes. The tapes played a crucial role in Nixon's resignation in August 1974 and ultimately led to the preservation of the recordings under government control. The impact of the Nixon tapes extended beyond this scandal, reshaping public perceptions of presidential integrity and curbing the practice of recording conversations in subsequent administrations, as fears of political repercussions became paramount.
Nixon tapes
Audiotapes of conversations that took place in the White House during the presidency of Richard M. Nixon
As historical artifacts, the Nixon tapes provide a rare look at a president’s behind-the-scenes conduct. They also assumed crucial legal significance because they constituted evidence of presidential complicity in the Watergate scandal.
Taping systems had been used in the White House during most of the 1960’s by presidentsJohn F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson in order to record selected meetings and telephone calls, but in February, 1971, a new voice-activated system was installed for President Richard M. Nixon’s use. The system captured all conversations in the Oval Office and certain other locations, eventually producing more than four thousand hours of tapes on a wide variety of topics.
After the Watergate burglary occurred in June, 1972, key discussions between Nixon and his aides on the ensuing scandal were recorded without the knowledge of most of the participants. These candid conversations revealed, among other things, Nixon’s efforts to divert the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from investigating the break-in, the payment of “hush money” to Watergate burglars, and fears that earlier break-ins, aimed at Pentagon Papers figure Daniel Ellsberg, might be revealed. During the first year of the unfolding scandal, the tapes recorded Nixon’s growing involvement in the ongoing cover-up, as new strategies were plotted for deflecting blame away from the president.
Public Disclosure of the Tapes
In July, 1973, presidential aide Alexander Butterfield revealed the existence of the tapes during testimony before Senator Sam Ervin’s investigating committee, prompting White House chief of staff Alexander Haig to order the taping system removed and the tapes sequestered. After receiving competing advice from his lawyers on whether to destroy or preserve the tapes, Nixon decided to retain them in the hope that they would ultimately serve to exonerate him. Once their existence became known, however, the tapes eagerly were sought as evidence by Senate investigators and the courts, and Nixon campaigned against their release on the grounds that executive privilege protects the confidentiality of communication between the president and his advisers.
In October, 1973, a federal court of appeals ordered Nixon to turn over nine tapes to District Judge John J. Sirica. The White House sought to arrange a compromise in which transcripts of Watergate-related conversations would be prepared by the White House and certified as accurate by Senator John Stennis, but Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox refused to approve the compromise and was subsequently fired on Nixon’s orders in what became known as the Saturday Night Massacre. When it was revealed in December, 1973, that the tape of a conversation held soon after the Watergate break-in had an eighteen-and-a-half-minute gap, suspicion grew that it was Nixon’s conniving hand and not an accident that had destroyed crucial evidence.
After Nixon finally relented in the face of public opinion and legal pressure and released more than one thousand pages of tape transcripts in April, 1974, his presidential image was tarnished seriously when the transcripts revealed his use of swear words and his behind-the-scenes scheming. The White House strategy shifted from portraying Nixon as innocent to averting his impeachment, but this strategy was imperiled in late July, 1974, when the Supreme Court ordered the release of sixty-four additional tapes, including the “smoking gun” tape of June 23, 1972, in which the impeding of the FBI’s investigation was discussed by Nixon.
Realizing that impeachment was inevitable, Nixon resigned in August, 1974, and after leaving office, he worked out an agreement with the federal government that, if implemented, would have required the destruction of all the tapes. This agreement was overturned when Congress passed and President Gerald R. Ford signed the Presidential Recordings and Material Preservation Act of 1974, which placed the tapes under government control and mandated that any information in the tapes about presidential abuse of power would be made public as soon as possible.
Impact
Beyond the key role that the tapes played in bringing about the political downfall of a president, they also redefined President Nixon’s character and conduct in the eyes of the American public. Without the tapes, Nixon might have not only clung to office but also preserved his public image of rectitude and honesty. Beyond this, the tapes spelled an end to presidents recording their conversations, as Nixon’s successors saw in his experience a chilling lesson in the political dangers posed by such tapes. The drawn-out legal battle that followed Nixon’s resignation prevented the release of many of the tapes until long after the 1970’s, but the realization that crimes and cover-ups could occur in the White House increased the credibility gap between public and government and laid the foundation for Congressional investigations of other abuses of power during the 1970’s.
Bibliography
Haig, Alexander. Inner Circles: How America Changed the World—A Memoir. New York: Warner Books, 1992. This autobiography of Nixon’s chief of staff provides extensive detail on how the tapes complicated the president’s handling of the Watergate scandal.
Hoff, Joan. “The Endless Saga of the Nixon Tapes.” In A Culture of Secrecy: The Government Versus the People’s Right to Know, edited by Athan Theoharis. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998. Describes the fate of the tapes as historical artifacts, which Nixon and his family sought to control after his presidency.
Kutler, Stanley. Abuse of Power: The New Nixon Tapes. New York: Free Press, 1997. A compilation of transcripts of many of the tapes, including those released after the publication of the author’s first book on the tapes, with editorial comments.
Kutler, Stanley. The Wars of Watergate: The Last Crisis of Richard Nixon. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990. A comprehensive history of the Watergate scandal and the role played by the tapes.