The Nation: Wagons Around the President

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Tapes of White House conversations made public for the first time at the Watergate cover-up trial last week, as well as portions of other conversations edited out of earlier White House transcripts, show that Richard Nixon planned and participated in cover-up acts almost from the beginning, then grew increasingly suspicious of his aides as he sought frantically to protect himself. Some excerpts:

GRANTING PARDONS

April 14, 1973. President Nixon, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman.

P. You get them full pardons. That's what they have to have, John ... Do you agree?

E. Yep, I sure do.

Jan. 8, 1973. Nixon and a former aide, Charles Colson.

P. Basically I, uh, question of clemency ... Hunt's is a simple case. I mean, after all, the man's wife is dead, was killed; he's got one child that has —

C. Brain damage from an automobile accident.

P. We'll build, we'll build that son of a bitch up like nobody's business. We'll have [William] Buckley write a column and say, you know, that he, that he should have clemency, if you've given 18 years of service.*

PAYING HUSH MONEY

April 14, 1973. Nixon meets with Ehrlichman.

P. They've gotta have a straight damn line that of course we raised money. Be very honest about it. But, uh, we raised money for a purpose that we thought was perfectly proper.

E. Um hum. Uh hum.

P. But we didn't want to shut 'em up. These men were guilty ... We just didn't, we didn't want 'em to talk to the press.

E. Yeah, yeah,

P. That's perfectly legitimate, isn't it? Or is it? Legitimate not to want them to talk to the press.

E. I think it is. I, uh, I, I don't have a perfect understanding of the, of the law on that and I ... [Three days later, when the subject was brought up again, Ehrlichman added: "Before I get too far out on that, uh, I want to talk to an attorney."]

FEARING JOHN DEAN

April 19, 1973. Nixon and Ehrlichman discuss John Dean's meeting with Nixon on March 21,1973, in which Dean warned of "a cancer growing on the presidency" and Nixon approved paying money to silence Hunt. Dean is talking to the prosecutors.

P. Don't know what the son of a bitch is going to say ... He's obviously very upset. He's just lashing out. Goddammit ... I'm at a loss ... that goddam Dean.

E. I think you can very truthfully and logically and properly say that...

P. I was really trying to probe his thought process. I went down every road we possibly could ...

E. Exactly right. You see, you're the one who ... said ... "Send that man to Camp David ... and let's get it all down." That's when he was uncovered.

P. I suppose that really isn't true ...

Well, that's what we have to say.

April 25, 1973. Nixon, Haldeman and Ehrlichman.

E. Obviously, neither one of us wants to do anything to harm you in any way; we want to avoid harming you... I think it's entirely conceivable that if Dean is totally out of control and if matters are not handled adroitly that you could get a resolution of impeachment...

P. That's right.