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H: It doesn't appear that there is such a thing. What you hear is all stuff that has been hinted at.
APRIL 14,1973, 11:22 P.M.
The Oval Office. A telephone conversation between the President and Ehrlichman.
P: [Haldeman] is a guy that has just given his life, hours and hours and hours you know, totally selfless and honest and decent ... You know you get the argument of some ... you should fire them. I mean you can't do that. Or am I wrong?
E: No, you are right.
P: Well, maybe I am not right. I am asking. They say, clean the boards. Well, is that our system?
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E: I think you have to show .. . some heart on this thing.
P: Well, the point is, whatever we say about Harry Truman, while it hurt him, a lot of people admired the old bastard for standing by people ... who were guilty as hell.
E: Yep.
P: And damn it, I am that kind of person. I am not one who is going to say, look, while this guy is under attack, I drop him.
The President then turns the conversation to how Dean could be kept from telling the prosecutors too much. In a potentially damaging portion of the transcript, the President suggests that Ehrlichman hint to Dean that only Nixon can pardon him. For his part, Ehrlichman implies that a plan is needed to ensure that the testimony of Dean and others does not involve the President. The crucial segments:
P: What are you going to say to [Dean]?
E: I am going to try to get him around a bit. It is going to be delicate.
P: Get him around in what way?
E: Well to get off this passing the buck business.
P: John, that's—
E: It is a little touchy and I don't know how far I can go.
P: John, that is not going to help you. Look, he has to look down the road to one point that there is only one man who could restore him to the ability to practice law in case things go wrong. He's got to have that in the back of his mind.
E: Uh,huh.
P: He's got to know that will happen. You don t tell him, but you know and I know that with him and Mitchell there isn't going to be any damn question, because they got a bad rap. ..
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P: Well, with Dean I think you can talk to him in confidence about a thing like that, don't you? He isn't going to —
E: I am not sure — I just don't know how much to lean on that reed at the moment.
P: I see.
E: But I will sound it out.
P: Well, you start with the proposition, Dean, the President thinks you have carried a tremendous load, and his affection and loyalty to you is just undiminished.
E: Alright.
P: And now, let's see where the hell we go.
E: Uh, huh.
P: We can't get the President involved in this, his people, that is one thing. We don't want to coverup, but there are ways . . . Look, John, we need a plan here. And so that LaRue, Mardian and the others — I mean—
E: Well, I am not sure I can go that far with him.
P: No. He can make the plan up.
E: I will sound it out.
P: Right.