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April 30, 1973

Introduction

This almanac page for Monday, April 30, 1973, pulls together various records created by the federal government and links to additional resources which can provide context about the events of the day.

Previous Date: Sunday, April 29, 1973

Next Date: Tuesday, May 1, 1973

Schedule and Public Documents

Archival Holdings

Any selection of archival documents will necessarily be partial. You should use the documents and folders identified below as a starting place, but consult the linked collection finding aids and folder title lists and the collections themselves for context. Many documents to be found this way do not lend themselves to association with specific dates, but are essential to a complete understanding of the material.

  • Selective document listing

    President's Office Files

    The President's Office Files consists of materials drawn together by the Special Files Unit from several administrative subdivisions within the White House Office. It is the handwriting and sensitive papers sent to the Staff Secretary that now comprise much of the President's Office Files. Visit the finding aid to learn more.

    President's Personal File

    The President's Personal File is essentially a President's secretary's file, kept by Rose Mary Woods, personal secretary to the President, for two purposes: (1) preserving for posterity a collection of documents particularly close to the President, whether because he dictated or annotated them, or because of the importance of the correspondent or the event concerned and (2) giving appropriate attention–letters of gratitude, invitations to White House social events, and the like–to members and important friends and supporters of the Nixon administration. This generalization does not describe all the varied materials of a file group which is essentially a miscellany, but it does identify the reason for the existence of the file group's core. Visit the finding aid to learn more.

  • The H. R. Haldeman Diaries consists of seven handwritten diaries, 36 dictated diaries recorded as sound recordings, and two handwritten audio cassette tape subject logs. The diaries and logs reflect H. R. Haldeman’s candid personal record and reflections on events, issues, and people encountered during his service in the Nixon White House. As administrative assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, Haldeman attended and participated in public events and private meetings covering the entire scope of issues in which the Nixon White House engaged in during the years 1969-1973. Visit the finding aid to learn more.

    • Transcript of diary entry (PDF)
      Monday, April 30.

      Resignation day. We finished up our resignation statements this morning. And I had a meeting with Bull, Parker, Larry, and Kehrli to impress on them the need to carry on the ongoing system just as it is until a new system was worked out and ready to put into place, and urged that they not fall into the trap of any sort of internal struggle for position. And explained the importance of their holding everything tightly together during the interim period while the President would be in a very tough emotional and physical shape, and so on.

      Ehrlichman and I then met with the senior staff. Shultz couldn't be there because he was testifying on the Hill, but we had Ash, and Kissinger, Timmons, and Ken Cole and told them what our decision was and made something of the same points. John was quite emotional in that session, broke down or was on the verge of it at least, several times. Everybody, I think, was genuinely shocked, and I think we successfully impressed on them also the need to deal very carefully with this interim period.

      I made a number of phone calls, talked to Billy Graham. He seemed to feel it was the right thing to do, said that he didn't believe that in government he had met two finer men than Ehrlichman and me, that we have his full support, he feels we've been caught in a web of evil that will ultimately be defeated. He has great affection and love for me as a man, that I should count him as a friend, and that what I'm doing is going to help the President.

      I called the Vice President, he said he had almost called me yesterday, wanted to let me know about the charges that came out then, that they were tremendously unfair, and that they were nothing but smoke. Said he'd like to see me before I actually left, that he would like to be as helpful as he can, and that he thinks this is probably the right move.

      Talked to Connally, he says I think this is the right thing to do at this time, although I'm awfully sorry it came out that way. Then emphasized the great opportunity I would have to influence the President on who follows in my footsteps and in the staff restructuring. He emphasized the need to implore the President to get top people and go at the restructuring right.

      The announcement plan hit a snag when Ehrlichman and Jerry Jones were unable to reach John Dean to inform him that the President was requesting his resignation, so there was a little flap at 11:00 about that, but Ron went ahead with the announcement anyway. The first lead out of it was rather unfortunate, because it implied that Dean, Ehrlichman, and I had all resigned. But Ron worked all afternoon and got that corrected, so by the time of the evening news, it came out that Ehrlichman and I had resigned, as had Kleindienst, and that Dean had been fired. There was no reaction from Dean all day.

      President called in the afternoon from Camp David, where he was working on his speech for tonight. Sounded terrible, said, well, I just wanted you to know I still love you. Commented on the problem of reaching Dean, and said so be it. And said basically I have all resignations in hand anyway, don't I? And I said that he did. Told me to tell Ehrlichman that he was in the middle of the speech draft, but to tell him the same as he had told me, and also to tell him and he said you won't understand this, but John will, that I think he's a great man, and his wife is a great lady, and I won't let her down tonight. This was because Jeanne had written the President a letter which John left with him yesterday when we were up at Camp David.

      John and I then spent the afternoon with our lawyers, going through the whole process of how to approach our appearances. President's TV speech tonight was, to say the least, not one of his finer efforts, but it probably was effective, because he was obviously shaken, and as the commentator said, didn't exhibit the normal confidence we associate with him. He's obviously in heavy weather, and so on. He sure showed that. It was interesting that he called-- I called him, and they said he wasn't taking calls, but he called back a little after 10:00. I said well, you've got it behind you now, and you should approach it that way. He said it was a very tough thing, and I'll never mention it again. Then he got to feeling sorry for himself. He said Cap is the only Cabinet officer who's called. I told him that the operators were telling people that you weren't taking calls. Said to me you're a strong man, you've got to keep the faith, you're going to win this, God bless you.

      Then he asked me if I thought I could do some checking around on reaction to the speech as I had done in the past, and I said no, I didn't think I could. He realized that was the case. He called again about midnight, rather bitter. Said Kissinger's reaction is typical, he's waiting to see how it comes out. He said again, keep the faith, and that was that.

      Earlier this evening, we'd gotten into something of a flap because Garment had met with Richardson and Ruckelshaus, and they had all decided that it was imperative that they put FBI guards on all of our files, so there couldn't be any charge that we had destroyed anything, destroyed any evidence and so on. Ehrlichman didn't like that, but we went round and round and it was agreed that they were just there as guards, not as custodians, and so they said they would do it on that basis.

      End of April 30, and the end of my official career in the White House. Although technically I'll remain on the payroll for a while, I don't know exactly how long. The termination plans haven't been worked out, and we've got to get at that pretty soon, too. We'll stay on in some sort of fashion for a while, at least, to help in the transition, but obviously we're going to have to concentrate on the case from here on out, and the President's going to have to move on to new ways of doing business.

      [End of April 30.]
    • Original audio recording (MP3)

  • The National Archives Catalog is the online portal to the records held at the National Archives, and information about those records. It is the main way of describing our holdings and also provides access to electronic records and digitized versions of our holdings. 

    The Catalog searches across multiple National Archives resources at once, including archival descriptions, digitized and electronic records, authority records, and web pages from Archives.gov and the Presidential Libraries. The Catalog also allows users to contribute to digitized historical records through tagging and transcription.

    Nixon Library Holdings

    All National Archives Units

National Security Documents

  • The President's Daily Brief is the primary vehicle for summarizing the day-to-day sensitive intelligence and analysis, as well as late-breaking reports, for the White House on current and future national security issues. Read "The President's Daily Brief: Delivering Intelligence to Nixon and Ford" to learn more.

  • The Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity. Visit the State Department website for more information.

    Vol. XXVII, Iran; Iraq, 1973-1976

    Iraq, January 1973-December 1974

    Vol. E-8, Documents on South Asia, 1973-1976

    Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan

    • 243. Telegram 1829 From the Embassy in Nepal to the Department of State, April 30, 1973, 1155Z

      The Embassy reported on the visit of Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs Joseph Sisco and Deputy Secretary of State Kenneth Rush to Katmandu. Rush met with King Birendra, among others, and discussed Nepalese foreign relations and U.S. interests in Nepal.

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1970–73, POL 2–3 Nepal. Confidential. It was repeated to Calcutta, Colombo, Dhaka, Islamabad, Kabul, New Delhi, and Tehran.

    Vol. E-11, Part 1, Documents on Mexico; Central America; and the Caribbean, 1973-1976

    Dominican Republic

    • 330. Letter From the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Crimmins) to Frank J. Devine, Minister-Counselor at the Embassy in Venezuela, Washington, April 30, 1973

      Summary: After Devine received an inquiry from the Dominican Ambassador to Venezuela regarding U.S. policy with respect to the upcoming Dominican Presidential elections, Crimmins wrote that the United States had no preferred candidate and would refrain from involvement in the electoral process.

      Source: National Archives, RG 59, ARA/CAR/DR Files: Lot 75D392, POL 14 Elections. Confidential. Official-Informal. Drafted and cleared by Burke. A copy was sent to Ambassador Meloy. In an April 16 letter to Crimmins, Devine reported on a conversation in which Dominican Ambassador Rafael Bonilla Aybar alleged that a rumor was circulating in Santo Domingo that the Department was opposed to a Balaguer candidacy for reelection. In the margins of that letter, Crimmins wrote, “I think CAR should do a note to FJD [Devine] saying that we are taking no position, etc., and he can at his discretion pass to B–A [Bonilla Aybar].” (Ibid.)

  • The Kissinger telephone conversation transcripts consist of approximately 20,000 pages of transcripts of Kissinger’s telephone conversations during his tenure as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (1969-1974) and Secretary of State (1973-1974) during the administration of President Richard Nixon. Visit the finding aid for more information.

    Digitized versions can be found in the National Archives Catalog.

Audiovisual Holdings

Context (External Sources)