Ronald Reagan to Richard Nixon on Watergate: 'This Too Shall Pass'
Latest set of tapes suggest Reagan assured Nixon that his Watergate speech was effective.
The Nixon Presidential Library released the last set of Nixon tapes on Wednesday, and they contain a call from Ronald Reagan to then-President Richard Nixon, assuring him that his Watergate speech was good, and that "This too shall pass." The call was made on April 30, 1973 and, of course, Watergate did not pass. It consumed Nixon's presidency.
The tapes promise to offer new, fascinating material for Nixon nerds: Topics covered includeVietnam, energy, Watergate, and a meeting with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Scroll through the library's PDFs of topics covered, and you see things like "Republican Congressmen’s morale" and "President’s response - Comfort, discouragement" and "Ethnic."
Before the Reagan call, Nixon had given a speech announcing the resignation of his aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, who played key roles in the Watergate scandal. "My heart is with you and I know what this must have been," Reagan, then governor of California, told Nixon. "For what it's worth, I'm still beh-…" Reagan stopped himself short, then continued, "You can count on us, we're still behind you out here, and I want you to know you are in our prayers."