Nixon tapes
Oval Office surveillance
The Nixon tapes are secret audio recordings made in the White House during Richard Nixon's presidency, capturing conversations that revealed his involvement in covering up the Watergate break-in.
Their court-ordered release in 1974 led directly to Nixon's resignation.
The phrase now evokes political scandal, coverups, and the danger of documented self-incrimination: Be careful what you put in writing—you don't want your own Nixon tapes.
- Watergate1970s political crisis
- scandalDisgraceful public affair
- recordingsStored audio or video
- secretConcealed information
- executive privilegePresidential secrecy doctrine
national security · president · coverup · resignation · Oval Office · White House · subpoena · Saturday Night Massacre · evidence · gap · erasure · hush money · conspiracy · paranoia · enemies list · enemies of the state · Deep Throat · whistleblower
- archivesnational archives, state archives, archivist, archive box, national archive
- government recordspublic records, legal records, presidential records, state laws, federal contracts
- surveillancesurveillance, CCTV, security camera, surveillance camera, surveillance cameras
Nixon tapesdeclassified documents
Previously restricted information made public
public testimony · sunshine laws · presidential memoirs · press conferences · fireside chats
Nixon tapespublic archives
Accessible government document collection