Interview with Sam Dash

Sam Dash, who died last year, was the chief counsel of the Senate Watergate committee, appointed by Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina. He was interviewed in 1994 as part of a Nixon administration oral history project. The interview was played on C-Span radio this afternoon, and was fascinating.

Dash was a very well spoken individual, who gave a cool and clear description of his time as chief counsel.

The most interesting part of the conversation, I thought, dealt with the discovery of the tapes. John Dean had been fired by Nixon and had told Dash (after negotiations which wound up giving him immunity from prosecution)that Nixon was aware of everything and had orchestrated a cover up. But why did Dean's word mean more to Dash than the president's?

Dean had suggested that some things might be on tape, although he apparently had no actual knowledge. But he stated that Nixon, at times, would walk to a bookcase and speak low, and Dean had wondered why he did that. Was it possible that he was trying to keep something from being picked up by a microphone?

The existence of the tapes themselves were made known by Butterworth, who had set them up, and who told Dash that they ran 24-7. Butterworth apparently assumed that Dash already knew about the tapes.

Dash told Dean that Butterworth had said that there were tapes. Dean was not defensive, but said: "Great, that will mean that what I am saying can be corroborated." And it was, virtually in full detail. So, Dash believed Dean.

Ervin asked Nixon to turn over the tapes. Nixon was paranoid (yelling at Ervin) and wound up in the hospital (the word was that he had viral pneumonia, but did he?), and must have assumed that he never would have to turn the tapes over. But he did.

Had Nixon destroyed the tapes, on the basis of national security, for example, Dash said that he never would have been forced from office.

So, the tapes were really discovered (and preserved) by chance.

Dash also talked about Haldeman's purjory. About Archibald Cox as special prosecutor and his relationship with the Select Committee (he thought it should stop operations, for fear that it would interfere with prosecutions). About the Republican counsel, Fred Thompson (later actor and Senator) of Tennessee. About Lowell Weicker of Connecticut, a Republican who voted like a Democrat.