Greg Dyke contacted the BBC governors and asked for his job back less than a week after he had been forced out as director general in the wake of the Hutton report.
Minutes of two governors' meetings show that governors discussed Mr Dyke's request to be reinstated amid public consternation at his departure.
The documents were released under the Freedom of Information Act today after a two-year battle led by the Guardian and the campaigner Heather Brooke.
It is clear that the governors were alarmed at a claim by Mr Dyke that a key board member, Dame Pauline Neville-Jones, had promised to back him in the event of Gavyn Davies' resignation.
But despite their concern - and only after Dame Pauline was forced to deny the secret deal - they decided it would be impossible to reinstate Mr Dyke.
The minutes also reveal that Richard Ryder - the then vice-chairman, who stepped into the breach as BBC chairman when Mr Davies resigned - held a meeting with the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, on the day he issued an apology on behalf of the corporation.
The documents are revealed today because BBC Trust - which took over from the governors in January - decided not to appeal against the decision of the information tribunal, which ordered the minutes to be released.
In addition to publishing the records of a meeting held on January 28 2004, the day the Hutton report was released - as originally requested by the Guardian - the Trust also voluntarily published the minutes of a governors' meeting held a week later.
At the first meeting in Broadcasting House - with Mr Dyke waiting outside - the governors were told that he enjoyed the support of the BBC management, who did not want him to resign.
But Mr Ryder told them that he would become a "lame duck" if he stayed on, and said his "stock in Whitehall was very low, and his relationship with the secretary of state [Tessa Jowell] is very poor".
Governors pointed out that if Mr Dyke were to go, the process of negotiating a new charter for the BBC would be easier.
They also heard that Mr Dyke withdrew his offer to resign, and the minutes record that it took Mr Ryder and Dame Pauline several hours to persuade him that he should resign.
The minutes also confirm that he was not allowed back into the meeting once the governors had decided he should go.
The minutes of the second meeting make it clear that Lord Ryder met Ms Jowell on the day after the Hutton report.
A spokeswoman for the BBC Trust said today this meeting "categorically" did not take place before Mr Ryder issued an "unreserved apology" on behalf of the BBC for its mistakes in the David Kelly affair.
Mr Ryder told the second governors' meeting that his encounter with Ms Jowell had been "friendly and constructive". The minutes add: "He had conveyed to her that the board and the BBC were still very much in business, and they looked to her department to appoint a new chairman as swiftly as possible".
Mr Dyke has always believed that the government exerted pressure on the BBC in the hours after the Hutton report was published, and that the apology issued by Lord Ryder was "craven". The minutes, however, record that the BBC management supported the apology.
The governors heard from the secretary to the board, Simon Milner, that Mr Dyke had contacted him in the week following his departure, which had been greeted with despair by BBC staff.
Mr Milner quoted Mr Dyke as saying: "I believe I have been mistreated and I want to be reinstated."
In his letter, read by board members, Mr Dyke claimed he had a deal with Dame Pauline that he would not have to resign.
It is clear from the minutes that there was serious concern among the governors about the role of Dame Pauline.
The minutes say: "With hindsight, Pauline suggested that Gavyn and Greg may have reached an agreement of their own, and by describing it to her and not being contradicted, they had implicitly assumed that she concurred with it. She said that there had been no question to her about whether she agreed with their assessment. She made it clear that even had she understood what it now seems Gavyn and Greg were driving at, she would never have sought to prejudge or predetermine the decision of the board on such a matter by reaching an understanding in this manner."
This clearly alarmed some board members: "There were a range of initial reactions," the minutes say. "Some governors said they were minded to re-examine the events of the previous week, to ensure that the board did not take a decision with insufficient information. One governor expressed concerned about the notion of a deal being struck outside the boardroom, but took the view that even if such an understanding had been reached there was no evidence of it influencing the governors' discussion or decisions on January 28 over Greg's position. Other governors confirmed their belief that the board was right to accept Greg's offer of resignation."
The minutes of the first meeting, on January 28, make it clear that Mr Dyke did not intend to leave the BBC without a fight. At 7.45pm he withdrew an initial offer to resign, and it was not until 10.20pm, after two meetings with Lord Ryder and Dame Pauline, that he agreed to negotiate terms.
The Hutton report into events surrounding the death of weapons inspector Dr David Kelly was published on January 28 2004 and was highly critical of the BBC.
The board of governors convened a meeting that evening to discuss the fallout.
Gavyn Davies said he saw no alternative but to resign as chairman as it was "the decent thing to do".
But Dyke was reluctant to accept the findings of the inquiry, the minutes disclosed.
He told the governors it was "the most one-sided report of its kind" that he had ever seen, but offered to resign if he did not have the confidence of the board.
Mr Ryder outlined the pros and cons of Mr Dyke's departure:
"In favour:
· Gavyn Davies' resignation had lanced the boil.
· The organisation would need leadership continuity.
· Greg has leadership skills in abundance, and he would be needed now more than ever to inspire the organisation.
· The new chairman should have a say in whether Greg continues as DG.
Against:
· The BBC would face calls that the wrong man had resigned, which would leave the DG a lame duck.
· Greg's stock in Whitehall was very low, and his relationship with the secretary of state is very poor.
· Greg's internal authority would be compromised by recent events.
· Mark Byford was unaffected by Hutton."
Mr Ryder did not say whether Mr Dyke should resign or not, but instead invited views.
The minutes also show that it was Mr Dyke - before he was asked to leave the room - who said a disciplinary process would begin against staff involved in the David Kelly affair. BBC employees have always blamed Mark Byford, who took over as acting director general, for this.
The Hutton report into events surrounding the death of weapons inspector Dr David Kelly was published on January 28 2004 and was highly critical of the BBC.
The board of governors convened a meeting that evening to discuss the fallout.
Mr Davies said he saw no alternative but to resign as chairman as it was "the decent thing to do".
But Mr Dyke was reluctant to accept the findings of the inquiry, the minutes disclosed.
He told the governors it was "the most one-sided report of its kind" that he had ever seen, but offered to resign if he did not have the confidence of the board.
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