Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 682 › Conversation 682-005

Nixon, Brock & Hanson on Prisoners of War and Senate Joint Resolution 189

Friday, March 10, 1972 · 12:38 PM–12:45 PM ET · Oval Office · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.; Brock, William; Hanson, Carol; Grubb, Evelyn; Ray, Janice; Hunt, Olive; Scowcroft, Brent G. (Gen.); Sievers, Frank A.; Shields, Roger W.; Nidecker, John E.; White House photographerConversation682-005 on Tape 682 (tape position 00:49:05–00:55:08)StartFriday, March 10, 1972 at 12:38 PMEndFriday, March 10, 1972 at 12:45 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 682-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Senator William Brock and a group of visitors, including relatives of prisoners of war, for a ceremonial photograph and gift presentation session. The primary purpose of the gathering was the formal signing of a proclamation and Senate Joint Resolution 189 regarding American POWs. During the session, the President emphasized his administration’s commitment to securing the return of all captives and acknowledged the courage of the families involved.

Prisoners of War
Senate Joint Resolution 189
William Brock
Ceremonial Signing
POW Wives

Audio

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Position in tape: 00:49:05 – 00:55:08

part A, 49:07

682a.mp3

682b.mp3

NARA Description

On March 10, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, William Brock, Carol Hanson, Evelyn Grubb, Janice Ray, Olive Hunt, Gen. Brent G. Scowcroft, Frank A. Sievers, Roger E. Shields, John E. Nidecker, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:38 pm and 12:45 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 682-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 682-5

Date: March 10, 1972
Time: 12:38 pm - unknown before 12:45 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull, William E. Brock, III, Carol Hanson, Evelyn Grubb,
Janice Ray, Olive Hunt, Gen. Brent G. Scowcroft, Frank A. Sieverts, Roger E. Shields, and John
E. Nidecker; the White House photographer was present at the beginning of the meeting

     Introductions

     Photograph session

Bull left at an unknown time before 12:40 pm.

     Gifts
             -Pens

     Photographs
          -Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins

     Proclamation and Senate Joint [SJ] Resolution 189
          -Signing
          -Prisoners of war [POWs]
                -Effort for return
                -Wives
                     -Effort

Brock, et al. left and Bull entered at 12:40 pm.

     Cabinet Room
          -Forthcoming signing ceremony

Bull left at an unknown time before 12:45 pm.

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

President, Senator Brown.

Come on, hi, how are you?

Nice to see you.

Good morning.

Well, see, you could have set this up in a little bit of a picture, you know, these, you know, the beauty of time.

You can have some of that.

You can have some of that, but you can't get any of it.

That's right.

I'll sit down.

If you don't mind, you know, if I could put the present in each way.

In your side, sir.

In your side.

I'll use four, so that each of the ladies can have one.

Senator's already got some.

These will all get one, too.

Now, Mr. Atkins, this will all go to the press.

I'll start signing.

And here is the bill.

I mean, oh, here's the current resolution.

The current resolution states the sense of the Congress and the President's proclamation.

Well, we haven't done enough.

And we will never done enough to bring it back.

I'm worried.

We've never done a proclamation, you know, and all the rest.

Prayers and so forth.

They help because they really care.

As far as I'm concerned, this place, I don't consider anything after we've gotten back.

That's our goal.

We're working on it.

Here's yours.

The bill, I can't get it.

I don't see you receiving it, sir.

Yes, sir.

We've been saying that for a long time.

It's coming along.

Sure, sure.

That's right.

I appreciate your courage.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you very much.

Good to see you.

Thank you very much.

Take a moment to set up a camera.

Also recorded on March 10, 1972

682-004 12:33 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:33 pm and 12:38 pm.
682-006 12:40 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:40 pm and 12:45 pm.
682-007 12:40 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:40 pm and 12:45 pm.
682-011 12:40 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:40 pm and 12:45 pm.
094-004 12:45 PM · 33 sec — during the signing of contributions to International American Development Bank [S. 748], Asian Development Bank [S. 749], and International Development Association [S. 2010], President Richard M. Nixon, George D. Aiken, Wright Patman, William B. Widnall, William P. Rogers, John B. Connally, Henry A. Kissinger, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Peter M. Flanigan, Galo Plaza, Carlos Sanz de Santamaria, Ortiz Mena, Henry J. Costanzo, Artemis Weatherby, Robert S. McNamara, J. Burke Knapp, John M. Hennessy, James E. Smith, Robert D. Hormats, John E. Nidecker, and the White House photographer met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 12:45 pm to 12:50 pm.
682-008 12:50 PM · 22 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, White House photographer, Dianne C. Matthews, United States Secret Service agents, Stephen B. Bull, Arthur K. Watson, White House operator, and J. William Fulbright met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:50 pm to 1:10 pm.
021-042 1:00 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and J. William Fulbright talked on the telephone from 1:00 pm to 1:02 pm.
682-009 1:11 PM · 2 hr 41 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, Alexander P. Butterfield, Charles W. Colson, unknown person(s), Ronald L. Ziegler, White House operator, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, John D. Ehrlichman, and Edward L. Morgan met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:11 pm to 3:53 pm.

All 17 conversations from March 10, 1972 →

Nixon, Dole & Miller on Telephone Bank Bill and S. 70 May 7, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Colson on Henry Kissinger and John Scali April 13, 1971 · 3 min
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on People's Republic of China and Vietnam War April 14, 1971 · 7 min
Nixon phone call with Colson on POW wives and Edward Kennedy September 28, 1971 · 10 min
Nixon & Haldeman on POW wives and Funeral of Justice Hugo Black September 28, 1971 · 22 min
Nixon & Haldeman on Vietnam War and Congressional strategy May 11, 1972 · 13 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 682-005, March 10, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/682-005 (accessed November 2, 2026).