Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 36 › Conversation 036-134

Nixon phone call with Bull on John C. Stennis and FBI

Tuesday, January 30, 1973 · 9:26 PM–9:28 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation036-134 on Tape 36StartTuesday, January 30, 1973 at 9:26 PMEndTuesday, January 30, 1973 at 9:28 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 036-134 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417194703 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon directed Stephen B. Bull to urgently gather information regarding the shooting of U.S. Senator John C. Stennis, expressing extreme dissatisfaction with current bureaucratic delays. Nixon bypassed the Secret Service and the Situation Room, explicitly ordering Bull to mobilize the FBI and Washington Metropolitan Police immediately. He further demanded that John W. Dean III be activated to coordinate these efforts and insisted on receiving a comprehensive update within ten minutes.

Audio

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NARA Description

On January 30, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 9:26 pm to 9:28 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 036-134 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 36-134

Date: January 30, 1973
Time: 9:26 pm - 9:28 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Stephen B. Bull.

[See Conversation No. 406-44]
                                             -85-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                          Conversation No. 36-134 (cont’d)

       John C. Stennis shooting
            -Report
                  -Secret Service
                  -Situation room
            -John W. Dean, III
            -Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]
                  -The President’s instructions
            -Jerry V. Wilson
            -The President’s instructions
                  -Secret Service
                  -FBI
                  -Washington Metropolitan Police
                  -Dean
                  -Report

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

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

Yep.
Who are you trying to get that information from?
I'm doing it through Secret Service and through the Situation Room.
There's no confirmation.
I'm trying to get a firm denial on it.
No, no.
Screw the denial.
You've got to hold a John Dean right away.
Have you talked to him?
Not yet.
A United States Senator has been shot.
Do you understand?
Yes, sir.
That's a violation.
I want every FBI agent in this city turned loose to find out this.
I want to get Jerry Wilson the hell out of bed and get him to find out about it.
And I want to report in five minutes.
Is that clear?
Yes, sir.
And get off their ass now.
Screw the Secret Service.
They don't handle this.
This is the FBI's job because the United States Senator's been shot and the Washington police and everybody together.
Now get going on it fast.
I expect I'll give you ten minutes.
That's all.
Do you want to talk to John Dean?
I don't want to talk to John Dean.
He has to get off of his ass and get the FBI in this thing.
It's not a local crime.
A United States senator has been shot, and I have got to know what the score is.
I want to find out right away.
Very good.

Also recorded on January 30, 1973

  • 036-131 9:15 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:15 pm and 9:17 pm.
  • 036-132 9:17 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 9:17 pm to 9:18 pm.
  • 406-042 9:17 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:17 pm to 9:18 pm.
  • 036-133 9:18 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:18 pm and 9:26 pm.
  • 406-043 9:18 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:18 pm and 9:26 pm.
  • 406-044 9:26 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:26 pm to 9:28 pm.
  • 406-045 9:28 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 9:28 pm.
  • 406-046 9:28 PM · 27 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:28 pm and 9:40 pm.

All 85 conversations from January 30, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 036-134, January 30, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417194703). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/036-134 (accessed November 1, 2026).