Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 43 › Conversation 043-043

Nixon phone call with Bull on White House staff and State Dining Room

Wednesday, February 7, 1973 · 8:08 PM–8:09 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation043-043 on Tape 43StartWednesday, February 7, 1973 at 8:08 PMEndWednesday, February 7, 1973 at 8:09 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 043-043 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with his aide Stephen B. Bull regarding the logistics and guest list for an upcoming breakfast meeting in the State Dining Room. Concerned that the room's large size would make the gathering look sparse, Nixon directed Bull to increase the number of attending staff members. The President explicitly confirmed that key senior aides, including Kenneth Cole, John Ehrlichman, H.R. Haldeman, Peter Flanigan, Ronald Ziegler, and William Timmons, would be present and seated at the table.

Audio

Download MP3 · 1.7 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
I have Mr. Steve Rule for you.
Yes, sir.
Steve, on the breakfast tomorrow, where is it being held?
In the state dining room?
Yes, sir, in the state dining room.
And I wanted to tell you that since it is there, it's fine if they add some extra staff people, you know, because it looks very empty if there's too few people there.
All right, sir.
I don't know what they've done.
What do they have on staff?
They must have, of course, the top white-out staff, I hope.
Yes, the top ones and Kenny Cole.
Erlich and Haldeman.
Flanagan should be there, I think.
Flanagan, all right, sir.
All right.
And... Of course, Sigler will be there.
Sigler should be there.
Timmons?
Yes, we'll have Timmons there, sir.
Timmons should be there.
Do you want to seat them at the table, then, and have them eat?
Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, sure.
Because, you see, it's such a big room, and the table is too small.
Good.
All right, fine.
Thank you.
Okay, thank you, Steve.

NARA Description

On February 7, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 8:08 pm to 8:09 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 043-043 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 43-43

Date: February 7, 1973
Time: 8:08 pm - 8:09 pm
Location: White House Telephone

Stephen B. Bull talked with the President.

       The President’s schedule
            -Number of people at breakfast meeting
                  -Location
                  -Kenneth R. Cole, Jr.
                  -John D. Ehrlichman
                  -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
                  -Peter M. Flanigan
                  -Ronald L. Ziegler
                  -William Timmons

Also recorded on February 8, 1973

  • 043-040 7:45 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:45 pm.
  • 043-041 7:49 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:49 pm.
  • 043-042 7:50 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 7:50 pm.
  • 043-044 8:09 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:09 pm and 8:26 pm.
  • 043-045 8:26 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 8:26 pm to 8:27 pm.
  • 043-046 8:26 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:26 pm and 8:27 pm.
  • 043-047 8:29 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 8:29 pm to 8:30 pm.
  • 043-048 8:30 PM · 39 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:30 pm and 8:36 pm.

All 38 conversations from February 8, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 043-043, February 8, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/043-043 (accessed October 12, 2026).