Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 45 › Conversation 045-075
Nixon phone call with Bull on Watergate and H.R. Haldeman
Tuesday, May 1, 1973 · 12:59 PM–1:00 PM ET · White House Telephone · 1 min
AI Summary
President Nixon directed Stephen B. Bull to instruct Leonard Garment to revise a memorandum regarding access to the personal papers of H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman. Expressing shock and disappointment at the breadth of the proposal, the President insisted that the documents be protected rather than opened to FBI scrutiny, explicitly stating that his former aides were not defendants. The conversation also touched upon coordinating the President’s concerns with Secretary of State William P. Rogers's schedule.
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
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NARA Description
On May 1, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 12:59 pm to 1:00 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 045-075 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 45-75
Date: May 1, 1973
Time: 12:59 pm - 1:00 pm
Location: White House Telephone
The President talked with Stephen B. Bull.
-54-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 45-75 (cont’d)
[See also Conversation No. 433-6]
William P. Rogers’s schedule
-Willy Brandt
-Luncheon
Watergate
-Language of memorandum
-Rogers’s review
-Leonard Garment
-Intent
-Access to papers of H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman
-Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]
-President’s reaction
-DisappointmentAlso recorded on May 1, 1973
- 045-073 12:58 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:58 pm and 12:59 pm.
- 045-074 12:58 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:58 pm and 12:59 pm.
- 433-002 12:59 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Dr. Walter R. Tkach met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:59 pm to 1:00 pm.
- 045-076 1:00 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:00 pm and 1:04 pm.
- 433-003 1:00 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:00 pm and 1:04 pm.
- 433-004 1:00 PM · 15 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 1:00 pm and 1:04 pm.
- 433-005 1:00 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:00 pm and 1:04 pm.
- 433-006 1:00 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:00 pm and 1:04 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 045-075, May 1, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/045-075 (accessed October 5, 2026).