Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 45 › Conversation 045-091

Nixon phone call with Bull on Watergate and Presidential Papers

Tuesday, May 1, 1973 · 2:51 PM–2:52 PM ET · White House Telephone · 51 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation045-091 on Tape 45StartTuesday, May 1, 1973 at 2:51 PMEndTuesday, May 1, 1973 at 2:52 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 045-091 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon directs his aide, Stephen B. Bull, to ensure that a memorandum authored by Leonard Garment is revised to explicitly assert the President's personal ownership of presidential papers and national security funds. Expressing intense frustration with Garment’s approach, Nixon dismisses the memorandum's cosmetic focus and demands that his staff not be portrayed as criminals. He threatens to fire his entire staff if these instructions regarding the document's substance and tone are not immediately executed.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yes, sir.
Steve Ball.
What has Garment done on that project?
Garment has rewritten it, sir.
It's going to be submitted to Secretary Rogers momentarily for his perusal, and then submitted to you after we've gotten Secretary Rogers' approval, sir.
Garment is to the point that the asshole hadn't had in the fact that the presidential papers belong not to these people but to me, and that the national security funds belong not to them but to me.
Do you understand it, goddamn his soul or not?
Yes, sir.
He understands that the purpose of this appears to be more cosmetics than anything else.
To hell with the cosmetics.
I'm not going to have these men treated like criminals and tell that to Garment and do that right away or goddamn it, I'll fire this whole fucking staff.
You understand that?
Yes, sir.

NARA Description

On May 1, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:51 pm and 2:52 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 045-091 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 45-91

Date: May 1, 1973
Time: Unknown between 2:51 pm and 2:52 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Stephen B. Bull.

[See also Conversation No. 433-24]

       Watergate
            -Leonard Garment’s memorandum
            -William P. Rogers
            -President’s ownership of papers
            -Purpose
                                               -63-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                                Conversation No. 45-91 (cont’d)

           -Orders to Bull

Also recorded on May 1, 1973

  • 433-024 2:51 PM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:51 pm to 2:52 pm.
  • 045-092 2:54 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:54 pm and 2:59 pm.
  • 433-025 2:54 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 2:54 pm.
  • 433-026 2:54 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 2:54 pm and 2:59 pm.
  • 045-093 2:59 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 2:59 pm to 3:01 pm.
  • 433-027 2:59 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:59 pm to 3:01 pm.
  • 045-094 3:01 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:01 pm and 5:35 pm.
  • 908-017 3:07 PM · 35 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:07 pm and 3:10 pm.

All 181 conversations from May 1, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 045-091, 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/045-091 (accessed October 5, 2026).