Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 237 › Conversation 237-029

Nixon phone call with Bull on diplomacy and State Department

Friday, December 29, 1972 · 5:12 PM–5:15 PM ET · Camp David Hard Wire · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation237-029 on Tape 237StartFriday, December 29, 1972 at 5:12 PMEndFriday, December 29, 1972 at 5:15 PMRecording deviceCamp David Hard WireSourceNixon Library record for 237-029 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon directs Stephen B. Bull to coordinate with the Kennedy family and the State Department regarding a potential reception for visiting foreign dignitaries attending the upcoming funeral/memorial services. Drawing a comparison to the protocol followed after Dwight D. Eisenhower's death, Nixon emphasizes the need for discreet inquiries to determine if such a diplomatic gesture is appropriate. He delegates the final recommendation to the State Department while expressing a personal willingness to host the event if deemed necessary.

Audio

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NARA Description

On December 29, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David from 5:12 pm to 5:15 pm. The Camp David Hard Wire taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 237-029 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 237-29

Date: December 29, 1972
Time: 5:12 pm - 5:15 pm
Location: Camp David Hard Wire

The President talked with Stephen B. Bull.

[See Conversation No. 158-22]

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

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Yeah.
State, with regard to the, I want you to make a check.
It's really, you may recall that when President Eisenhardt died, I had a reception for the visiting official representatives.
You know what I'm talking about?
Remember, we had the Gall and all the others, of course, came to them, but we had a reception
all of these official representatives now i don't think that wasn't the family or anything like that but you recall that's what we did now uh i don't think anybody's got any thinking about this about doing this for good but if you do some just have some discreet checks made uh you know uh i suppose you've got to run through the state department or if you can have uh
and Kennedy's office and so forth, but my guess is that I should do it.
Have it checked first through Kennedy's office.
Colonel Kennedy says, Kessinger's gone.
You understand?
And then they can check this, and then they can run it by the State Department people and so forth.
But I'm willing to do it.
I just want to be sure we do at least offer to do what was done at the time of the Eisenhower business.
Now, you don't need to get back to me at all.
Am I going to be here on the 5th?
So it doesn't make you there if I'm going to service.
Now, there's one thing that is slightly different in this case.
In fact, it's quite different.
In that case, basically, that was the general.
Let me explain.
At that time, that general was held in the National Cathedral.
And, you see, in this case, the general's already been held.
It's a memorial service.
But nevertheless, the number of heads of state
former heads of state and so forth are coming to the funeral.
So it may be that it will be expected that it will be there after.
I recall, for example, when I went over to Galls, the funeral at Pompidou gave a reception for everybody after it.
But that was the funeral in that case also.
Now this is different in that respect, but I'll tell you, why don't you just let the State Department people work on it and give us a recommendation, okay?
to have the security come through.
Okay, thank you.

Also recorded on December 29, 1972

  • 158-020 5:06 PM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at 5:06 pm.
  • 158-021 5:06 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 5:06 pm and 5:12 pm.
  • 237-026 5:06 PM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at 5:06 pm.
  • 237-027 5:06 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 5:06 pm and 5:12 pm.
  • 237-028 5:06 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 5:06 pm and 5:12 pm.
  • 158-022 5:12 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone at Camp David from 5:12 pm to 5:15 pm.
  • 158-023 5:15 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator talked on the telephone at Camp David at an unknown time between 5:15 pm and 5:20 pm.
  • 237-052 5:15 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Camp David operator met in the Aspen Lodge study at Camp David at an unknown time between 5:15 pm and 5:20 pm.

All 63 conversations from December 29, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 237-029, December 29, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/237-029 (accessed November 2, 2026).