Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 397 › Conversation 397-016

Nixon, Price & Bull on Inaugural address and Foreign policy

Friday, January 19, 1973 · 12:15 PM–12:30 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 15 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Price, Raymond K., Jr.; Bull, Stephen B.Conversation397-016 on Tape 397StartFriday, January 19, 1973 at 12:15 PMEndFriday, January 19, 1973 at 12:30 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 397-016 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with speechwriter Raymond K. Price, Jr. to finalize the tone and thematic content of his upcoming second inaugural address. The discussion focused on emphasizing American global responsibilities, maintaining traditional international friendships, and reflecting on the administration's foreign policy achievements in Peking and Moscow. Stephen B. Bull assisted with administrative logistics, including the signing of pending documents and the management of the President's immediate schedule.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 5 minutes of this recording (about 36% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Good.

So it was great to meet you.

Pardon me, sir.

What do you like about what you're doing?

What do you like?

Maybe you can guide us a little bit.

You just had two points.

One, I think it's something we can do.

One is that, well, there are three companies, but they all have

Excellent.

And that word, being a word maker, too, is whatever I know to think of the word on.

And I just keep thinking about it.

I mentioned speaking in Boston, that our traditional friendships do better.

But also, you know, the chance of success.

Well, that's going to be next week.

We'll talk about it next week.

He has a feeling about it.

How are you doing?

Let's have you, if you will, in the next few months or so.

Those points are preferred.

Your brother, hold on here.

I just kind of got away.

It may be that I'm too hard to pull in your brother.

Yes.

I like this.

I don't need to see any of the FYI stuff.

Is that what you mean?

Don't worry about that.

I'll look at it.

I should see what it is.

I don't know, maybe a variety of them are fake.

I don't know.

I know that doesn't work.

I don't know if it does.

For me, proper abortion responsibility is a very necessary thing, particularly if you follow the nature of it.

I don't know.

It's not a most confident book.

No.

Time has come.

Our relations with other nations have grown.

And our policies have grown.

That certainly, that's it.

That's perfectly sound for what we're talking about.

It's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like,

How do you get in the way of that?

The line is probably turning itself on.

Time has come for a new sense of...

I think it needs to be spelled out.

Now that says it.

That's right.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Thank you.

Okay, I'll leave you with the hardware.

No, I think I have to say clean draft, yeah, because, and incidentally, now, for your guidance, I will not want to play drafts.

In other words, by that time, let's have what, you know, your best interest in what you can do.

I agree with the significance of the vow.

You might have been listening to me earlier.

Last year, I was talking to Ross on my show.

I was talking to him about it.

Thank you.

NARA Description

On January 19, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Raymond K. Price, Jr., and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:15 pm to 12:30 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 397-016 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 397-16

Date: January 19, 1973
Time: 12:15 pm -12:30 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Raymond K. Price, Jr.

       President's Inaugural speech
             -Kissinger's assessment
                    -Peking, Moscow references
                          -Traditional friendships
                          -Revisions
             -Points to emphasize
                    -Wording
                    -Responsibility

Stephen B. Bull entered at 12:17 pm.

       Documents
           -Signing

       President's schedule
             -Barber's appointment
             -Documents
                    -Signing
                    -Necessity
             -Work priorities
             -Domestic Council
                    -Paper
             -Decisions
                                               -17-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                             Conversation No. 397-16 (cont’d)

             -Documents
                  -Signing

Bull left at 12:22 pm.

       President's Inaugural speech
             -Foreign policy
                    -US responsibilities in world
                    -Relations with other nations
                    -Wording
             -Presidential leadership
                    -Public opinion
                    -Accomplishments
             -Draft
                    -Time of delivery
             -Ronald L. Ziegler
             -Advance copies
                    -Joseph W. Alsop
             -Delivery of speech draft

Price left at 12:30 pm.

Also recorded on January 19, 1973

036-005 11:53 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:53 am and 11:56 am.
397-012 11:53 AM · 9 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 11:53 am and 11:56 am.
036-006 11:56 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 11:56 am to 11:59 am.
397-013 11:56 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 11:56 am to 11:59 am.
397-014 11:59 AM · 57 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 11:59 am and 12:15 pm.
397-015 11:59 AM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:59 am and 12:15 pm.
397-017 12:30 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:30 pm and 12:37 pm.
397-018 12:30 PM · 17 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 12:30 pm and 1:13 pm.

All 53 conversations from January 19, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 397-016, January 19, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/397-016 (accessed October 11, 2026).