Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 403 › Conversation 403-008

Nixon & Bull on Lyndon B. Johnson funeral and Motorcade logistics

Wednesday, January 24, 1973 · 1:47 PM–1:50 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.; [Unknown person(s)]Conversation403-008 on Tape 403StartWednesday, January 24, 1973 at 1:47 PMEndWednesday, January 24, 1973 at 1:50 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 403-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Stephen Bull to finalize complex logistical arrangements for attending the funeral of Lyndon B. Johnson, including motorcade routes, wreath-laying ceremonies, and interactions with the Johnson family and congressional delegates. The discussion also addressed a request for biographical data regarding the death dates of several former U.S. presidents and involved planning for a separate meeting with a retiring Chicago Tribune journalist. These instructions ensured the President’s itinerary remained synchronized with the state funeral proceedings.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 41% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Oh, Steve, I just want to point out that there's a long time.
It's a question that I made two or three minutes early, sir.
Oh, so you better leave now.
Well, we're going to get a radio message right to the party area.
Is it two?
Is the number five?
Yes, sir.
A couple minutes early.
The agenda is to leave.
Where do we leave from?
I go over to the address.
Yes, sir.
That's probably the easiest.
All right.
Just to highlight that, Sarah.
I'm just going to lead off with that quote that came in there when I had to transfer the casket on.
Of course, you're not going to sign.
And you're looking at it as well.
Would you get, for me, the dates for death of an agent for these people?
T.R.
Wilson.
Okay.
Then we'll just try that one more.
We go out of there and we're going to have to hold it in place in order to get it to stop.
And we're still staying in the car that is in the flat of John Morgan, Texas.
No, we should be in the hall in that place.
We're going to drive by and we're going to push it off to the country's capital.
And that's the time when the car will open up on you.
That's the time when you should get out of the car.
You know what I mean?
Excuse me, Mrs. Johnson.
I'm going to do the class.
You're going to be laying in the green.
You're going to be placing in the green.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
.
.
.
.
.
The picture you're in today is 5.5.
There's a concession being given to one of the offices.
You've got a suggestion that you're going to sign.
You've got it on the textbook.
So where's it going to be given?
So you've got to show it to all of those houses.
And it doesn't need a recommendation.
It's a good job.
I'm actually going to have you in the office for a few minutes to say hello.
I want you to turn.
I'm going to go back.
I'm going to ask you a question.
Uh, no, I'll go, uh, I'll meet them there at the south wall, uh, right outside the old office.
I'll have the car and I'll go around to there and have it load there, okay?

NARA Description

On January 24, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:47 pm to 1:50 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 403-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 403-8

Date: January 24, 1973
Time: 1:47 pm – 1:50 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

        President's schedule
              -Lyndon B. Johnson's funeral
                     -Time of rendezvous with motorcade

The President talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 1:47 pm and 1:50
                                                 -6-

                     NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                               Conversation No. 403-8 (cont’d)

pm.

[Conversation No. 403-8A]

       Request for dates of deaths
            -Theodore Roosevelt
            -[Thomas] Woodrow Wilson
            -[John] Calvin Coolidge
            -Franklin D. Roosevelt
            -Delivery

[End of telephone conversation]

       President's schedule
             -Johnson’s funeral
                    -Motorcade logistics
                    -Capitol
                          -Claudia A. (Taylor) (“Lady Bird”) Johnson
                          -Texas Congressional delegation
                          -Wreath-laying
                          -Dean Rusk
                          -Congress members

       Time of day

       Willard Edmunds of Chicago Tribune
             -Retirement
             -Photograph in President's office

       President's schedule
             -Sheraton-Carlton Hotel reception
             -Meeting with Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon, Tricia Nixon-Cox and Edward R. F. Cox,
              and Julie
             Nixon-Eisenhower
                    -Motorcade

Bull left at 1:50 pm.
                                              -7-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Also recorded on January 24, 1973

  • 403-001 11:52 AM · 7 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 11:52 am and 1:47 pm.
  • 403-002 11:52 AM · 55 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 11:52 am and 1:47 pm.
  • 403-003 11:52 AM · 18 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 11:52 am and 1:47 pm.
  • 403-004 11:52 AM · 33 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 11:52 am and 1:47 pm.
  • 036-103 1:47 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 1:47 pm.
  • 403-007 1:47 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 1:47 pm.
  • 403-009 1:50 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:50 pm to 1:55 pm.
  • 403-010 1:55 PM · 31 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:55 pm to 1:59 pm.

All 54 conversations from January 24, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 403-008, January 24, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/403-008 (accessed October 1, 2026).