Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 442 › Conversation 442-014

Nixon & Bull on White House taping system and Tape maintenance

Monday, June 4, 1973 · 12:55 PM–1:00 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation442-014 on Tape 442StartMonday, June 4, 1973 at 12:55 PMEndMonday, June 4, 1973 at 1:00 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 442-014 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and aide Stephen B. Bull meet to discuss the technical operation and maintenance of the White House taping system. The discussion focuses on the physical location of recording equipment, the procedure for daily tape rotation, and an assessment of existing tape segments from April. Nixon gives instructions regarding the management of these recordings and tasking Bull with oversight of the system's ongoing operations.

Audio

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NARA Description

On June 4, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:55 pm to 1:00 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 442-014 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 442-014

Date: June 4, 1973
Time: 12:55 pm - 1:00 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

[A transcript of the following portion of this conversation was initially prepared for the
Watergate Special Prosecution Force (WSPF) and can be found in Record Group (RG) 460, Box
172, “Transcript Prepared by the Impeachment Inquiry Staff for the House Judiciary
Committee…,” pages 30-32 (.pdf pages 34-36). The Nixon Presidential Materials Staff
reviewed the transcript and made changes as necessary. This transcript has been reviewed under
the provisions of the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 (PRMPA).
The National Archives does not guarantee its accuracy.]

Bull left at 1:00 pm.

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 64% 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.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Brother, were you able to get a better view of this equation?

This is all wrong.

Oh, that's the concept.

Yes, sir.

It's very nasty to take that view from this.

You've got to change tapes every day.

And do you think it was in this office?

I guess it was in the old one.

I thought so.

I remember the company.

I saw it being in the old office.

It's a shame that maybe they have a sequence.

Oh, I guess not.

No difference.

Now what do we have?

What other do we have?

This is what we have.

This is all we have right now.

How long are you on?

Where are you on?

Well, it takes...

Pick me up the... Just pick up the balance of the... What do we do?

Throw the...

I don't know.

I don't need April.

No answer.

There were two on April 16th.

I think it was on the 2nd.

I don't know if you can see it.

You can sketch that.

On April 15th, they launched one of those marks on the plate.

I don't know if you can see it.

All right.

Several, Steve, and they're very sharp.

Good.

You've got the wall right there.

See what you can do up there.

Also recorded on June 4, 1973

039-064 12:35 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:35 pm and 12:51 pm.
442-009 12:35 PM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:35 pm and 12:51 pm.
442-010 12:35 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:35 pm and 12:51 pm.
039-065 12:51 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 12:51 pm to 12:52 pm.
442-013 12:51 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:51 pm to 12:52 pm.
039-066 1:00 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:00 pm and 1:23 pm.
442-015 1:00 PM · 46 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 1:23 pm.
442-016 1:00 PM · 13 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 1:23 pm.

All 116 conversations from June 4, 1973 →

Nixon & Butterfield on White House taping system April 12, 1972 · 1 min
Sumrell, Sisco & Camp David Operator on Camp David and Presidential materials February 2, 1973 · 18 min
Nixon & Sanchez on dictating machine tapes and tape search April 20, 1972 · 1 min
Nixon with unidentified visitors in his EOB office on dictabelt machine June 11, 1972 · 2 min
White House tour group on White House tour and Cabinet Room November 16, 1971 · 24 min
Nixon with unidentified visitors in his EOB office on Executive office… October 12, 1971 · 1 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 442-014, June 4, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/442-014 (accessed November 15, 2026).