Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 488 › Conversation 488-011

Nixon, Haldeman & Bull on Swearing-in ceremony and James C. Fletcher

Tuesday, April 27, 1971 · 9:55 AM–10:05 AM ET · Oval Office · 46 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Bull, Stephen B.; [Unknown person(s)]Conversation488-011 on Tape 488 (tape position 00:47:33–00:48:23)StartTuesday, April 27, 1971 at 9:55 AMEndTuesday, April 27, 1971 at 10:05 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 488-011 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417176753 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon, H.R. Haldeman, Stephen Bull, and an unidentified individual discussed the upcoming swearing-in ceremony for James C. Fletcher, likely for a NASA position. Nixon expressed confusion about the necessity of his personal involvement and questioned the presence of a minister, James Belson, for the ceremony. The conversation appears to be a brief logistical check before the President and Bull departed.

Audio

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NARA Description

On April 27, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:55 am and 10:05 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 488-011 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 488-11

Date: April 27, 1971
Time: 9:55 am - Unknown before 10:05 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, and an unknown man.
[This recording begins at an unknown time while the conversation is in progress.]

     President's schedule
           -Swearing-in ceremony
                 -Arrival of party
                 -James C. Fletcher
                 -Timing
                 -Deputy
                 -Minister
                       -James A. Belson

The President, Bull, and the unknown man left at an unknown time before 10:05 am.

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was made by an AI model listening to the recording (gemini-3.8-flash) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Speaker names are the model's inference from the voices and the participant list. Words and names can still be wrong — verify against the audio and the finding aid before citing.

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).

NixonWhy the hell am I swearing him in?
Unknown[unintelligible] NASA [unintelligible]
NixonI didn't quite get this understood. Why Fletcher?
UnknownBecause the people in the office tried a long time ago with the deputy, and the folks wanted him here.
NixonWho's the minister?
UnknownIt's James Belson, the Superior Court, District of Columbia.
BullAre you ready, Mr. President?
NixonYeah, go ahead.
BullWell,

Also recorded on April 27, 1971

  • 488-009 7:53 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 7:53 am to 7:54 am.
  • 488-010 7:55 AM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 7:55 am to 8:04 am.
  • 055-003 8:04 AM · 1 hr 41 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, and members of the Cabinet, including John N. Irwin, II, John B. Connally, Melvin R. Laird, John N. Mitchell, Winton M. ("Red") Blount, Jr., Rogers C. B. Morton, Clifford M. Hardin, James T. Lynn, James D. Hodgson, Elliot L. Richardson, George W. Romney, John A. Volpe, George P. Shultz, George H. W. Bush, John D. Ehrlichman, Clark MacGregor, Dr. Edward E. David, Jr., Raymond K. Price, Jr., Ronald L. Ziegler, Alexander P. Butterfield, Robert J. Brown, Robert J. Dole, Arthur J. Sohmer, Donald E. Johnson, and Malcolm R. Lovell, Jr., met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 8:04 am to 9:43 am.
  • 488-012 10:05 AM · 11 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, James C. Fletcher, James A. Belson, Fay Fletcher, Ginger Fletcher, Mary Susan Fletcher, James S. Fletcher, Wallace F. Bennett, Clinton P. Anderson, Carl T. Curtis, George P. Miller, Olin E. Teague, James J. Fulton, George M. Low, Richard C. McCurdy, Helen D. Bentlye, Dr. Edward E. David, Jr., Clay T. ("Tom") Whitehead, William E. Kriegsman, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Thomas O. Paine met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:05 am and 10:16 am.
  • 488-013 10:16 AM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:16 am and 10:19 am.
  • 488-014 10:16 AM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:16 am and 10:19 am.
  • 488-015 10:19 AM · 1 hr 22 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Manolo Sanchez, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, John D. Ehrlichman, Stephen B. Bull, unknown person(s), Henry Ford, II, and Lide A. Iacocca met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:19 am to 11:43 am.
  • 488-016 11:43 AM · 31 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Winton M. ("Red") Blount, Jr., George P. Shultz, Stephen B. Bull, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:43 am to 12:16 pm.

All 34 conversations from April 27, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 488-011, April 27, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417176753). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/488-011 (accessed November 2, 2026).