Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 581 › Conversation 581-005

Nixon & Bull on William P. Rogers and Henry Kissinger

Thursday, September 30, 1971 · 12:18 PM–12:20 PM ET · Oval Office · 41 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation581-005 on Tape 581 (tape position 02:06:56–02:07:36)StartThursday, September 30, 1971 at 12:18 PMEndThursday, September 30, 1971 at 12:20 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 581-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted with his aide, Stephen B. Bull, regarding scheduling adjustments for upcoming meetings with Secretary of State William P. Rogers and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger. Seeking to manage his time effectively, the President prioritized his current tasks while evaluating which other appointments could be postponed. Nixon ultimately decided to maintain his immediate focus, declining Bull's offer to interrupt the ongoing session.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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All right, so now where is Secretary Rodgers?
All right, now there's, these are just basically, I'm not going to do any of that.
Yeah, there's other things this morning that can be delayed or postponed.
So there's no hurry.
Would you like me to interrupt on this?
No, I've got to do this now.
This is where Secretary Rodgers has a one-on-five appointment.
What's your appointment?
It's not from anywhere.
It is not from anywhere.
Oh, very well then.

NARA Description

On September 30, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:18 pm and 12:20 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 581-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 581-5

Date: September 30, 1971
Time: Unknown between 12:18 pm and 12:20 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

     Meeting with Henry A. Kissinger and William P. Rogers

     The President's schedule
          -Delay
          -Rogers
               -Appointment

Bull left at 12:20 pm.

Also recorded on September 30, 1971

  • 010-035 12:16 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 12:16 pm to 12:18 pm.
  • 581-006 12:20 PM · 25 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William P. Rogers, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:20 pm to 12:45 pm.
  • 581-007 12:45 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Virginia H. Knauer, Richard H. Grant, and Marion F. Gregory met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:45 pm to 12:51 pm.
  • 581-008 12:51 PM · 36 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:51 pm.
  • 581-009 12:51 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, L. Scott Olson, Curtis Sliwa, Jimmy French, Kevin Markwell, Christopher Messina, Bruce Hynes, David Byers, David Bell, Jr., Glenn Norris, Millard Hall, John Neeld, John Neurschwander, Gretchn McHale, Charles W. Colson, Neal Ball, and DeVan L. Shumway met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:51 pm to 12:58 pm.
  • 581-010 12:58 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:58 pm.
  • 581-011 12:58 PM · 1 hr 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, Herbert Stein, unknown person(s), Henry A. Kissinger, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:58 pm to 2:11 pm.
  • 010-036 12:59 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 12:59 pm.

All 28 conversations from September 30, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 581-005, September 30, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/581-005 (accessed September 28, 2026).