Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 587 › Conversation 587-008

Nixon, Haldeman & Bull on Press relations and Wayne Hays

Friday, October 8, 1971 · 12:12 PM–12:17 PM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob")Conversation587-008 on Tape 587 (tape position 02:22:26–02:24:04)StartFriday, October 8, 1971 at 12:12 PMEndFriday, October 8, 1971 at 12:17 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 587-008 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417179149 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Stephen B. Bull and H. R. Haldeman to coordinate the President's upcoming schedule and manage press relations regarding Wayne Hays. The discussion also included administrative logistics involving Charles E. Lucet and a scheduled lunch briefing with F. Edward Hebert. The meeting focused primarily on operational scheduling and the handling of key political figures.

Audio

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Position in tape: 02:22:26 – 02:24:04

part B, 20:06

587a.mp3

587b.mp3

NARA Description

On October 8, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:12 pm and 12:17 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 587-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 587-8

Date: October 8, 1971
Time: Unknown between 12:12 pm and 12:17 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

     The President's schedule
          -Wayne Hays
               -Press coverage

H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman entered at 12:15 pm.

           -Charles E. Lucet

Bull left at an unknown time before 12:17 pm.

           -F. Edward Hebert
                 -Lunch
                      -Briefing

Haldeman left at 12:17 pm.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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We have a special assembly group that comes to the waste cases here, sir.

This is a fine.

Courtesy call.

You're lying to the press for all I know.

Yes, sir.

What are they doing?

What are they talking about?

I don't know.

They're shaking hands, too.

Also recorded on October 8, 1971

587-002 9:46 AM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:46 am to 10:04 am.
587-003 10:04 AM · 43 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John N. Mitchell, John D. Ehrlichman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:04 am to 10:47 am.
587-005 10:47 AM · 8 min — Stephen B. Bull, Charlotte T. Reid, Mrs. Edward C. Thompson, Edward T. Reid, Susan Reid, George Lindner, H. A. Barker, Mrs. H. A. Barker, Lambert Oschsenschlager, Mrs. Lambert Oschsenschlager, Dean Burch, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Frederic V. Malek, Frank Nebeker, White House photographer, and President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:47 am to 10:55 am.
587-006 10:55 AM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:55 am and 10:58 am.
587-007 10:58 AM · 1 hr 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, Richard M. Helms, Stephen B. Bull, David M. Kennedy, Henry A. Kissinger, Peter G. Peterson, Ronald L. Ziegler, unknown person(s), and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:58 am to 12:12 pm.
587-009 12:18 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Wayne Woodrow ("Woody") Hays, Sherman Lloyd, Rene Chazelle, Jacqueline Thome-Patentore, Jean Boinvilliers, Pierre-Bernard Couste, Isadore Renouard, Pierre Billotte, Madame Solange Troisier, Manuel Lujan, Jr., Robert Moinet, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Richard K. Cook, and Charles E. Lucet met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:18 pm to 12:28 pm.
587-010 12:28 PM · 59 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:28 pm to 12:30 pm.
587-011 12:30 PM · 2 min — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:30 pm and 11:59 pm.

All 10 conversations from October 8, 1971 →

Nixon, Eisenhower & Haldeman on Vietnam War and Media coverage April 13, 1972 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Henry Kissinger and William P. Rogers December 24, 1971 · 25 min
Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Camp David and Press Relations December 18, 1972 · 11 min
Nixon & Haldeman on Robert McNamara and Henry Kissinger October 14, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon, Haig & Cox on Henry Kissinger and Press Relations December 26, 1971 · 26 min
Nixon alone in his EOB office on 1972 Presidential Election March 9, 1972 · 6 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 587-008, October 8, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417179149). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/587-008 (accessed November 1, 2026).