Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 592 › Conversation 592-003

Nixon & Bull on Ted Kennedy and Political strategy

Thursday, October 14, 1971 · 9:14 AM–9:32 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation592-003 on Tape 592 (tape position 00:16:02–00:20:00)StartThursday, October 14, 1971 at 9:14 AMEndThursday, October 14, 1971 at 9:32 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 592-003 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Stephen B. Bull discussed strategies for managing political optics and public perception regarding Senator Ted Kennedy. The conversation centered on leveraging negative press coverage of Kennedy—specifically regarding his recent remarks—to bolster the President's image and neutralize opposition. Nixon expressed frustration over delays in receiving the latest Gallup polling data, emphasizing the need to track public sentiment and the cumulative impact of anti-Kennedy narratives.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 88.5 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 89.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 81.3 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 00:16:02 into the tape and ends around 00:20:00.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

· Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
16:02It'll be, uh... That's when they have a start.
16:02That's a great line.
16:03No, a picture of Ted Kennedy saying, would you ride in a car with this man?
16:07We've got some of those mod posters there.
16:10You've got one of those posters painted around.
16:14That's what the whole lot of Kennedy rounds.
16:17Oh, is there?
16:17Well, you know how they hurt you, or they try to hurt you with this when you buy a new car?
16:22Well, would you ride in a car with this man?
16:26He's really, he said it very tenderly.
16:27Of course, the whole column is fantastic.
16:30He said, if you're going to make a used car, he ought to say, would you ride in a used car with this man?
16:35He talks about all the things that you have done in your first three years, and he said, if your name were Kennedy, I imagine that if a person named Kennedy had done these things, his followers would be singing songs from Camelot, while the workmen began carving his handsome likeness in a non-Russian one.
16:51It's a fabulous guy.
16:53It's being distributed.
16:59One of the difficulties, Mr. President,
17:03points like this Kennedy remark that they're down.
17:07We only see, you know, the new summary analysis just can't be that complete.
17:11I agree with you.
17:12I just want to just, you know, you hear what it is.
17:16But I see some of those things that have to continue to bounce around.
17:21This was a big article in the Boston Globe.
17:22Go to blast Kennedy for a remark about the idea that we can send.
17:26And it's a hell of a negative story on Kennedy.
17:30Then it goes on.
17:31There was the front page of the Traveller called what it says, Ted Exploits President.
17:39It was on the radio when he did it.
17:43These kind of things, they're hard to measure because we sit here just glued to that damn tube on the three headworks.
17:50But around the country, these things aren't lost.
17:53They have a cumulative impression, cumulative impact.
18:01Hey, I can't understand kind of these fellas except for this Q-Bertie.
18:04What is the gallop then now coming up?
18:07What is his next figure?
18:08Has he got it yet?
18:09Pulled last weekend, got a handle.
18:11Still pulling, I think.
18:13Why is he delayed now?
18:15God damn it, he's delayed.
18:16Well, his story is that because he runs three of them almost in a row there, you know, and he didn't show who's going to skip a throw.

NARA Description

On October 14, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 9:32 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 592-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 592-3

Date: October 14, 1971
Time: Unknown between 9:14 am and 9:32 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

     The President's schedule
          -Dr. Walter R. Tkach

Bull left at an unknown time before 9:32 am.

Also recorded on October 14, 1971

  • 011-088 9:14 AM · 6 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 6:06 pm.
  • 011-089 9:14 AM · 23 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 6:06 pm.
  • 011-090 9:14 AM · 1 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 6:06 pm.
  • 011-091 9:14 AM · 5 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 6:06 pm.
  • 011-092 9:14 AM · 14 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 6:06 pm.
  • 011-093 9:14 AM · 36 sec — Henry A. Kissinger and Gerard C. Smith talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 6:06 pm.
  • 011-094 9:14 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 6:06 pm.
  • 011-095 9:14 AM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:14 am and 6:06 pm.

All 42 conversations from October 14, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 592-003, October 14, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/592-003 (accessed September 28, 2026).