Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 593 › Conversation 593-009

Nixon & Bull on Presidential travel and Public relations

Friday, October 15, 1971 · 9:58 AM–10:08 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation593-009 on Tape 593 (tape position 01:02:44–01:04:54)StartFriday, October 15, 1971 at 9:58 AMEndFriday, October 15, 1971 at 10:08 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 593-009 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Stephen B. Bull discuss logistical arrangements regarding upcoming travel, specifically noting the exclusion of Japan from the current itinerary. The conversation shifts to a strategic evaluation of public appearances and motorcade security protocols, with Nixon expressing skepticism toward overly casual or dangerous interactions with crowds. Nixon emphasizes the need for a balanced, discreet approach to public engagement that avoids the perceived risks of overexposure while maintaining the dignity of the office.

Audio

part A, 1:02:44

Download MP3 (part 1) · 89.9 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 90.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 141.8 MB ·Download MP3 (part 4) · 89.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 5) · 55.2 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the players above hold the full tape, shared with neighbouring conversations. By the archivists' log it runs from 01:02:44 to 01:04:54 into the tape; their log often drifts a minute or two from the audio, so listen for the subjects in the finding aid.

NARA Description

On October 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:58 am and 10:08 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 593-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 593-9

Date: October 15, 1971
Time: Unknown between 9:58 am and 10:08 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

     The President's schedule
          -John B. Connally

Bull left at an unknown time before 10:08 am.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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; click one to play the tape from there.

Yeah.
About that he wants to visit the other countries too?
No problem.
And they will make the contact with the other countries?
Yeah.
Except for the Japanese.
The Japanese.
Okay.
I'll talk to you tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow morning.
And if you need to talk, I'll be at the campaign.
Good.
Good luck.
He still doesn't understand it.
He is so overwhelmed with the idea that they are different and so are healthy.
Nobody is talking about plunging into the crowds and all that sort of thing.
He says, I handle these things discreetly.
He knows that.
He doesn't know.
I'm not being tired of plunging into crowds.
He said the same thing in Romania.
I've never seen anybody as intoxicated into the crowds just as he was when you started.
Getting that kind of response, he said, don't do it.
Yeah, didn't he?
Yeah.
And it's just us using it.
Now, Oscar, in Christ's day, they were getting ready to kill some of us when we stopped the motorcade.
But the old boy never left your side, correct?
The next day, remember, he was supposed to go out alone.
There he was at the front doorstep, but when it came time to go, he was about to pass out of it.
All those people in the balcony will hear you say, I'm in Russia.
And I've got it all over the world.
And I was told by every Foreign Service officer who faces the world, these people are different.
They don't believe in it.
They're very proper and so forth.
But God damn it, the Americans do it.
Now, there is a line.
You don't cross Johnson's accrued son of a bitch.
You cross in, kiss babies, and put his arms through the ass of the man.
That's right.
That isn't it.
But I didn't do it that way, sir.
And Henry's got to see that, too.
And he knows God damn well that's true.
Oh.
It may not.
We may not have the option.
If we don't have the option, as you said, there are other ways.
If you're waiting, maybe a small act.
Well, there might be a photographer somewhere, and you're walking into a building, there's a doorman who will leave the door open or something, or a waiter standing there, and you stop and go over and talk to him for a few minutes, or call your interpreter over, and you have a little chat.
But this is all she finds, and so do you all the time.

Also recorded on October 15, 1971

  • 011-096 8:43 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:43 am and 9:09 am.
  • 011-097 9:09 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Donald McI. Kendall talked on the telephone from 9:09 am to 9:10 am.
  • 593-005 9:09 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Donald McI. Kendall met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:09 am to 9:10 am.
  • 593-006 9:10 AM · 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Henry A. Kissinger, and Peter G. Peterson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:10 am to 9:36 am.
  • 593-007 9:37 AM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Manolo Sanchez, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:37 am to 9:52 am.
  • 593-008 9:53 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Nobuhiko Ushiba met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:53 am to 9:58 am.
  • 593-010 10:08 AM · 37 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John B. Connally, Henry A. Kissinger, Robert S. McNamara, White House photographer, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:08 am to 10:37 am.
  • 593-011 10:38 AM · 53 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Stephen B. Bull, John N. Mitchell, John D. Ehrlichman, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:38 am to 11:32 am.

All 21 conversations from October 15, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 593-009, October 15, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/593-009 (accessed November 2, 2026).