Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 626 › Conversation 626-013

Nixon, Bull & Butterfield on Ambassadorial appointments

Tuesday, November 30, 1971 · 5:10 PM–5:21 PM ET · Oval Office · 9 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.; Butterfield, Alexander P.; Woods, Rose MaryConversation626-013 on Tape 626 (tape position 04:26:35–04:35:58)StartTuesday, November 30, 1971 at 5:10 PMEndTuesday, November 30, 1971 at 5:21 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 626-013 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield, Rose Mary Woods, and Stephen B. Bull to discuss administrative logistics and personnel appointments. The conversation addressed the potential reassignment of Roger E. Johnson and evaluated various candidates for U.S. ambassadorial positions in Spain and Argentina. Additionally, the group touched upon the President’s upcoming schedule, including media appearances and his recognition as Time’s "Man of the Year."

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Don't worry about it, buddy.
I'll walk closer.
I don't have time to see you.
Well, we have that day in the White House, and, uh, you know, the first thing he said, and I think it was, you know, the first thing he said was, you know, the first thing he said was, you know,
Oh, I forgot to bring my purse.
Can you speak to him?
Oh, okay.
We'll get it over to him if you want.
It's a clean copy.
Yes.
Yes, please.
He's in the right office.
He was not in the right office.
He was wrong.
That must have been awful for him.
Well, he's right.
He has a very helpful kid.
Uh-huh.
He's fast.
He has to be nice with kids, you know.
Uh-huh.
He's a good speed.
That's a lot of people today.
We know nothing to really have to bother you about.
But I can think of at the moment, I've noticed on everything.
Well, Roger Johnson came in to see me to ask if you really wanted him to go somewhere else.
Yeah.
It would be a better job for him.
He's going to die over there.
Travel with these people?
Travel with them.
You can't start a man at 62 or 63 or whatever being an advanced man.
The young kids find it hard to keep up with that stuff.
He just wants to know if you want him to go talk.
He's never met Mosbacher and he just did not want to take the word.
What he got was that John, that he came in and talked to me.
Just see what he says.
Because he came back and called him and said that he wanted to go.
I told Matt at the time, well, if he, Roger, wanted to go, you know, you wanted him to do what he wanted to or something.
He'll do whatever he wants to.
But I told him to try to find out.
Well, I think we can see what he thinks.
Because I know they don't know what they're going to do with him.
I don't know, I mean, he might be, he's a very nice, sweet man, but...
We've got to get him out of Argentina.
Oh, he's trying to take over the government there?
No, no, no.
You know, we don't realize that some of our old friends, you know... Oh, I've put up with that old friend for a long time.
Just do that.
You mean he only has to get out?
Watch.
No, no, but then he said Spain too, or do you mean the other one?
The old one, the one with the governor.
And the other one, Whitney, you mean?
Yeah, the one with Louie Dunlop, they can't send him.
He wouldn't be good enough.
Yeah, I remember you said you were sad about it.
You looked at me.
I showed you too much of my creativity.
Oh yeah, he's just senile.
And of course the other thing is that we turn people down.
who I'm testing out as he is.
He's 72 years old or something.
He's too old for a country that might have a problem, might have a big problem of the changeover.
I think that.
Well, you know, we live in exciting times.
I hated this last year, what we thought we could do.
All these songs, every one of them was a song, you know, it was a war.
It really is.
It's fantastic.
It really is amazing.
When do you do the Italians now?
When you go over to the French one?
I'm going to save myself.
I'm going to be one hell of a lot better than that mouse.
This is part of the future of this country.
All the little things that I do, I'm just going to be in shape for them.
That's right.
Oh, really?
It's dark today?
I'm only doing it because you see that it's the man of the year.
I've got to do it.
Well, if they're giving you that, they should have given you that a long time ago.
They're giving you that and I'm all for it, but that's a black flag.
It should have been a black flag.
Oh, don't worry.
That's why we were there early in the interview.
Because I think that article, I guess it was law of attorney, I know Willie Edwards, you know, that...
Willie, I guess.
No, I'm talking about the Nobel Prize.
Oh, boy.
But that was... Well, then you have these jackasses in this country who are screaming and thinking it's marvelous to give it to Willie Brandt.
We made it possible.
Huh?
Huh?
Yeah, uh... Well, uh, cover that for me.
I'd rather like you to kiss me, kiss me down for once.
Uh...
I'll tell you when I'm ready, uh, you'll come here now, keep, keep this, keep this side of the seat over here.
Well, I'll say it in person.
All right.

NARA Description

On November 30, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:10 pm and 5:21 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 626-013 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 626-13

Date: November 30, 1971
Time: 5:10 pm - unknown before 5:21 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with an unknown person [Stephen B. Bull?].

     Charles W. Colson

Alexander P. Butterfield entered and the unknown person [Bull?] left at 5:10 pm.

     Documents for signing

     The President's schedule
          -National Broadcasting Company [NBC] television show, “A Day in the Life of the
               President”

Rose Mary Woods entered and Butterfield left at 5:12 pm.

     The President's speech draft
          -Typing
          -Delivery to unknown man
          -John K. Andrews, Jr.
               -Ronald L. Ziegler
               -Work
          -Woods’s view

     Roger E. Johnson
         -Previous meeting with Woods
         -Role with Administration
                -Travel
                -Emil (“Bus”) Mosbacher, Jr.
                -John [Surname unknown]
                -Conversation with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
                -Ambassadorial position

     US Ambassadors
         -Spain
         -John D. Lodge
              -Argentina
         -Spain
              -Robert C. Hill
                   -Political ambitions
              -Cornelius V. Whitney
                   -Louie B. Nunn
                   -Woods’s view

     The President's term of office
          -Foreign visits and visitors
               -Summits
               -Italy
                      -France

     The President’s schedule
          -Time magazine
               -"Man of the Year" award

     Time magazine
          -Willard Edwards
          -Willy Brandt
               -Nobel Prize

Stephen B. Bull entered at 5:20 pm.

*****************************************************************

[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 04/14/2022.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[626-013-w005]
[Duration: 5s]

     The President’s health

*****************************************************************

Woods left at 5:20 pm.

     The President's schedule
          -Henry A. Kissinger
               -Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
          -Colson
          -Kissinger

Bull left at an unknown time before 5:21 pm.

Also recorded on November 30, 1971

  • 015-174 11:23 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 11:23 am.
  • 626-011 12:03 PM · 11 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:03 pm and 3:40 pm.
  • 015-175 3:48 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:48 pm and 3:55 pm.
  • 626-012 3:48 PM · 1 hr 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, White House operator, Clark MacGregor, David Reed, Hobart D. Lewis, White House photographer, Manolo Sanchez, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:48 pm to 5:10 pm.
  • 015-176 3:55 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Clark MacGregor talked on the telephone from 3:55 pm to 3:58 pm.
  • 626-014 5:21 PM · 48 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, Henry A. Kissinger, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:21 pm to 6:09 pm.
  • 015-177 5:45 PM · 32 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 5:45 pm to 5:46 pm.
  • 626-015 6:09 PM · 1 min — unknown person(s) and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:09 pm and 11:59 pm.

All 19 conversations from November 30, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 626-013, November 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/626-013 (accessed October 25, 2026).