Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 642 › Conversation 642-021

Nixon, Bull & Sanchez on Media Relations and Diplomatic Relations

Monday, January 3, 1972 · 10:56 AM–11:00 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.; Sanchez, Manolo; [Unknown person(s)]Conversation642-021 on Tape 642 (tape position 04:00:50–04:02:41)StartMonday, January 3, 1972 at 10:56 AMEndMonday, January 3, 1972 at 11:00 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 642-021 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Stephen Bull and other staff members to review his upcoming daily schedule and address the urgent search for a set of misplaced papers. During the discussion, the President also reflected on recent media coverage, expressing frustration over cynical press questions regarding the political timing of his upcoming diplomatic visits to China and the Soviet Union. He noted that despite the hostile lines of inquiry, he maintained a composed and professional demeanor during his public appearances.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.6 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.6 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 148.0 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 04:00:50 into the tape and ends around 04:02:41.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
4:00:51Thank you very much.
4:00:55Jerry, good to see you again.
4:01:03Happy New Year.
4:01:04But you want to go to the party like everybody else does?
4:01:13Oh, I think I've got enough on my hands.
4:01:16You don't want to go, right?
4:01:17The first man is not going.
4:01:19The first man.
4:01:20I mean, every place is a match.
4:01:21Yeah.
4:01:22Yeah, I had to see the whole CDS through here.
4:01:24That's the whole match that's going to be going.
4:01:27All right, sir.
4:01:28That came out very well.
4:01:30That program looked up very well.
4:01:32That's good.
4:01:32Oh, it's good.
4:01:33Good coverage this morning.
4:01:34Good coverage.
4:01:38I thought it was very good.
4:01:41Somebody was saying, one of my friends says, he thought that the audience, I was sitting there, when he went out and I read a blank question, what is the situation on this?
4:02:00Did you delay the end of the war?
4:02:03Are you going to time the Chinese visit?
4:02:06Are you going to time the Soviet visit?
4:02:08Are you going to time your economic thing just for the election year?
4:02:12I thought that was pretty god damn cheap.
4:02:14Now that's just too insulting a question to answer.
4:02:18But I was, I think the fact that you made a school of papers all come in this morning is a little, did you have a, you were relaxed, cool, had a good will.
4:02:27I think it's a little, I had a little dig there where I said, well, you know, everybody's going to say that the president does something.
4:02:34I said, of course, there was some of my supporters who thought that the bombing was coming a few days before the election.

NARA Description

On January 3, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Manolo Sanchez, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:56 am and 11:00 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 642-021 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 642-21

Date: January 3, 1972
Time: Unknown between 10:56 am and 11:00 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

     The President's schedule
          -Clark MacGregor
          -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
          -Gerard C. Smith
          -George P. Shultz and Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger
          -Shultz, MacGregor, Weinberger

Manolo Sanchez entered at an unknown time after 10:56 am.

Bull left at an unknown time before 11:00 am.

     Misplaced papers
          -Search

An unknown man entered at an unknown time after 10:56 am.

Sanchez left at an unknown time before 11:00 am

          -Notes
          -Possible location
               -Wastebasket
               -Letter

     The President's schedule
          -Shultz

The unknown man left at an unknown time before 11:00 am.

Also recorded on January 3, 1972

  • 642-022 10:56 AM · 39 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:56 am and 11:00 am.
  • 642-023 11:00 AM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:00 am to 11:08 am.
  • 018-004 11:08 AM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:08 am and 11:09 am.
  • 642-024 11:08 AM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:08 am and 11:09 am.
  • 642-025 11:08 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:08 am and 11:09 am.
  • 642-026 11:09 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:09 am to 11:15 am.
  • 642-027 11:15 AM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Clark MacGregor, Jody Smith, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:15 am to 11:42 am.
  • 018-005 11:20 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Jody Smith talked on the telephone from 11:20 am to 11:21 am.

All 105 conversations from January 3, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 642-021, January 3, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/642-021 (accessed October 22, 2026).