Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 658 › Conversation 658-032

Nixon & Bull on Geopolitics and Soviet Union

Thursday, January 27, 1972 · 3:46 PM–3:49 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation658-032 on Tape 658 (tape position 05:23:47–05:25:28)StartThursday, January 27, 1972 at 3:46 PMEndThursday, January 27, 1972 at 3:49 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 658-032 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon held a brief meeting with Stephen B. Bull to discuss broad geopolitical themes and the perceived ideological threats posed by the Soviet Union and China. The conversation focused on Nixon's concerns regarding the national character of these nations and the potential dangers of intellectual stagnation or complacency within the American government. No formal policy decisions were reached, as the discussion primarily consisted of the President articulating his critical views on international relations and political leadership.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 168.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 131.3 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 05:23:47 into the tape and ends around 05:25:28.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
5:23:49But, you have this whole distribution, geographically, and also, from the top.
5:23:54Then I went off and said, it would be fun, we could all be islands, we could all think about it, and start doing things.
5:24:00But we don't have the right information for war.
5:24:03But I said, we don't live in a nation.
5:24:05I said, communism comes from socialism, and other things, and the state of Iraq and the state of China.
5:24:13But,
5:24:14The Russian people are strong, false, and dangerous people.
5:24:18The Chinese people are strong, false, and dangerous people, despite all the opiates that's going on in the country.
5:24:24And I said, what are strong, false, and dangerous people?
5:24:31And, of course, in your future, none of the questions is the United States Minister going to lose his balls in his daydream.
5:24:39Not is he?
5:24:41Or are we going to stand up and get rid of the dependence on him?
5:24:46And actually, the trouble is, this is the whole thing.
5:24:49The whole thing tolerates it.
5:24:51The people that run it are probably going to sell it to you.
5:24:56The worst kind of incest they had was intellectual incest.
5:25:14And I said, they were talking too much, they talked too much, they didn't do it.
5:25:17But the main fact, I said, you know, they had to be heard.
5:25:21No question.
5:25:21And I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I,

NARA Description

On January 27, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:46 pm and 3:49 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 658-032 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 658-32

Date: January 27, 1972
Time: Unknown between 3:46 pm and 3:49 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

     [Unintelligible]

Bull left at an unknown time before 3:49 pm.

The President left at 3:49 pm.

Also recorded on January 27, 1972

  • 019-144 3:00 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:00 pm and 3:07 pm.
  • 658-027 3:00 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:00 pm and 3:07 pm.
  • 658-028 3:00 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:00 pm and 3:07 pm.
  • 019-145 3:07 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 3:07 pm.
  • 658-029 3:07 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 3:07 pm.
  • 658-030 3:07 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:07 pm and 3:13 pm.
  • 658-031 3:13 PM · 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:13 pm to 3:46 pm.
  • 658-033 3:46 PM · 26 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:46 pm and 3:49 pm.

All 57 conversations from January 27, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 658-032, January 27, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/658-032 (accessed October 12, 2026).