Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 659 › Conversation 659-012

Nixon & Bull on Social planning and White House staffing

Friday, January 28, 1972 · 2:51 PM–2:59 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation659-012 on Tape 659 (tape position 03:43:52–03:44:27)StartFriday, January 28, 1972 at 2:51 PMEndFriday, January 28, 1972 at 2:59 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 659-012 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with his aide Stephen B. Bull to discuss personal logistical arrangements and social planning. The conversation focused on identifying suitable individuals for a specific event or engagement while ensuring the details remained confidential to maintain an element of surprise. Nixon provided instructions regarding potential attendees, specifically expressing interest in including single men and specific associates of the Walson family.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 168.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.5 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 84.7 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 03:43:52 into the tape and ends around 03:44:27.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
3:43:54We can buy a cat.
3:43:54And a girl.
3:43:55Rogers Morgan would fit well in it.
3:44:04Captain, sir, that's about here.
3:44:06I don't think there are any others.
3:44:23Yeah.
3:44:23Well, she's in New York.
3:44:25She'll be fine.
3:44:26I'd love to have her.
3:44:28You know, any time like that, uh, see if there's anybody else I can run into.
3:44:34Now, there's going to be people that are here, of course, but just say, just a thought.
3:44:48Yeah, single man.
3:44:56So,
3:45:15It's mainly friends of the Walsons, but we'd like to be a cabinet because they're, you know, reset by people if they're free.
3:45:26Because I'm not here for this.
3:45:30No, no, that'll get around.
3:45:31We're trying to keep that a surprise.

NARA Description

On January 28, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:51 pm and 2:59 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 659-012 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 659-12

Date: January 28, 1972
Time: Unknown between 2:51 pm and 2:59 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

     Apology

     Instruction

Bull left at an unknown time before 2:59 pm.

Also recorded on January 28, 1972

  • 659-010 2:24 PM · 27 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:24 pm to 2:51 pm.
  • 659-011 2:51 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:51 pm and 2:59 pm.
  • 659-021 2:51 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:51 pm and 2:59 pm.
  • 088-003 2:59 PM · 50 min — President Richard M. Nixon and members of the Construction Industry Collective Bargaining Commission, including James D. Hodgson, Richard C. Van Dusen, J. Curtis Counts, John T. Dunlop, Frank A. Bonadio, Maurice A. Hutcheson, Martin J. Ward, Hunter P. Wharton, Carl M. Halvorson, Robert L. Higgins, John A. Stastny, Laurence H. Silberman, Willie J. Usery, Jr., Michael H. Moskow, Peter Fosco, John H. ("Jack") Lyons, Charles H. Pillard, Joseph T. Power, Thomas H. Owens, William E. Dunn, James H. Ferguson, Joseph Rich, George A. Miller, Fred R. Stevens, Dale R. Witcraft, David P. Lafayette, E. Carl Uehlein, Jr., D. Quinn Mills, Edward F. Carlough, John W. Healy, II, Robert A. Georgine, William Sidell, and Donald H. Rumsfeld, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 2:59 pm to 3:50 pm.
  • 659-022 2:59 PM · 58 sec — United States Secret Service agents and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:59 pm and 3:50 pm.
  • 088-004 3:50 PM — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 3:50 pm on January 28, 1972 and 1:30 pm on January 31, 1972.
  • 659-013 3:50 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:50 pm to 3:52 pm.
  • 659-014 3:52 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:52 pm and 4:06 pm.

All 37 conversations from January 28, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 659-012, January 28, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/659-012 (accessed October 12, 2026).