Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 663 › Conversation 663-003

Nixon, Haldeman & Bull on Media bias and Edith Efron

Tuesday, February 1, 1972 · 2:53 PM–3:02 PM ET · Oval Office · 12 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation663-003 on Tape 663 (tape position 00:14:50–00:26:24)StartTuesday, February 1, 1972 at 2:53 PMEndTuesday, February 1, 1972 at 3:02 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 663-003 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and H. R. Haldeman met to coordinate a strategy for challenging the perceived bias of major television networks, focusing specifically on the distribution and promotion of Edith Efron's book, *How CBS Tried to Kill a Book*. The discussion involved plans to utilize Patrick Buchanan and various conservative organizations to monitor media coverage and distribute Efron’s forthcoming testimony to key influencers. During the meeting, Stephen B. Bull joined to briefly discuss the President's schedule, including a potential appointment related to the Atomic Energy Commission.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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that I really believe women
Score, why don't we announce them?
A little, uh... You can start it now.
It's a demographic error.
Say they're not the third of the demographic.
I mean, they're the thing that's not going to do this.
You can't, uh...
I mean, well, they can't prove it, but they just know them all.
Hey, some of those people have wanted to prove it more than we can accept.
They can probably prove it.
Maybe.
You've got a real line there.
But could I, could I just urge that...
Get that sign first.
Get the lowest sign.
It ain't never been watched.
It ain't never been watched.
We've got a fireball in there.
Somebody can get all excited about it.
Who can be cranked up.
We're recruiting a lot of lawyers and people like that around the country.
Bye-bye.
I heard the right part of this.
We're going to have our people say, of course, Terry got a snack and I'm going to have to mess with you guys because you've got to kiss me.
Thank you.

NARA Description

On February 1, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:53 pm to 3:02 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 663-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 663-003

Date: February 1, 1972
Time: 2:53 pm - 3:02 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.

     Press relations
          -Edith Efron, How CBS Tried to Kill a Book (1972)
                 -Publicity
                 -William F. (“Billy”) Graham
                 -Patrick J. Buchanan
                       -Possible letter
                             -Efron’s forthcoming testimony
                             -Book circulation
                             -Distribution with testimony
                                   -Editors
                                   -[Samuel J. Ervin, Jr.] Committee
          -Antagonism

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

                -L. Richard Guylay’s view
           -Television networks
                -Possible letters and calls
                      -Barbara H. Franklin
                      -John Birch Society
                      -Women
                -Distribution of Efron book and testimony
                -Women
                -News monitoring
                      -Possible foundation
                            -Efron
                                  -Democrats
                            -John A. (“Jack”) Mulcahy
                      -Franklin
                            -Station owners
                      -American Broadcasting Corporation [ABC], Columbia Broadcasting
                            System [CBS]
                      -Foundation
                            -Mulcahy
                      -Accuracy in media group
                      -Buchanan
                      -Tom C. Huston
                      -Story to CBS [?]
           -Criticism of administration
                 -Guylay memorandum
                 -Meeting with Graham
                 -Rebuttal
                      -Bernard J. (“Bunny”) Lasker
                      -Max Frankel
                      -Herbert E. Kaplow
                      -Jacob K. Javits
                      -Efron
                            -Marriage
                            [Clytia Chambers]
                      -Administration
                            -Henry A. Kissinger
                            -William L. Safire
                            -Leonard Garment
                            -Arthur F. Burns

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

                              -Herbert Stein
                              -Ezra Solomon
                              -Marina Von N. Whitman

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 2:53 pm.

     President’s schedule
           -John N. Mitchell

Bull left at an unknown time before 3:02 pm.

     Appointments
          -Atomic Energy Commission [AEC]
               -Woman [Jane Hall]
                    -The President’s meeting with James R. Schlesinger, January 31, 1972
                    -Los Alamos
                    -California

Also recorded on February 1, 1972

  • 662-009 12:20 PM · 38 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:20 pm.
  • 662-010 12:21 PM · 25 min — President Richard M. Nixon, D. B. Varner, Robert S. Devaney, Jerry Tagge, John Kinney, Johnny Rodgers, Rich Glover, Larry Jacobsen, Willy Harper, George Cook, Dick Herman, Roman L. Hruska, Christopher T. Cross, David T. Martin, John McCollister, Charles Thone, Lee Moncrief, Wally Johnson, White House photographer, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:21 pm and 12:52 pm.
  • 662-011 12:52 PM · 47 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:52 pm to 1:37 pm.
  • 663-001 1:37 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 1:37 pm and 2:53 pm.
  • 663-002 1:37 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:37 pm and 2:53 pm.
  • 663-004 3:02 PM · 58 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald W. Reagan, John N. Mitchell, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House photographer, Stephen B. Bull, Daniel J. Evans, James D. Hodgson, and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:02 pm to 4:00 pm.
  • 663-005 4:05 PM · 1 hr 28 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John B. Connally, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:05 pm to 5:33 pm.
  • 663-006 5:33 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:33 pm and 5:35 pm.

All 23 conversations from February 1, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 663-003, February 1, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/663-003 (accessed October 12, 2026).