Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 664 › Conversation 664-007

Nixon & Bull on Foreign Policy and India-Pakistan Conflict

Wednesday, February 2, 1972 · 12:16 PM–12:18 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation664-007 on Tape 664 (tape position 01:09:58–01:10:47)StartWednesday, February 2, 1972 at 12:16 PMEndWednesday, February 2, 1972 at 12:18 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 664-007 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with his personal aide, Stephen B. Bull, to review the President’s daily schedule, including appointments with John D. Ehrlichman, former Speaker John W. McCormack, and entertainer Pearl M. Bailey regarding her Heart of the Year Award. During the discussion, Nixon pivoted to a brief foreign policy critique concerning recent geopolitical tensions involving India, Russia, and the stability of the West Pacific. He requested a formal briefing document summarizing past diplomatic overtures, foreign responses, and the regional anxieties stemming from these international interactions.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 169.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 41.4 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 01:09:58 into the tape and ends around 01:10:47.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

1:09:56I'm just trying to, basically, what we're really trying to do is to keep the Indians, what we did at the end of the day, from God and from the neighbor.
1:09:58If they had, if the Indians, with the support of the Russians, had knocked over the Westpacs,
1:10:05It would be a damned, unsafe world.
1:10:08It's pretty unsafe as it is.
1:10:10I can't have a little rundown on all the overtures we have made, and the disquiet that they had caused, the Russian replies, the Indian replies, and so forth.
1:10:22I think we're going to go alive.
1:10:23I have to say this.
1:10:25On the contrary, we're afraid we just want them for their own good to stay the hell out of war and put me in the Chinese men.

NARA Description

On February 2, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:16 pm and 12:18 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 664-007 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 664-7

Date: February 2, 1972
Time: Unknown between 12:16 pm and 12:18 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

     President’s schedule
          -John D. Ehrlichman
          -Pearl M. Bailey visit
                -Heart of the Year Award
          -John W. McCormack

Bull left at an unknown time before 12:18 pm.

Also recorded on February 2, 1972

  • 020-026 12:06 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:06 pm and 2:09 pm.
  • 664-008 12:18 PM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, Stephen B. Bull, Pearl M. Bailey, J. Willis Hurst, Ross Reid, Dr. James M. Hundley, Campbell Moses, M. Frederisk Arkus, Herbert Cornell, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., James H. Cavanaugh, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:18 pm to 12:34 pm.
  • 664-009 12:35 PM · 41 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:35 pm.
  • 664-010 12:35 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Richard W. Mallary, Richard K. Cook, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:35 pm to 12:41 pm.
  • 664-011 12:41 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:41 pm and 12:43 pm.
  • 664-012 12:41 PM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:41 pm and 12:43 pm.
  • 664-013 12:41 PM · 18 min — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), John W. McCormack, White House photographer, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:41 pm and 12:43 pm.
  • 664-014 1:00 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:00 pm and 1:03 pm.

All 71 conversations from February 2, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 664-007, February 2, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/664-007 (accessed October 12, 2026).