Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 683 › Conversation 683-012

Nixon & Bull on Henry Kissinger and Busing

Monday, March 13, 1972 · 3:02 PM–3:05 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation683-012 on Tape 683 (tape position 04:51:32–04:52:18)StartMonday, March 13, 1972 at 3:02 PMEndMonday, March 13, 1972 at 3:05 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 683-012 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Stephen B. Bull reviewed the President’s upcoming schedule to manage various executive and legislative priorities. They discussed arrangements for meetings with George H. Mahon, Otto E. Passman, and Henry Kissinger, alongside a request from John D. Ehrlichman and Edward L. Morgan to discuss the administration's stance on busing. The conversation focused on coordination of these engagements to ensure the President remains in control of key policy decisions.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.7 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 164.4 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 04:51:32 into the tape and ends around 04:52:18.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

4:51:16Yeah, I don't try to stop their speculation, but I'll make, but I'm sure you're right.
4:51:23I make the decision.
4:51:31I expressed my views on many occasions, but I don't agree with any of them.
4:51:41More of this slathered around the past is there's nothing to it.
4:51:44The president's confidence, the secretary's state of confidence, but I guess both are very capable matters of doing things with actual foreign policy.
4:52:06I can see where you'd be right.
4:52:09Who in the world, even Henry Kissinger's greatest admirer,

NARA Description

On March 13, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:02 pm and 3:05 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 683-012 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 683-12

Date: March 13, 1972

Time: Unknown between 3:02 pm and 3:05 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

     The President’s schedule
          -Upcoming meeting with George H. Mahon
          -Otto E. Passman
                -Henry A. Kissinger
          -John D. Ehrlichman and Edward L. Morgan
                -Request for a meeting with the President
                      -Busing

Bull left at an unknown time before 3:05 pm.

Also recorded on March 13, 1972

  • 683-010 2:50 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:50 pm to 2:54 pm.
  • 683-011 2:54 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:54 pm to 3:02 pm.
  • 683-021 2:54 PM · 53 sec — Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:54 pm and 3:02 pm.
  • 683-013 3:05 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Grover E. Murray, John R. Bradford, Richard K. Cook, John E. Nidecker, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:05 pm to 3:12 pm.
  • 683-014 3:12 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:12 pm and 3:15 pm.
  • 683-015 3:15 PM · 26 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Otto E. Passman, Henry A. Kissinger, Richard K. Cook, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:15 pm to 3:41 pm.
  • 683-016 3:41 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:41 pm and 3:48 pm.
  • 683-017 3:41 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:41 pm and 3:48 pm.

All 72 conversations from March 13, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 683-012, March 13, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/683-012 (accessed October 3, 2026).