Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 683 › Conversation 683-018

Nixon & Bull on White House staff and Political strategy

Monday, March 13, 1972 · 3:41 PM–3:48 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation683-018 on Tape 683 (tape position 05:30:26–05:32:24)StartMonday, March 13, 1972 at 3:41 PMEndMonday, March 13, 1972 at 3:48 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 683-018 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Stephen B. Bull reviewed the presidential schedule, focusing on the timing of upcoming meetings and the coordination of messaging. They specifically discussed the need to sharpen political talking points and confirmed a morning meeting for the following day. The dialogue underscores Nixon’s hands-on management of staff appointments and his desire to refine the administration's public presentation.

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 05:30:26 into the tape and ends around 05:32:24.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

5:30:37I just don't know.
5:30:38I mean, I know that he's trying to tool this thing, but what is your view?
5:30:42Is it in our interest to sharpen up some of those points a bit?
5:30:48That's what I, yeah.
5:30:50We just have a little more money.
5:31:12If not, we can do it tomorrow, say, 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock.
5:31:23If not, we can do it, well, if you want to get it done tomorrow, so...
5:31:32Make it, make it, 11 o'clock.
5:31:35And then we will have four, about 10.45 to give you an hour.
5:31:37So I have to, I have the Secretary General sent to it.
5:31:40All right, good luck.

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 3:41 pm and 3:48 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 683-018 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 683-18

Date: March 13, 1972
Time: Unknown between 3:41 pm and 3:48 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

     The President’s schedule
          -Possible meeting with an unknown man
               -Bull’s possible conversation with the unknown man
          -Forthcoming meeting with Charles W. Colson and Kenneth W. Clawson

Bull left at an unknown time before 3:48 pm.

Also recorded on March 13, 1972

  • 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.
  • 683-019 3:41 PM · 39 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:41 pm and 3:48 pm.
  • 683-020 3:48 PM · 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, Kenneth W. Clawson, James Keogh, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:48 pm to 4:58 pm.
  • 684-001 3:48 PM · 1 hr 46 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, Kenneth W. Clawson, White House operator, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:48 pm and 6:03 pm.
  • 021-054 3:50 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and James Keogh talked on the telephone from 3:50 pm to 3:52 pm.
  • 021-055 3:52 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:52 pm and 5:11 pm.

All 72 conversations from March 13, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 683-018, 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/683-018 (accessed October 3, 2026).