Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 685 › Conversation 685-017

Nixon & Bull on Luci Baines Johnson and Diplomatic gifts

Tuesday, March 14, 1972 · 3:31 PM–3:37 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation685-017 onTape 685 (tape position 05:40:00–05:41:38)StartTuesday, March 14, 1972 at 3:31 PMEndTuesday, March 14, 1972 at 3:37 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 685-017 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with aide Stephen B. Bull to coordinate an upcoming meeting with Luci Baines Johnson. The discussion focused on the logistics of providing gifts, including items acquired during the President's recent trip to the People's Republic of China. Nixon also addressed arrangements for a special tour for Johnson and considerations regarding public perception of these interactions.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.9 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 167.8 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 161.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 4) · 40.1 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 05:40:00 into the tape and ends around 05:41:38.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

5:40:24No, I don't know what else we can get a job, because you know I just created a job for China, too.

5:40:35Oh, that's great.

5:40:36Now, all of a sudden, we didn't realize it.

5:40:39No, because you got to do it for me.

5:40:42I told them that they sure better be careful about that.

5:40:56but we brought it a long way.

5:40:59I like those hangers.

5:41:01I'll bet you that Washington Zoo, this is those hangers down there, they have the biggest one.

5:41:07I mean, it's too outside of the United States.

5:41:12Outside of the United States today, you can't build that.

5:41:16Well, I'm not at one mosque.

5:41:22I'm just the only care who's living outside of China.

5:41:27Oh, yeah.

5:41:28I haven't been to the zoo for 30 years.

5:41:31I'm sorry.

5:41:31Oh, God.

5:41:32All I can do is get her a special tour around Hawaii.

5:41:38And you might have to tell the others.

NARA Description

On March 14, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:31 pm and 3:37 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 685-017 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 685-17

Date: March 14, 1972
Time: Unknown between 3:31 pm and 3:37 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

        Meeting with Luci (Johnson) Nugent
             -Gifts
                    -Patrick L. Nugent
                    -People’s Republic of China [PRC]
                          -Jewelry box
                          -Scroll
                          -Koala print

Bull left.

Also recorded on March 14, 1972

021-067 3:15 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:15 pm and 4:18 pm.
685-013 3:16 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:16 pm to 3:24 pm.
685-014 3:24 PM · 55 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:24 pm to 3:25 pm.
685-015 3:25 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Debbie Wright, George H. Mahon, Raymond L. Schafer, Macon T. Edwards, James T. Hazelwood, John E. Nidecker, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:25 pm to 3:31 pm.
685-016 3:31 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 3:31 pm and 3:37 pm.
685-018 3:37 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Tricia Nixon Cox, Luci Johnson Nugent, Patrick L. Nugent, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:37 pm to 3:49 pm.
685-019 3:49 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at 3:49 pm.
685-020 3:49 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:49 pm to 3:52 pm.

All 41 conversations from March 14, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 685-017, March 14, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/685-017 (accessed September 18, 2026).