Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 703
Nixon White House Tape 703 (April 5, 1972)
7 conversations · Oval Office · about 3 hr 10 min of released audio
Featuring Nixon, Bull, Haldeman, Sanchez, Andrews
President Nixon met with family members and senior aide H. R. Haldeman to coordinate the First Family’s 1972 campaign appearances and media strategy. The discussion centered on maximizing television exposure through talk shows and public service events, with a focus on targeting key demographics such as blue-collar and Catholic voters. Nixon emphasized the importance of projecting warmth and compassion, directed the staff to prepare better briefing materials for the family, and finalized plans for upcoming diplomatic trips and social events at the White House.
President Nixon met with his aide Stephen B. Bull in the Oval Office to conduct a brief review of his daily schedule. The discussion focused on administrative logistics and the coordination of the President's upcoming appointments. No significant policy decisions were recorded during this brief planning session.
President Nixon consulted with his aide Stephen B. Bull regarding the scheduling of upcoming meetings, specifically focusing on a planned engagement with John K. Andrews, Jr. The discussion centered on logistics and coordination for the President's calendar. The conversation concluded with Bull departing the Oval Office shortly thereafter.
President Nixon met with John K. Andrews, Jr. to review and revise the text of an upcoming speech on non-public education and school busing. The discussion focused on refining the administration's firm stance against busing while maintaining a conciliatory tone for the audience, and carefully framing the crisis facing Catholic and non-public schools. Nixon directed specific changes to the speech's language, including calls for national unity and the removal of phrases that might imply administration support for busing as a primary policy tool.
President Nixon met with Stephen B. Bull to coordinate logistical arrangements for an upcoming meeting involving Henry Kissinger and Secretary of State William P. Rogers. The discussion focused on confirming Rogers’s location and managing his arrival to ensure he could be integrated into the scheduled briefing. Nixon instructed Bull to facilitate the meeting and ensure the Secretary was promptly brought in upon his arrival.
President Nixon met with Henry Kissinger, William Rogers, and several staff members to discuss the ongoing North Vietnamese offensive and the resulting military and diplomatic response. The participants reviewed the status of air strikes, the performance of the South Vietnamese military, and the necessity of maintaining a low-profile press strategy until military actions are clearly justified by enemy provocation. Additionally, the group coordinated logistics for upcoming presidential foreign travel, specifically focusing on the USSR trip and potential stopovers in Poland and Iran, while also briefly assessing the 1972 Democratic presidential primary landscape.
A United States Secret Service agent met with unknown individuals in the Oval Office to briefly discuss the President's location. The exchange was extremely brief and yielded no significant policy developments or actionable information beyond administrative inquiries regarding the President's whereabouts.