Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 707 › Conversation 707-008

Nixon & Bull on Texas and Fishing rights

Wednesday, April 12, 1972 · 11:22 AM–11:33 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation707-008 on Tape 707 (tape position 00:35:13–00:35:42)StartWednesday, April 12, 1972 at 11:22 AMEndWednesday, April 12, 1972 at 11:33 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 707-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Stephen B. Bull discussed a controversial Justice Department lawsuit challenging Texas’s established ten-mile fishing rights, which conflicted with prior legislative and judicial precedents. Concerned by the political implications and the inquiries from Texas Supreme Court Justice Price Daniel, Nixon directed Bull to investigate the origin and rationale behind the filing. The President expressed frustration with the litigation, emphasizing the need to clarify why the administration pursued a suit that appeared to contradict settled state maritime boundaries.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.6 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 58.8 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 00:35:13 into the tape and ends around 00:35:42.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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35:26The Justice Department has filed a suit against the state of Texas on fishing rights to get into that tide line spot again.
35:37We're claiming apparently that the three mile limit applies to fishing rights, even though the courts and the Congress have established that Texas has ten mile rights.
35:46I'm not sure.
35:47He called us a whole lot.
35:48Price Daniels, who is now Justice of the Supreme Court in Texas, is in town, wrote to you and wanted to see you about this, and then he called the county saying, saying, so we've got to, I think, go in and try to find out where the hell it is or who brought it and what it was.
36:03But the county's point is the suit should have never been brought.
36:07The title, in spite of the settle long ago, it should be left that way.

NARA Description

On April 12, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:22 am and 11:33 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 707-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 707-8

Date: April 12, 1972
Time: Unknown between 11:22 am and 11:33 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

     The President's schedule
          -Meeting with John D. Ehrlichman

Bull left at an unknown time before 11:33 am.

Also recorded on April 12, 1972

  • 707-005 10:14 AM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Hugh Scott, Gerald R. Ford, Clark MacGregor, William E. Timmons, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:14 am to 10:26 am.
  • 707-006 10:26 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:26 am and 10:32 am.
  • 707-007 10:26 AM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:26 am and 10:32 am.
  • 022-116 11:22 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:22 am and 11:33 am.
  • 707-009 11:22 AM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:22 am and 11:33 am.
  • 022-117 11:33 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 11:33 am to 11:36 am.
  • 707-010 11:33 AM · 2 hr 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John B. Connally, John D. Ehrlichman, Alexander P. Butterfield, Beverly J. Kaye, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:33 am to 1:40 pm.
  • 330-032 1:40 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:40 pm and 2:47 pm.

All 37 conversations from April 12, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 707-008, April 12, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/707-008 (accessed October 1, 2026).