Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 709 › Conversation 709-002

Nixon & Bull on Vietnam War and Foreign Policy

Monday, April 17, 1972 · 8:36 AM–8:58 AM ET · Oval Office · 6 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation709-002 on Tape 709 (tape position 00:03:45–00:03:50)StartMonday, April 17, 1972 at 8:36 AMEndMonday, April 17, 1972 at 8:58 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 709-002 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Stephen B. Bull to coordinate administration messaging and political maneuvering, specifically regarding ongoing negotiations with North Vietnam and domestic legislative concerns. The discussion centered on clarifying the administration's stance on negotiations to avoid undermining press secretary Ron Ziegler and managing potential political fallout from staff appointments and campaign-related controversies. Nixon also instructed his team to prepare contingency plans for troop withdrawals and to adopt a more aggressive posture on both international and domestic communications.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Some other notes, which I may have covered, but I did report them a couple of days ago.
Growing out of the period of the Kennedy visit, when we did their records, I invited Dr. Rogers.
On Sunday, I had called him back around 4.30.
He was gone, and I had told everybody to leave, to have the White House operator hold my calls for the rest of the day, since I wanted to spend the time with all of them.
It was a matter of a mind-based nomination.
However, at 6.30, the operator called and said, well, here's the system I'm talking to you in.
I called him back.
He was not there.
By 7.30, I reached him at his home, carried a paragraph.
His main concern seemed to be to get off the wicket that Larry had put us on, to the effect that we would not negotiate until all South Vietnamese, North Vietnamese, got out of South Vietnam.
I told him that that, of course, was not our position, but that we should do everything possible to avoid undercutting Larry.
That the term of not negotiating while we had a gun in our head certainly was one that we could use.
the job because he knows that the senators will whine around.
Uh, about the bombing, you know, he was away.
I told him that I thought he ought to take them home.
And he said that he didn't even feel like he should take any of them home personally.
He said also that the American muskie might not be there, the American tree was burning, but the fact that when you get a muskie on, you've got to spend a total of credits on it.
I am precisely on the fifth.
Everybody I was very proud of was talking to me about this.
The conversation during the day on
We're very frustrating since it was difficult to get anybody to move since we were out of touch.
Mentally, the responsibility to get Fannin to suggest to Irvin that we let them have money with the expectation that Irvin would turn it down unless he'd get the whole White House staff.
But by 7.30 or 8 o'clock, we have not heard back from Mitchell and I assume he did not accomplish his mission.
It is obvious that Mitchell is more concerned about getting Lanky's confirmed than he is about the potential bombshell that might result if
At least it goes into your control of collecting bombs during the 1970 campaign in Korea.
Your role was virtually legal.
But on the other hand, at this point, it would sound that the Viking people and their heroism sort of pale.
I encouraged all of them to get some sort of text written for planning this withdrawal.
We apparently had not done this because we didn't want to leave any indications around the staff that we were considering this.
I had recalled at one point last week that Colson's group at least had something prepared.
I also told Baldwin that I wanted him to ram her up, ghost her, and fire her head on an international domestic front.
It will be interesting to see what they're able to do with this respect without behind cutting.
Baldwin has been very good about not insisting on the cat meeting, even though I offered to have him.
My guess is, apparently, it's a good idea.
Just to bear with you.
I told Tom that I thought we should tell Tom that he should wait until after the progression trip before raising any ideas of...

NARA Description

On April 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:36 am and 8:58 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 709-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 709-2

Date: April 17, 1972
Time: Unknown between 8:36 am and 8:58 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

     Ronald L. Ziegler
          -Meeting with the President

Bull left at an unknown time before 8:58 am.

Also recorded on April 17, 1972

  • 709-001 8:36 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:36 am and 8:58 am.
  • 709-003 8:36 AM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:36 am and 8:58 am.
  • 709-004 8:36 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:36 am and 8:58 am.
  • 709-005 8:36 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:36 am and 8:58 am.
  • 709-006 8:36 AM · 27 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:36 am and 8:58 am.
  • 709-007 8:36 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:36 am and 8:58 am.
  • 709-008 8:58 AM · 36 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, White House operator, and William P. Rogers met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:58 am to 9:34 am.
  • 709-009 9:35 AM · 56 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:35 am to 10:32 am.

All 48 conversations from April 17, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 709-002, April 17, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/709-002 (accessed October 12, 2026).