{"conversationCode":"718-010","tapeNumber":718,"conversationNumber":10,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-718-010","startDateTime":"1972-05-03T16:14:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-05-03T16:18:00.000Z","startDate":"3-May-1972","startTime":"12:14 PM","endDate":"3-May-1972","endTime":"12:18 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.;","description":"On May 3, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:14 pm and 12:18 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 718-010 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"OVAL","recordingDevice":"Oval Office","latitudeEstimated":38.8974,"longitudeEstimated":-77.0374,"chronCode":3,"chronRelease":"Third Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"28-Feb-2002","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 718-10\n\nDate: May 3, 1972\nTime: 12:14-unknown before 12:18 pm\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President met with Stephen B. Bull.\n\n                                        (rev. Dec-01)\n\n     President's schedule\n          -Forthcoming meeting\n          -Barber\n                 -Time\n                 -Arrangements\n                 -Time\n\nBull left at an unknown time before 12:18 pm.","filename":["718a.mp3","718b.mp3"],"tapeStart":"02:19:19","tapeEnd":"02:21:28","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Bull, Stephen B."],"prevCode":"718-009","nextCode":"718-011","tapeTranscriptFile":"718a.mp3,718b.mp3","transcript":[{"start":8360,"end":8360.09,"text":"I want the speech, or I haven't prepared the speech, because getting the speech and writing it will help me get my own thinking in the right time of day."},{"start":8360.65,"end":8370.71,"text":"And so I want the speech or copy of it by, uh, well, Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday."},{"start":8373.1,"end":8379.36,"text":"Well, let us say, let us say, could we have a copy of the speech rather than tomorrow?"},{"start":8379.38,"end":8382.15,"text":"Could we have it tomorrow at 7, after dinner, 7 o'clock?"},{"start":8382.95,"end":8384.59,"text":"That gets all day tomorrow."},{"start":8384.63,"end":8385.23,"text":"Fair enough."},{"start":8385.73,"end":8390.46,"text":"And you just put it in there, and we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll do it."},{"start":8390.76,"end":8392.36,"text":"I'm sorry, we'll do it."},{"start":8396.46,"end":8398.84,"text":"This will be one real surprise."},{"start":8398.92,"end":8401.77,"text":"On the edge of that, there will be absolutely no reason."},{"start":8402.03,"end":8405.17,"text":"It will make you look very strong."},{"start":8405.53,"end":8407.03,"text":"For a moment."},{"start":8407.09,"end":8407.87,"text":"For a while."},{"start":8408.29,"end":8413.54,"text":"But on the other hand, on the other hand, we will definitely serve."},{"start":8414.46,"end":8416.7,"text":"And frankly, it's the only choice we have."},{"start":8418.12,"end":8419.46,"text":"See, that's the way we have to look at it."},{"start":8419.52,"end":8421.39,"text":"If we had a better choice, we'd make it, wouldn't we?"},{"start":8422.18,"end":8423.89,"text":"Well, you can do the two-day strike."},{"start":8424.39,"end":8429.05,"text":"I think if we wait with that too long, if we wait just, they'll think we're flanking."},{"start":8429.09,"end":8430.72,"text":"I mean, we can't be any mad."},{"start":8430.85,"end":8433.7,"text":"Well, the two-day strike, it could still go."},{"start":8433.74,"end":8435.98,"text":"If it went by Tuesday, we wouldn't be waiting too long."},{"start":8437.5,"end":8439.69,"text":"No, but... No, but..."},{"start":8441.7,"end":8442.39,"text":"That's about it."},{"start":8442.81,"end":8444.89,"text":"Partially, we've got to go one way or the other."},{"start":8445.63,"end":8447.01,"text":"That's what I meant."},{"start":8447.03,"end":8449.65,"text":"So that's why you've got to decide."},{"start":8449.83,"end":8453.79,"text":"I've got to decide to go, uh, on this thing."},{"start":8453.87,"end":8458.15,"text":"If you can't do this on it, you can do it on the two-day strike for a while."},{"start":8458.19,"end":8461.39,"text":"Well, I can hold that."},{"start":8461.45,"end":8463.45,"text":"Okay, I'll, I'll get that done."},{"start":8464.64,"end":8469.8,"text":"But I agree you can't hold up the decision until, uh, the weekend at play."}],"transcriptBoundary":{"start":8360,"end":8486.375,"startMethod":"silence","endMethod":"silence"},"transcriptConfidence":"high","transcriptSource":"bigtape","aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Stephen B. Bull discuss the urgent preparation of a high-stakes speech, with Nixon demanding a draft by the following evening to clarify his strategic thinking. The conversation touches upon the necessity of decisive action, weighing the risks and perceptions of a potential military strike. Nixon emphasizes the limited options available to the administration and mandates a final decision to avoid the appearance of hesitation.","topics":["Speechwriting","Military strategy","Decision-making","Presidential scheduling","Foreign policy"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-07T03:12:57.893Z"},"topicSlugs":["speechwriting","military-strategy","decision-making","presidential-scheduling","foreign-policy"],"audioDurationSec":129,"audioFiles":[{"file":"718a.mp3","bytes":175684544,"durationSec":7320.14,"bitrate":192001,"missing":false},{"file":"718b.mp3","bytes":63001076,"durationSec":2624.97,"bitrate":192005,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":true,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:57.687Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/718a.mp3","https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/718b.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/718-010","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/718/conversation-718-010","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}