Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 719 › Conversation 719-009

Nixon & Bull on J. Edgar Hoover and Funeral arrangements

Thursday, May 4, 1972 · 10:31 AM–10:41 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Bull, Stephen B.Conversation719-009 onTape 719 (tape position 01:49:42–01:59:16)StartThursday, May 4, 1972 at 10:31 AMEndThursday, May 4, 1972 at 10:41 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 719-009 ↗

AI Summary

President Richard Nixon met with his aide Stephen B. Bull to rehearse his eulogy for J. Edgar Hoover and coordinate the logistical details of the upcoming funeral service. They reviewed the ceremonial sequence, including the recessional order, specific camera positioning for television coverage, and seating arrangements for notable guests like Mamie Eisenhower and the L. Patrick Grays. This preparation ensured that both the President's delivery and the procedural movements of the dignitary participants would proceed smoothly during the high-profile memorial.

Audio

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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 01:49:42 into the tape and ends around 01:59:16.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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1:49:41Of giants who stand head and shoulders above their country, setting a high and noble standard for us all.
1:49:50J. Edgar Hoover was one of the giants.
1:49:54His long life ran over with magnificent achievements and dedicated service to this country which he loved so well.
1:50:00One of the tragedies of life is that, as a rule, a man's true greatness is recognized only in death.
1:50:09J. Edgar Hoover was one of the rare exceptions to that rule.
1:50:13He became a living legend, much to a young man, and he lived out in his land as the decades passed.
1:50:20His dad only heightens the respect and admiration he felt for him across this land and in every land where men share his freedom.
1:50:28The greatness of Edgar Hoover will remain inseparable from the greatness of the organization he created and gave his whole life to building the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
1:50:37He made the FBI the finest law enforcement agency on Earth, the invincible and incorruptible defender of every American's precious right to be free from fear.
1:50:48Yet Americans revered this man, not only as the director of an institution, but as an institution
1:51:00For every half a century, nearly one fourth of the whole history of the republic, J. Edgar Hoover has exerted a great influence for good in our national life.
1:51:10While even presidents came and went, while other leaders of morals and manners and opinions rose and fell to the directors to do these posts, I recall that President Dyson, our Republican, and President Johnson, a Democrat, both strongly recommended after my election that I keep him as director of the FBI team.
1:51:28I was one of those unique individuals
1:51:30who was by all odds the best man for a violent, important job.
1:51:36His powerful leadership, by example, helped to keep Spiel
1:52:03Elson will lead you up here onto this lectern there.
1:52:06And the camera will be over to the left of the shooting up there.
1:52:11And as you speak, Elson will bring you on back down here.
1:52:14Yes, sir.
1:52:15At the end of the ceremony.
1:52:17At the end of your eulogy.
1:52:18Yeah, at the end.
1:52:19At the end, sir.
1:52:20When the casket passes by, Elson will be behind it.
1:52:24Your right gets up and follows down.
1:52:26Sure.
1:52:42with the party that you go out and her agent will allow to be with her when you go out of the church.
1:52:49I will start, Mrs. Nexon.
1:52:50Yes, sir.
1:52:50Her agent will start with me.
1:52:52Yes, she will already be in place when we arrive.
1:52:55I know.
1:52:55I'm just thinking of how we get out and why I walk three of us with her on my back, Mrs. Nexon.
1:53:00No, sir.
1:53:00Yeah, I think kind of she knows everything is for you and Mrs. Nexon.
1:53:05Does she have another trade there with her?
1:53:08No, she doesn't.
1:53:09The current copy is here and he can take care of it for her.
1:53:23Yeah.
1:53:24Yeah.
1:53:42And they'll be, yes, they will be behind Mrs. Eisenhower.
1:53:44And they'll be sitting here.
1:53:46Mrs. Eisenhower should follow me.
1:53:47Yes, I heard her say that with her punch radio.
1:53:52I think that's what's occurring.
1:53:54One further thing.
1:53:55When we arrive at the church, Pat Gray will be behind you.
1:53:58Pat Gray and Mrs. Gray.
1:54:01And then go into the aisle first.
1:54:02So they can be on the ground.
1:54:04Good to be on the ground.
1:54:26He personified integrity.
1:54:27He personified honor.
1:54:28He personified principle.
1:54:31He personified discipline.
1:54:33He personified loyalty.
1:54:35Personified honor.
1:54:36Courage.
1:54:37Personified integrity.
1:54:38Principle.
1:54:39Discipline.
1:54:40Wildness.
1:54:41Honor.
1:54:42Courage.
1:54:43Dedication.
1:54:44He personified integrity.
1:55:07and to live with those virtues ourselves, as he lived in all his years, and although at all times he loved it, he had full respect and support for the cooperation of the law enforcement profession, which he did so much to advance it.
1:55:21One such a towering figure, a man who has dominated his field so completely for so long, finally passes through the scene.
1:55:29There is sometimes a tendency to say, well, this is the end of a deep run.
1:55:50The fact is that Director Hoover built the Bureau totally in principle on a personal point.
1:55:52He built it well, but he couldn't collapse.
1:55:57For that reason, the FBI will remain as a memorial to him, a living memorial containing the creative climate, protection, security, and impartial justice of the United States of America.
1:56:07The good you have here, Hoover, is not what I've done.
1:56:11The profound principles
1:56:23And if you can come back to the memory of this great man who never left the wall, it will be a glory even more honored.
1:56:59Peace officers.
1:56:59But any of that counts as out of style.
1:57:02A coup.
1:57:34He loved the Lord as God.
1:57:38He loved the Lord as God.
1:57:42He richly deserved me.
1:57:45He richly spared me.
1:58:17Thanks for watching!

NARA Description

On May 4, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:31 am and 10:41 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 719-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 719-9

Date: May 4, 1972
Time: Unknown after 10:31 am - 10:41 am
Location: Oval Office

The President rehearsed a portion of his "Eulogy Delivered at the Funeral Service of J. Edgar
Hoover".

[A transcript of the final eulogy appears in Public Papers of the President, Richard M. Nixon,
1972, pp. 574-575]

[End of transcribed portion]

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 10:31 am.

     President's schedule
          -Hoover funeral

                                         (rev. Jan-02)

                 -Television coverage
                       -President's seating arrangements
                       -Camera positions
                       -President's eulogy
                             -Rev. Edward L.R. Elson
                             -Camera position
                 -Recessional order
                       -Elson
                       -President
                       -Mamie G.D. Eisenhower
                             -Secret Service agent
                       -Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
                             -Military aide
                       -Mrs. Eisenhower
                             -Escort
                             -Col. Vernon C. Coffey
                 -Seating
                       -Mr. and Mrs. Gray
                       -Mrs. Eisenhower
                 -Arrangements at arrival
                       -Grays
                             -Line-up

Bull left at an unknown time before 10:41 am.

The President resumed rehearsing his “Eulogy Delivered at the Funeral of J. Edgar Hoover”.

[End of transcribed portion]

The President left at 10:41 am.

Also recorded on May 4, 1972

  • 719-004 9:06 AM · 54 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, Stephen B. Bull, Henry A. Kissinger, and John B. Connally met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:06 am to 9:59 am.
  • 023-150 9:30 AM · 38 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, White House operator, President Richard M. Nixon, and John B. Connally talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:30 am and 9:35 am.
  • 719-005 9:59 AM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at 9:59 am.
  • 719-006 9:59 AM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:59 am and 10:03 am.
  • 719-007 9:59 AM · 23 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:59 am and 10:22 am.
  • 719-008 10:22 AM · 8 min — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:22 am to 10:31 am.
  • 719-010 10:41 AM · 3 min — Stephen B. Bull and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:41 am and 12:01 pm.
  • 719-011 12:01 PM · 29 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:01 pm and 12:03 pm.

All 48 conversations from May 4, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 719-009, May 4, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/719-009 (accessed September 18, 2026).