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

Nixon & Bull on J. Edgar Hoover and Speech rehearsal

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

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation719-009 on Tape 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.

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Position in tape: 01:49:42 – 01:59:16

part A, 1:49:29

719a.mp3
719b.mp3

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

                 -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.

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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America's pride has always been its people.
People of good men and women, men and demons.
Of great men and women in remarkable numbers.
And once in an own life.
Of giants who stand head and shoulders above their country.
Setting a high and noble standard for us all.
J. Edgar Hoover was one of the giants.
His long life ran over with magnificent achievements and dedicated service to this country which he loved so well.
One of the tragedies of life is that, as a rule, a man's true greatness is recognized only in death.
J. Edgar Hoover was one of the rare exceptions to that rule.
He became a living legend, much to a young man, and he lived out in his land as the decades passed.
His death only heightens the respect and admiration built for him across this land and in every land where men share his freedom.
The 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.
He 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.
Yet Americans revered this man, not only as the director of an institution, but as an institution
For 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.
While 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.
I was one of those unique individuals
who was by all odds the best man for a violent, important job.
His powerful leadership, by example, helped to keep Spiel
Elson will lead you up here onto this lectern there.
And the camera will be over to the left of the shooting up there.
And as you speak, Elson will bring you on back down here.
Yes, sir.
At the end of the ceremony.
At the end of your eulogy.
Yeah, at the end.
At the end, sir.
When the casket passes by, Elson will be behind it.
Your right gets up and follows down.
Sure.
with the party that you go out and her agent will allow to be with her when you go out of the church.
I will start, Mrs. Nexon.
Yes, sir.
Her agent will start with me.
Yes, she will already be in place when we arrive.
I know.
I'm just thinking of how we get out and why I walk three of us with her on my back, Mrs. Nexon.
No, sir.
Yeah, I think she knows everything is for you and Mrs. Nexon.
Does she have another trade there with her?
No, she doesn't.
The current copy is here and he can take care of it for her.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And they'll be, yes, they will be behind Mrs. Eisenhower.
And they'll be sitting here.
Mrs. Eisenhower should follow me.
Yes, I heard her say that with her punch radio.
I think that's what's occurring.
One further thing.
When we arrive at the church, Pat Gray will be behind you.
Pat Gray and Mrs. Gray.
And then go into the aisle first.
So they can be on the ground.
Good to be on the ground.
He personified integrity.
He personified honor.
He personified principle.
He personified discipline.
He personified loyalty.
Personified honor.
Courage.
Personified integrity.
Principle.
Discipline.
Wildness.
Honor.
Courage.
Dedication.
He personified integrity.
and 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.
One such a towering figure, a man who has dominated his field so completely for so long, finally passes through the scene.
There is sometimes a tendency to say, well, this is the end of a deride.
The fact is that Director Hoover built the Bureau totally in principle on a personal point.
He built it well, but he couldn't collapse.
For 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.
The good you have here, Hoover, is not what I've done.
The profound principles
And 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.
Peace officers.
But any of that counts as out of style.
A coup.
He loved the Lord as God.
He loved the Lord as God.
He richly deserved me.
He richly spared me.

Also recorded on May 4, 1972

  • 719-004 9:06 AM · 58 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 · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at 9:59 am.
  • 719-006 9:59 AM · 25 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 · 32 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 45 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 November 2, 2026).