Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 719 › Conversation 719-020

Nixon & Bull on Presidential gifts and International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Thursday, May 4, 1972 · 1:21 PM–1:24 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation719-020 on Tape 719 (tape position 03:20:27–03:21:35)StartThursday, May 4, 1972 at 1:21 PMEndThursday, May 4, 1972 at 1:24 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 719-020 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Stephen B. Bull to discuss the distribution of presidential gifts, including ashtrays, intended for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. They briefly touched upon the logistics and costs associated with these tokens of appreciation. The discussion also involved lighthearted personal exchanges regarding the President's upcoming weekend recreational plans.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.4 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 155.3 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 03:20:27 into the tape and ends around 03:21:35.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

3:20:15For your wives, this is the presidential ashtray.
3:20:19It has a seal on it.
3:20:22Actually, it's very indestructible.
3:20:24Use it.
3:20:25For you folks, this is a little thing that we got.
3:20:31What's the nomination?
3:20:34Switch play?
3:20:35Switch play?
3:20:36No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
3:20:59All right, I'm going to play with our friends on Saturday.
3:21:05So I'm going to tell them how to get up.
3:21:10You were telling me that you had a real long butt.
3:21:14No, when you get one that you know you can't make about 30 feet out, you said, Jim, I'm sorry, but the president told me that on this boat, you were to give me the butt.
3:21:37I was able to help you.

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 1:21 pm and 1:24 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 719-020 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 719-20

Date: May 4, 1972
Time: 1:21 pm - unknown before 1:24 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

     Gifts
             -Gratitude of International Brotherhood of Teamsters

           -Cost

     President's schedule

Bull left at an unknown time before 1:24 pm.

Also recorded on May 4, 1972

  • 719-018 12:51 PM · 57 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:51 pm and 12:56 pm.
  • 719-019 12:56 PM · 26 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Frank E. Fitzsimmons, Raymond Schoessling, Joseph Trerotola, William J. McCarthy, Welon L. Mathis, Charles W. Colson, White House photographer, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:56 pm to 1:21 pm.
  • 719-021 1:21 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:21 pm and 1:24 pm.
  • 719-022 1:24 PM · 26 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:24 pm to 1:51 pm.
  • 719-023 1:51 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 1:51 pm on May 4, 1972 and 8:44 am on May 5, 1972.
  • 023-151 1:52 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:52 pm and 2:51 pm.
  • 334-037 1:52 PM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:52 pm and 2:51 pm.
  • 334-038 1:52 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:52 pm and 2:51 pm.

All 48 conversations from May 4, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 719-020, 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/719-020 (accessed October 23, 2026).