Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 725 › Conversation 725-023

Nixon & Bull on Multiculturalism and Photography

Tuesday, May 16, 1972 · 10:12 AM–10:23 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Bull, Stephen B.Conversation725-023 onTape 725 (tape position 02:24:04–02:26:48)StartTuesday, May 16, 1972 at 10:12 AMEndTuesday, May 16, 1972 at 10:23 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 725-023 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Stephen B. Bull reviewed photographs featuring a diverse group of schoolchildren, including students of various ethnic backgrounds. The President utilized the images to comment on the multicultural composition of the school, identifying specific groups such as Mexican-American, African-American, and Japanese students. The meeting served as a brief interlude for the President to engage with visual documentation of his constituents before proceeding with his daily schedule, which included a meeting with Ronald L. Ziegler.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 100.2 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 02:24:04 into the tape and ends around 02:26:48.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 · Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.

2:24:04I just want to welcome you all and meet you all.
2:24:13In this picture, you're in the second grade thinking there were some Mexican-Americans in there.
2:24:16There are, sure.
2:24:17See, it's like a road.
2:24:17A curve.
2:24:17It's like an Indian.
2:24:20A real Indian school.
2:24:21And there's some Mexican-Americans, African-Americans, Japanese, all the rest.
2:24:34Okay, thank you.

NARA Description

On May 16, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:12 am and 10:23 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 725-023 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 725-23

Date: May 16, 1972
Time: Unknown between 10:12 am and 10:23 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

       President's schedule
           -Meeting with Ronald L. Ziegler

Bull left.

                                        (rev. Jan-02)

Also recorded on May 16, 1972

  • 024-145 9:59 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:59 am and 10:00 am.
  • 024-146 10:00 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, and Walter R. Tkach talked on the telephone from 10:00 am to 10:05 am.
  • 725-019 10:00 AM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, and Walter R. Tkach met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:00 am and 10:05 am.
  • 725-020 10:05 AM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:05 am and 10:11 am.
  • 024-148 10:11 AM · 53 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 10:11 am to 10:12 am.
  • 725-021 10:11 AM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:11 am and 10:12 am.
  • 725-022 10:12 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:12 am and 10:23 am.
  • 725-024 10:23 AM · 32 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:23 am to 10:52 am.

All 113 conversations from May 16, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 725-023, May 16, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/725-023 (accessed September 18, 2026).