Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 726 › Conversation 726-012
Nixon & Bull on Vietnam War and Military strategy
Friday, May 19, 1972 · 11:27 AM ET · Oval Office · 2 min
AI Summary
President Nixon met with aide Stephen Bull to discuss the effectiveness of strategic aerial bombing campaigns during the Vietnam War. Nixon expressed frustration over public misconceptions regarding military restrictions, asserting that he had provided the military with full operational freedom. The discussion emphasized the psychological impact of B-52 strikes versus the limitations of smaller fighter aircraft like the F-4.
- Vietnam War
- Military strategy
- B-52 bombers
- Air power
- Public relations
Audio
This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.
Listen to the full tape segment
Position in tape: 02:48:42 – 02:50:12
part B, 47:42
NARA Description
On May 19, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 11:27 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 726-012 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 726-12
Date: May 19, 1972
Time: 11:27 am
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Stephen Bull.
Barber
-Location
Unknown guests
-Location
A delivery to the Executive Office Building [EOB]
Bull left at 1:28 pm.
The President left at 1:28 pm.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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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Also recorded on May 19, 1972
- 024-156 10:51 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:51 am and 11:16 am.
- 024-157 10:51 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 10:51 am and 11:16 am.
- 024-158 11:16 AM · 18 sec — Stephen B. Bull, Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone from 11:16 am to 11:17 am.
- 024-103 11:17 AM · 7 sec — unknown person(s), White House operator, Stephen B. Bull, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at 11:17 am.
- 726-002 11:42 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, Stephen B. Bull, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House at 11:42 am.
- 726-003 11:42 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:42 am to 11:45 am.
- 726-004 11:45 AM · 34 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), Henry A. Kissinger, Ronald L. Ziegler, and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:45 am to 12:19 pm.
- 726-005 12:19 PM · 23 min — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:19 pm to 12:49 pm.
Related conversations
- Nixon phone call with Haig on Vietnam War and Psychological warfare May 17, 1972 · 6 min
- Nixon & Kissinger on Vietnam War and B-52 bombers April 4, 1972 · 4 min
- Nixon phone call with Haig on Vietnam War and Air power May 2, 1972 · 2 min
- Nixon, National Security Council & Laird on Vietnam War and Military Strategy February 2, 1972 · 2 hr 12 min
- Nixon & Haig on Indo-Pakistani War and Soviet-US Relations December 18, 1971 · 20 min
- Nixon, Moorer & Rush on Vietnam War and Military strategy April 3, 1972 · 15 min
Cite this conversation
Conversation 726-012, May 19, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/726-012 (accessed November 2, 2026).