Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 751 › Conversation 751-004

Bull, Ambrose & Atkins on Narcotics enforcement and Federal drug policy

Monday, July 24, 1972 · 10:37 AM–10:48 AM ET · Oval Office ·15 min

ParticipantsBull, Stephen B.;  Ambrose, Myles J.;  Atkins, Oliver F. ("Ollie");  Reid, Edward T.;  Acree, Vernon D.;  Harkness, Richard L.;  Krogh, Egil ("Bud"), Jr.;  Smith, Gerard C.Conversation751-004 onTape 751StartMonday, July 24, 1972 at 10:37 AMEndMonday, July 24, 1972 at 10:48 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 751-004 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with administration officials, including Myles J. Ambrose and Egil Krogh, Jr., primarily to discuss the administration's progress in federal narcotics enforcement and to arrange a photo opportunity. The participants reviewed charts detailing drug seizures and arrests, using a football analogy to characterize the government’s offensive position in the ongoing drug war. Following reports of federal agents being wounded in Texas, the President committed to writing letters of support to the injured personnel and emphasized the need for more effective public relations messaging regarding the federal government's efforts.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yes, I might as well do that.
I think we're going to have to turn this.
I think we're going to have to turn this.
Thank you.
I disagree.
All right, all right.
All right.
All right.
I'm saying praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
I thought we were having a good time.
I thought we were having a good time.
I thought we were having a good time.
I thought we were having a good time.
All right.
That's okay.
You should know this.
It's not an example.
It's not an example.
It's not an example.
It's not an example.
It's not an example.
It's not an example.
It's not an example.
It's not an example.
It's not an example.
I'm Mr. California.
There's a lot.
We're trying to get some of the people who treasure it.
We've had that much.
It's very small.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Mr. President, Mr. President, Mr. President, Mr. President, Mr. President, Mr. President, Mr. President, Mr. President,
Mr. President, these are the total number of federal narcotic seizures, 2669 and 7171, pistol use.
And this one is a pistol use in the state of Pennsylvania, which shows, of course, the public under arrest.
During the last year, pistol use 7172, the man was terribly taken out of the state of Pennsylvania and all the federal agents.
Uh, you have this first, so just take this off the top.
No, no, we're not going to take this off the top.
It's a, it's a, uh, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a,
Also, I think there's a lot of explorers in the place.
I mean, there is some, particularly in Maryland.
Mr. President, we have about 5,000 calls in Alabama alone, which is considered a bad number.
So I know that when we look at scene numbers before, that we saw the effects that were in certain conditions, and things that our program had to do as well.
Yes, sir.
As a matter of fact, I think we're now in the process of disrupting the
That does not mean that there is no supply or .
We're on the 10 yard line.
I think that's probably .
But we have the ball.
That's right.
That's right.
And they have the ball.
That's right.
Yes, last Thursday night, Mr. President, we attempted to apprehend a tractor in Brownsville, Texas.
The situation got somewhat out of hand, and he shot three of our people, two of them were critically wounded.
The person that they're shooting to was a woman.
Leave the names behind.
I'll write letters to them.
Whenever you have people like that, who see that their names are in some of the quite odd situations, when you have people that either act perilously, but particularly when they're injured,
In fact, I know that there would be quite a few still .
It's the four agents .
All in Texas, also.
It's unbelievable.
This is seven acts of .
As the travel image becomes more apparent, the people who would come to the test area .
Okay, well, good luck.
We wish you the best.
Mr. President.
Mr. Richard Parsons.
Where do you like the shop?
I think what you ought to do is to try to get some phrases that was quite .
We're on the offensive, and they're on the defensive.
We're on the defensive, and they're on the offensive.
We've got to find some ways that will grab people, but they'll understand.
This is basically, as I said, it's a total war against .
And now we are beginning to win it.
We are beginning to win it.
I said, Chad, we're at the 15 yard line?
Yeah, we're at the 10 yard line.
And they have the ball.
Now we're at the 15 yard line.
We have the ball.
But we still have that .
We have a great .
But the optimistic, in other words, we've accomplished a lot, but we've got a big, I would say, we're not resting on our laurels.
We've accomplished a lot.
I think we've got to remember a long way to go.
And we're, we'll put it this way, we've just begun to fight.
I like to say that.
We've just begun to fight.
Oh, I've got to watch out.
President, you know who he is?
President, yeah.
Yeah, he's on the new complex.
So, I should have that part of the bag.
I don't know.
There you are.
Still drinking champagne?
Yeah.
I remember that.
Your breakfast every day.
That was 20 years ago.
22 years ago when I first came.
23.
No, 29 years.

NARA Description

On July 24, 1972, Stephen B. Bull, Myles J. Ambrose, Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins, Edward T. Reid, Vernon D. Acree, Richard L. Harkness, Egil ("Bud") Krogh, Jr., and Gerard C. Smith met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:37 am to 10:48 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 751-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 751-4

Date: July 24, 1972
Time: 10:37 am - 10:48 am
Location: Oval Office

Stephen B. Bull met with Myles J. Ambrose.

     Arrangements for photograph opportunity
          -The President

Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins met with Bull, Myles J. Ambrose, Eugene T. Rossides, Vernon D.
Acree, Richard L. Harkness, Egil (“Bud”) Krogh, Jr. and Geoffrey C. Shepard. Members of the
press were present at the beginning of the meeting.

     Arrangements for photograph opportunity

     [General conversation]
         -The President’s location
                -Secret Service

The President entered at an unknown time after 10:37 am.

     Introductions

     Photograph opportunity
          -Press

     Chart
          -Narcotics seizures
                -Federal efforts
                -Arrests
                -Resources
                -Public support
                     -Providing information
                -Arrests
                     -Number
                     -Effect on drug supplies, distribution systems
                     -Systems
                -Football analogy
                -Violence
                     -Shootings of federal agents in Brownsville, Texas
                          -Letters from the President

                                          (rev. Mar-02)

                           -Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs [BNDD]

      Harkness
          -Public relations [PR]
          -Arrangements for photo with Harkness

      Narcotics traffic
          -Federal efforts
                 -PR
                        -Possible phrases

      Press Room

      Presentation of gifts by the President
           -Cufflinks

      Gridiron Club
           -Breakfasts
                -Champagne
           -The President's schedule

Ambrose et al. left at 10:48 pm.

Also recorded on July 24, 1972

  • 751-003 10:14 AM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:14 am to 10:37 am.
  • 751-005 10:49 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 10:49 am.
  • 751-006 10:49 AM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:49 am to 11:52 am.
  • 350-001 11:54 AM · 16 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 11:54 am and 11:56 am.
  • 350-002 11:54 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:54 am and 11:56 am.
  • 751-007 11:54 AM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at 11:54 am.
  • 751-008 11:54 AM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:54 am and 3:22 pm.
  • 027-040 11:55 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 11:55 am.

All 45 conversations from July 24, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 751-004, July 24, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/751-004 (accessed September 18, 2026).