Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 784 › Conversation 784-017

Nixon & Bull on Oval Office and Power outage

Thursday, September 21, 1972 · 12:11 PM–12:15 PM ET · Oval Office · 47 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation784-017 on Tape 784StartThursday, September 21, 1972 at 12:11 PMEndThursday, September 21, 1972 at 12:15 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 784-017 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Stephen B. Bull meet to address a sudden power failure in the Oval Office and the subsequent failure of the backup generator system. Bull informs the President that he has initiated emergency measures to restore power and notes the difficulty in locating staff member Robert J. Brown during the blackout. The brief exchange focuses on resolving this infrastructure crisis and confirming the status of the President's schedule.

  • Oval Office
  • Power outage
  • Emergency generators
  • Robert J. Brown
  • White House infrastructure

Audio

Download MP3 · 1.1 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

There you go.
What happened?
Did the power pack just go out or...?
Yes, sir, it happened.
And there's supposed to be a reserve center.
Yeah, I have generated an emergency measure.
Very interesting.
I'm trying to find Bob Brown during the power pack and it's a very difficult thing to do.

NARA Description

On September 21, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:11 pm and 12:15 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 784-017 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 784-17

Date: September 21, 1972
Time: Unknown between 12:11 pm and 12:15 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with an Stepehn B. Bull.

             The President’s schedule
                 -[Robert R. Casey]

             Power outage
                -Emergency generator
                - Robert J. Brown

Bull left at an unknown time before 12:15 pm.

Also recorded on September 21, 1972

  • 784-014 11:55 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:55 am to 11:59 am.
  • 105-006 12:00 PM · 4 min — At the signing for establishment of a survivor benefit plan for survivors of retired military personnel (HR 10670), President Richard M. Nixon, J. Glenn Beall, Jr., Strom Thurmond, Melvin Price, O. Clark Fisher, Charles E. Bennett, Samuel S. Stratton, Otis G. Pike, Richard H. Ichord, G. Elliott Hagan, Charles H. Wilson, Louise Day Hicks, Richard C. White, William F. ("Bob") Nichols, Jack T. Brinkley, Wilbur C. ("Dan&wuot;) Daniel, Gillespie V. ("Sonny") Montgomery, Harold L. Runnels, Leslie C. Arends, William G. Bray, Robert C. ("Bob") Wilson, Charles S. Gubser, Durward G. Hall, Donald D. Clancy, Carleton J. King, William L. Dickinson, John E. Hunt, G. William Whitehurst, Floyd D. Spence, C. W. ("Bill") Young, Walter E. Powell, William Conover, Leslie ("Les") Aspin, Jr., Melvin R. Laird, Frank M. Slatinshek, Joseph N. Sanson, Lt. Gen. Herman Nickerson, Jr., Thomas E. Morris, Patrick E. Carr, Robert W. Nolan, Martin M. Ostrow, Joseph J. Matthews, Mr. Beave, John E. Nidecker, and the White House photographer met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 12:00 pm to 12:06 pm.
  • 784-015 12:00 PM · 36 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:00 pm.
  • 784-016 12:07 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, J. Glenn Beall, Jr., Charles S. Gubser, Otis G. Pike, Robert W. Nolan, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:07 pm to 12:11 pm.
  • 784-018 12:15 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:15 pm to 12:16 pm.
  • 784-019 12:20 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:20 pm to 12:22 pm.
  • 784-020 12:23 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Robert R. Casey, John E. Nidecker, White House photographer, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:23 pm to 12:25 pm.
  • 784-021 12:25 PM · 1 hr 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:25 pm to 2:01 pm.

All 43 conversations from September 21, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 784-017, September 21, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/784-017 (accessed October 12, 2026).