Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 820 › Conversation 820-008

Nixon, Woods & Bull on Presidential gifts and White House administration

Tuesday, December 12, 1972 · 10:50 AM–10:53 AM ET · Oval Office ·3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Woods, Rose Mary; Bull, Stephen B.Conversation820-008 onTape 820StartTuesday, December 12, 1972 at 10:50 AMEndTuesday, December 12, 1972 at 10:53 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 820-008 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with personal secretary Rose Mary Woods and aide Stephen B. Bull to address administrative matters and the management of various gifts received by the White House. The discussion covered the categorization and placement of presidential mementos, including a gold album, a watch, and other personal items designated for different presidential residences. Additionally, the participants briefly touched upon incoming correspondence, including a message from Henry Kissinger regarding Vietnam negotiations and a letter from Whittier, California.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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This is on the roads to the mayor.

I think that's the question.

Let's do that there.

I think that would be a better game.

Should it be in the game?

I don't know.

Maybe, uh, I don't know.

Maybe, uh, maybe, uh.

That's a watch.

I think I might want it for Christmas.

Just keep it for a while.

And those, okay.

I know, I told him that he wanted this one smaller, but she sent you the big one and the first one.

Okay.

And you have one upstairs, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So she'll do that.

She'll take care of that.

I don't know what anyone can do with that.

You can hang it on the wall somewhere, even with that coat.

You know, you've never done that before.

Well.

Well, we'll have to think before somebody else wants to use it.

Maybe Pat could like it or something.

I don't know.

Leave it here.

I'll make it something more.

Okay, and the other thing, there's just a little one.

There's just something weird that really is fine.

Okay, he might like it a little bit.

It's just, you know, it's a tinkerbell.

His reason for giving it to you was so pretty, I thought you should read it.

I'll do it.

Yeah, I'd like it.

Okay.

Get it off my way.

We can't.

All right, so...

NARA Description

On December 12, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:50 am to 10:53 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 820-008 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 820-8

Date: December 12, 1972
Time: 10:50 am - 10:53 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Rose Mary Woods and Stephen B. Bull.

       Vietnam negotiations
            -Message from Henry A. Kissinger
                 -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

Bull left at an unknown time before 10:53 am.

       Letter to May of Whittier, California [Blake Sanborn] and [Donald Kemp]
             -Gift to the President
                    -Scroll
                          -Nixon Library
                          -Signatures

       Gifts to the President
              -Notes
              -Gold album
                    -Location
                          -Bedroom desk
              -Watch
                                           -12-

                  NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                      (rev. May-08)

                                                            Conversation No. 820-8 (cont’d)

            -Note pads
                 -Size
                        -Woods’s conversation with Ann Duggan
                  -Disposition
                        -Key Biscayne, Camp David, San Clemente, White House
            -Unknown item
                  -Display
                  -Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon
            -Tinkerbell
                  -Whittier
                  -Unknown person
            -Letter opener

      The President’s schedule
           -W. Clement Stone

Rose Mary Woods left at 10:53 am.

Also recorded on December 12, 1972

034-051 9:57 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 9:57 am.
820-004 9:57 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 9:57 am.
820-005 9:57 AM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:57 am to 10:21 am.
820-006 10:21 AM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:21 am and 10:39 am.
820-007 10:39 AM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:39 am to 10:49 am.
820-009 10:53 AM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:53 am to 11:13 am.
820-010 11:13 AM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:13 am and 11:17 am.
820-011 11:17 AM · 36 min — President Richard M. Nixon, W. Clement Stone, Douglas K. Kinsey, Leonard Garment, unknown person(s), and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:17 am to 11:53 am.

All 33 conversations from December 12, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 820-008, December 12, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/820-008 (accessed September 18, 2026).