Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 820 › Conversation 820-023
Nixon & Bull on H. R. Haldeman and Gordon C. Strachan
Tuesday, December 12, 1972 · 3:36 PM–3:38 PM ET · Oval Office · 10 sec
AI Summary
President Nixon met with his aide Stephen B. Bull to coordinate updates to his daily appointment schedule. The discussion specifically addressed the logistics of arranging meetings with Gordon C. Strachan and H. R. Haldeman. This brief exchange served to finalize the President's immediate agenda.
- Presidential scheduling
- H. R. Haldeman
- Gordon C. Strachan
- White House operations
Audio
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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NARA Description
On December 12, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:36 pm and 3:38 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 820-023 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 820-23
Date: December 12, 1972
Time: Unknown between 3:36 pm and 3:38 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Stephen B. Bull.
The President’s schedule
-Gordon C. Strachan
-H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-65-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 820-24/821-1
Date: December 12, 1972
Time: 3:38 pm - 6:10 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Gordon C. Strachan and H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.
Greetings
Second term reorganization
-Strachan
-Attire
-US Information Agency [USIA]
-Frank J. Shakespeare
-Opponents of administration
-Age
-Background
-University of California
-Bolt Hall
-Hastings
-Graduation, 1968
-Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander
-The President’s appreciation for work as political contact
-Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander
-Law firms
-Loyalists
-USIA
-Loyalists
-James Keogh
-Loyalists
-Bureaucracy
-Influences
-Love
-Respect
-Fear
-Hate
-Blackmail
-Administrators
-66-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 820-24/821-1 (cont’d)
-Need
-Brains
-Legal profession and social sciences
-Private enterprise
-Conservatives
-Republicans, Democrats
-Government, media
-Liberals
-Democrats
-Daily Princetonian
-Washington Post
-Government
-Private enterprise system
-Strachan’s career
-Government
-Compared to private law practice, corporate position
-USIA
-State Department
Zosimo T. Monson [?] entered at an unknown time after 3:38 pm.
Refreshment
Monson [?] left at an unknown time before 3:58 pm.
Second term reorganization
-USIA bureaucracy
-Shakespeare’s efforts
-Foreign Service Information Officers [FSIO]
-Details
-[Alan Carter]
-Hubert H. Humphrey
-1968 campaign
-Return to agency
-Timing
-Public Area Officer [PAO]
-Tokyo
-Area directors
-Shakespeare
-67-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Conversation No. 820-24/821-1 (cont’d)
-Charles D. Ablard
-Loyalists
-Kempton B. Jenkins
-Soviet Union, Eastern Europe
-Carter
-Tokyo
-W. Bruce Herschensohn
-Think tank
-Herschensohn
-Think tank
-Keogh’s possible conversation with the President
-Keogh’s possible conversation with Herschensohn
-Shakespeare
-Haldeman
-Keogh
-Loyalty
-Social affairs
-Shopping
-Tokyo
-British shop
-Strachan’s experience
-White House
-Herbert G. Klein
-Haldeman
-Trust
-Wearing of flag lapel pin
-Portraits
-John F. Kennedy
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
[This recording was cut off at an unknown time before 3:58 pm.]Also recorded on December 12, 1972
- 820-018 1:58 PM · 27 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:58 pm to 2:20 pm.
- 034-053 2:20 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:20 pm and 8:31 pm.
- 820-019 2:20 PM · 32 sec — Julie Nixon Eisenhower and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:20 pm and 3:17 pm.
- 820-020 2:20 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:20 pm and 3:17 pm.
- 820-021 2:20 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:20 pm and 3:17 pm.
- 820-022 3:17 PM · 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Jewell R. LaFontant, John D. Ehrlichman, Stephen B. Bull, White House photographer, and Zosimo T. Monzon met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:17 pm to 3:36 pm.
- 820-024 3:38 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Gerard C. Smith, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Zosimo T. Monzon met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:38 pm to 6:10 pm.
- 821-001 3:38 PM · 2 hr 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Gordon C. Strachan, Frank J. Shakespeare, James Keogh, White House photographer, Stephen B. Bull, Manolo Sanchez, Alexander P. Butterfield, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:38 pm and 6:10 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 820-023, 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/820-023 (accessed October 1, 2026).