{"conversationCode":"820-023","tapeNumber":820,"conversationNumber":23,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-820-023","startDateTime":"1972-12-12T20:36:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-12-12T20:38:00.000Z","startDate":"12-Dec-1972","startTime":"3:36 PM","endDate":"12-Dec-1972","endTime":"3:38 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.;","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.","locationCode":"OVAL","recordingDevice":"Oval Office","latitudeEstimated":38.8974,"longitudeEstimated":-77.0374,"chronCode":"5.2","chronRelease":"Fifth Chronological Release: Part II","chronReleaseDate":"2-Dec-2008","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 820-23\n\nDate: December 12, 1972\nTime: Unknown between 3:36 pm and 3:38 pm\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President met with Stephen B. Bull.\n\n       The President’s schedule\n            -Gordon C. Strachan\n                  -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman\n\f                                             -65-\n\n                  NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM\n\n                                                               Conversation No. 820-24/821-1\n\nDate: December 12, 1972\nTime: 3:38 pm - 6:10 pm\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President met with Gordon C. Strachan and H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman.\n\n      Greetings\n\n      Second term reorganization\n           -Strachan\n                 -Attire\n                 -US Information Agency [USIA]\n                       -Frank J. Shakespeare\n                       -Opponents of administration\n                 -Age\n                 -Background\n                       -University of California\n                             -Bolt Hall\n                                   -Hastings\n                             -Graduation, 1968\n                       -Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander\n                 -The President’s appreciation for work as political contact\n                       -Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander\n                       -Law firms\n                 -Loyalists\n           -USIA\n                 -Loyalists\n                       -James Keogh\n           -Loyalists\n                 -Bureaucracy\n                       -Influences\n                             -Love\n                             -Respect\n                             -Fear\n                             -Hate\n                             -Blackmail\n                       -Administrators\n\f                                            -66-\n\n                  NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM\n\n                                                      Conversation No. 820-24/821-1 (cont’d)\n\n                  -Need\n                       -Brains\n                             -Legal profession and social sciences\n                                   -Private enterprise\n                                         -Conservatives\n                                               -Republicans, Democrats\n                                               -Government, media\n                                   -Liberals\n                                         -Democrats\n                                         -Daily Princetonian\n                                         -Washington Post\n                                         -Government\n                                               -Private enterprise system\n                       -Strachan’s career\n                             -Government\n                                   -Compared to private law practice, corporate position\n                       -USIA\n                             -State Department\n\nZosimo T. Monson [?] entered at an unknown time after 3:38 pm.\n\n       Refreshment\n\nMonson [?] left at an unknown time before 3:58 pm.\n\n       Second term reorganization\n            -USIA bureaucracy\n                  -Shakespeare’s efforts\n                        -Foreign Service Information Officers [FSIO]\n                        -Details\n                  -[Alan Carter]\n                        -Hubert H. Humphrey\n                              -1968 campaign\n                        -Return to agency\n                              -Timing\n                        -Public Area Officer [PAO]\n                              -Tokyo\n                        -Area directors\n                              -Shakespeare\n\f                                             -67-\n\n                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM\n\n                                                       Conversation No. 820-24/821-1 (cont’d)\n\n                               -Charles D. Ablard\n                               -Loyalists\n                               -Kempton B. Jenkins\n                                     -Soviet Union, Eastern Europe\n                        -Carter\n                               -Tokyo\n                               -W. Bruce Herschensohn\n                               -Think tank\n                                     -Herschensohn\n                  -Think tank\n                        -Keogh’s possible conversation with the President\n                               -Keogh’s possible conversation with Herschensohn\n                                     -Shakespeare\n                                     -Haldeman\n                  -Keogh\n                        -Loyalty\n                  -Social affairs\n                        -Shopping\n                               -Tokyo\n                                     -British shop\n                  -Strachan’s experience\n                        -White House\n                               -Herbert G. Klein\n                               -Haldeman\n                        -Trust\n                        -Wearing of flag lapel pin\n                        -Portraits\n                               -John F. Kennedy\n                               -Dwight D. Eisenhower\n\n[This recording was cut off at an unknown time before 3:58 pm.]","filename":["820-023.mp3"],"tapeStart":"","tapeEnd":"","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Bull, Stephen B."],"prevCode":"820-022","nextCode":"820-024","transcript":[{"start":2.43,"end":3.46,"text":"Sure, if you like it, by the moment."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"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.","topics":["Presidential scheduling","H. R. Haldeman","Gordon C. Strachan","White House operations"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-08T00:29:56.667Z"},"topicSlugs":["presidential-scheduling","h-r-haldeman","gordon-c-strachan","white-house-operations"],"audioDurationSec":10,"audioFiles":[{"file":"820-023.mp3","bytes":253879,"durationSec":10.43,"bitrate":194792,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:58.478Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:44:40.104Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/820-023.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/820-023","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/820/conversation-820-023","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}