On January 1, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:25 am to 9:35 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 829-009 of the White House Tapes.
Transcript (AI-Generated)This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.
Do you have anything on the scheduled stuff that we discussed on this week?
Well, only on the scheduled stuff.
I'm going to take it this way.
I'm going to apply it.
The recommendation is still that you not hold any reception.
It's still a low level.
It's still a low level.
That's right.
If he is not coming, there was a possibility that Park of Korea would come and have a confirmation on this.
Oh, yeah.
It's still happening.
It's still happening.
If he were coming, I'd do it, because we'd have to get it.
It would be too obvious.
But if it's just, if it's a head of some Dan Mackerman state or a Latin American country, then no.
And so they don't see the end of them either.
That's what I'm saying.
I mean, let's have no, I want no acquaintances.
And if these people, in other words, will have the same rule about acquaintance that we always have at this period, in other words, I'll see, and that's what we're going to have to do here in Jesus' day.
heads of government, and only Captain Tice when it's highly recommended, and it's probably the Soviet Union.
And sometimes England and France as well.
All right, sir.
What are the theories?
Now, on the 4th, the, uh, that's not, this is actually, we're going to be getting that thing down there.
Thanks.
All right.
I believe she's going directly, sir.
All right.
She'll be leaving California about 5.30 in the morning.
She'll join the delegation this morning.
Have you made a decision firmly to attend Dean Serra's memorial service on Friday, sir?
Okay.
Did you get a hold of him?
It appears to be very difficult.
Yeah, it is rather embarrassing.
He's such an ass.
I mean, he's been an ass for years.
He was out wandering around with his margins here on Saturday.
Yes, sir.
It's very well up.
We pulled the rug out from under it.
Well, if we can get out of it, I'm scared.
I think it will be difficult to get out of it.
Well, isn't there a way that I can go through and just arrange that he is going to meet me at the church?
Invariably, inevitably, he will be down there to meet you.
Well, there's one thing that you can do is this.
You can work out with Zickler.
There should be no damn programs.
I can arrange that.
But, you know, I don't believe you're saying that.
I don't believe you're posting it down.
So it's all right.
And they can catch my back and do it.
I'll find ways to, I don't want to make the incident out of it, but we'll just avoid the photographs.
We should anyway, see, and I'm not going to pause outside while I'm in business.
I'm sure you both have trouble.
Nick Rui came up with an interesting idea, which you probably want to dismiss.
If you delivered the eulogy, that would be one way of upstaging and preempting Sarah.
It would be great.
He was just trying to come up with a way.
No, sir.
Dean Sayre is going to be delivering a eulogy or something.
He will be speaking.
He's right out of an Alan Dury novel.
Yes, sir.
Like Justice Black's...
Well, as far as your schedule this week, people understand that you're working on it.
That's right.
I have nothing else to be scheduled.
Oh, one thing that I know that some well-intended person would know better than me.
They had a jury board and said that they were going to have some resumption for a new congressman down there.
Well, I should intend to be a nice thing if I came down.
Under no circumstances am I doing the campaign.
to do something there, you know what I mean?
If we don't even do it here, I would probably have to, I would like to check and see, and I might have 40 good members up.
There'll be, of course, there'll have to be some sort of a reception for the members of Congress, and I'm trying to think of that in terms of basically just having it so that we don't have to shake their hands.
See, you had one of those two years ago.
Yeah.
So you're seeing that here in the house.
I remember Humphrey and Bella.
How does that go?
We can make it this way.
I'm thinking about it.
We're gonna have both the first and second floors open for all they got.
For an open house, wouldn't they expect me to perhaps speak to them?
I don't know what that number is.
I think it's probably 40.
Well, that's the Republicans.
They're 40.
The Republican members of the House, I mean, they do even know me.
I mean, so every cylinder is higher.
So they're 40 to the Republicans.
Would you want to do this sometime during the week of the 8th?
Sometime around here.
It's probably well to get to time.
Take off.
Just as quickly as possible.
We have to do a problem before we have to do it again.
Although we don't have to do it again.
All of us have to really, really push out of it.
I just want to get myself buttered up and start running out.
This week would be out for them anyway.
Well, this week is not good, because they've got to get the drilling pin one day.
Right.
The fog stand one.
The fourth, maybe third.
Right.
I guess they can't be sanitary.
I guess I should know if I start crossing tomorrow.
Well, if we can work out something, I'd be sure to tell the boys that it's hard for them to understand it.
I'm going to go down there, and that's the way we do this.
We always invite them out here.
If it was somebody else's party or something, they could do it.
Like Scott and I, we've got that useful.
We have sessions between us.
Let's see.
How would you handle that?
I don't think we need the other members of the older leadership.
They've all been here.
I'm just talking to the members of Congress.
Both Republicans and Democrats?
Yeah.
And their wives.
Plus the leadership.
We have the big five there.
Would you want to go deeper?
No.
I'd go to the negative.
No deeper.
And I have a speaker, you know, a speaker, three in each of the five.
And then, see, you'll play it on.
You have a speaker, and I have three from the house, two from the city.
You make six of them in a day.
This is all the big lines.
Presumably, O'Neil will be the house leader.
I want to put together a plan, both in terms of time.
My participation, basically, you just need to shake your damn hands and get out of there.
I just have an evening cocktail kind of an operation.
Where they get a chance to go upstairs and see the big live shows he invited, but not as a command performance.
I do not extend it to any of my, anybody from the White House staff there.
Except me at the time.
Timmons can come.
And, and, and, uh, and Coral who sent something to me.
But the Timmons plus one consent would announce that so nobody else, no one has traded assistance.
And we're going to, we're going to move in on it.
Get people in.
Tell a scout to keep the decorations.
Not to take down the upstairs decorations.
Don't take down the downstairs decorations.
The upstairs, the Christmas tree, leave that up.
Don't leave that stacked up.
I believe the rest of the decorations have come down.
They're scheduled to come down.
They're down, they're downstairs.
They're the first floor, right?
They should be down there.
Do you want a recommendation from tenants on the date for this, uh, this?
No recommendations on dates.
We've had a hard schedule.
Just, uh... You want to think in terms of after you can go?
I just will, you know, I just will get the damn thing off before, you know, I need that before.
That's the way you need it then.
Yeah.
Before they get...
of all your things.
I have to succumb to that.
I want to do a prayer for you.
I can't go to the office.
I can't go on the day of the box.
I can't go on the day of the control.
Let me go.
Watch this.
That's right.
That's right.
Try to talk to me.
It might be best to
I can't wait to let him know he did it.
I think a lot of them said they were supposed to admit we had plans.
I'll figure them out here, too.
Now, the other, all the other people around there, like, uh, Schultz, and Merle, and I'm sorry to tell everybody out there, his dad's been efficient.
I'm hoping to be here and really knock them all down right at this point.
And they somehow have to do that.
I don't have to do them right now.
Because we'll start all that right after the inauguration of the Catholic Church.
Most of that group that went to California should be back here Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning.
I don't have confirmation on this, but I believe that the Vice President was unable to land.
I'm sure I did.
That's the kind of thing.
That's what I don't mean.
All right.
Fine.
I don't think that you ought to go anywhere in the State Department recommendation period.
It's not all that much of a practice.
U.S. should not have added all of it in a week.
That's what I'm trying to say.
Please send me the effort.
Send me the effort.
I'm trying.
All right.
No, no, don't send it out.
I want my son to let me know.
He needs to be able to see you.
Is she here?
No, she isn't here.
But I'll let you know when she comes in.
I'll let you know tomorrow.
All right.