Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 834 › Conversation 834-021

Nixon & Bull on White House protocol and Congressional relations

Friday, January 5, 1973 · 4:44 PM–4:55 PM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.Conversation834-021 on Tape 834StartFriday, January 5, 1973 at 4:44 PMEndFriday, January 5, 1973 at 4:55 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 834-021 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met to coordinate logistics and protocol for an upcoming White House reception for members of Congress. The discussion centered on the event schedule, the arrangement of the reception line, and the proper hierarchy for attendees, including the Vice President, the Speaker of the House, and the Chief Justice. Additionally, they evaluated the role of the congressional liaison office, specifically the involvement of William E. Timmons, to ensure the event proceeded efficiently.

Audio

Download MP3 · 4.2 MB

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 17% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

I don't have one.

I'll have one through the, uh, congressional liaison office.

Find out who has this voice.

Okay.

Conventional, congressional liaison office.

And we might allow Tim to do it.

It might be good for Tim to be right there and be highlighted right next to you.

He's got a little bit of an accent, you know, but I haven't listened, but that's fine.

You can do it.

Maybe, I don't know, maybe it's just important.

Well, it might be good for Bill to be in the audience.

Yeah.

I don't really care that much about it, but we will plan to proceed on that.

This one goes directly downstairs from there and then it can go up here.

I think we should go directly downstairs because you see lots of stuff.

I would assume that most of these people will arrive on time, if not early.

Good.

Of course, I'm going to be doing that, but we might get lost too, not knowing what to do.

I think the whole thing can be done in less than 45 minutes.

Thank you for the truth.

Incidentally, I know it from the line that the Chief Justice and the Vice President, you know, the Vice President, he ranks the Chief Justice, you see.

As a matter of fact, the Speaker comes before the Chief Justice, too, you see.

Chief Justice comes first, then the, I mean, Vice President first, the Speaker is second, and then the Chief Justice is second.

And after that, the leaders.

And after that, the Senators and Congressmen, and every day a common order, and then you've got the government, and then you have the House.

See you at the doctor's.

It's free.

I'm down.

Don't have me come out on TV.

I'm just working.

NARA Description

On January 5, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:44 pm and 4:55 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 834-021 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 834-21

Date: January 5, 1973
Time: Unknown between 4:44 pm and 4:55 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

       Introductions at reception
             -Party affiliation
             -Congressional liaison office
                   -William E. Timmons

       Reception for Congressmen
            -Arrangements
            -Arrival times
            -Length of time
            -Reception line
                  -Chief Justice
                  -Vice President
                  -Speaker of the House
                  -Members of Congress
                                               -34-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                          Conversation No. 834-21 (cont’d)

       The President's schedule
            -John D. Ehrlichman

Bull left at an unknown time before 4:55 pm.

Also recorded on January 5, 1973

834-014 4:01 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:01 pm and 4:03 pm.
834-015 4:01 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:01 pm to 4:03 pm.
834-016 4:03 PM · 18 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Col. Richard T. Kennedy, William L. Gifford, Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins, Yen Chia-Kan, Tsai Wei-ping, James C. H. Shen, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:03 pm to 4:22 pm.
834-017 4:23 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:23 pm and 4:25 pm.
834-018 4:23 PM · 31 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:23 pm and 4:25 pm.
834-019 4:25 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Terry L. Decker met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:25 pm to 4:39 pm.
834-020 4:40 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:40 pm to 4:44 pm.
834-022 4:55 PM · 33 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:55 pm to 5:29 pm.

All 43 conversations from January 5, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 834-021, January 5, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/834-021 (accessed October 12, 2026).