Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 863 › Conversation 863-003

United States Secret Service agents on Secret Service operations

Friday, February 23, 1973 · 2:36 PM–8:58 AM ET · Oval Office · 29 min

ParticipantsUnited States Secret Service agentsConversation863-003 on Tape 863StartFriday, February 23, 1973 at 2:36 PMEndMonday, February 26, 1973 at 8:58 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 863-003 ↗

AI Summary

United States Secret Service agents discussed operational security measures within the Oval Office, including controls, lock-up procedures, and scheduling. The conversation touched upon potential security issues such as alarms, door locking mechanisms, and the installation of wires or pipes. There was also a brief mention of campaign funding related to the California Supreme Court and a discussion about a book by Dr. Nestor.

  • Secret Service operations
  • Oval Office security
  • Alarm systems
  • Locking mechanisms
  • Campaign funding
  • California Supreme Court
  • Dr. Nestor
  • Security procedures

Audio

Download MP3 · 39.8 MB

NARA Description

United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 2:36 pm on February 23, 1973 and 8:58 am on February 26, 1973. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 863-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 863-3

Date: Unknown between February 23 and 26, 1973
Time: Unknown between 2:36 pm, Feb. 23 and 8:58 am, Feb. 26, 1973
Location: Oval Office

Unknown people [Executive Protection Service (EPS)?] met.

       Operations
              -Controls
              -Lock up
              -Schedule

       Unknown woman

       Patrol car [?]

       Long Island [?]

       Dwayne Morris [?]

       Helicopter arrival

An unknown man talked to an unknown person at an unknown time between 5:40 pm, Feb. 23,
1973 and 9:50 pm, Feb. 24, 1973.

[Conversation No. 863-3A]

       Unknown person’s return
                                           -4-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                           Conversation No. 863-3 (cont’d)

[End of telephone conversation]

       Greeting

An unknown man talked to an unknown person at an unknown time between 5:40 pm, Feb. 23,
1973 and 9:50 pm, Feb. 24, 1973.

[Conversation No. 863-3B]

       Problem
Show the rest of the log (67 more lines)
             -Stephen B. Bull’s office
             -Line

[End of telephone conversation]

       Telephone call
             -Problems

       Training
              -Downtown

       Office tower
               -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman

       Post Office
              -Hiring

       Bull
              -Security
              -Office

       California Supreme Court
              -Campaign
              -Funding

       Wire
                                             -5-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                             Conversation No. 863-3 (cont’d)

               -Copper pipe

       Dr. [First name unknown] Nestor [?]
               -Book
               -Malls
               -Females
               -Information

       Helicopter arrival [?]

       Doors

       Navy yard [?]

       Untied States Secret Service [USSS]
              -Retirement

An unknown man talked to an unknown person at an unknown time between 5:40 pm, Feb. 23,
1973 and 9:50 pm, Feb. 24, 1973.

[Conversation No. 863-3C]

       Alarm
               -Location
               -Return call

[End of telephone conversation]

       Door
               -Locking

The unknown people left at an unknown time before 8:58 am, Feb. 26, 1973.
                                            -6-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

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.

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).

Hey, howdy.
Yeah, this is the piece that has the blackout port.
I'll be on the third.
We will take these up for you tomorrow.
Okay.
Yeah, let me flash that.
Maybe Trish will flash that.
No, I didn't say that.
And they're almost awkward, you know, they're, they're one, one, and she's, they're a sweet baby.
And I had a, I had, I mean, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,
What are you talking about?
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
One call.
Yeah, I did.
No, they are going to deserve some gold.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, Sam Jackson will lead back down here.
Well, he's a good guy.
He can take a brutal drive out there.
Four minutes to probably get that team down.
He'll probably get the area down and then grab the ground.
Try to move in and out at the right moment.
What else?
The big bird is coming.

— 6 min 2 s with no transcribed speech —

Oh!
Oh!

— 1 min 1 s with no transcribed speech —

Is everybody on the way?
Yes, sir.
I think I'm bringing out a problem with this.
There's two of these typical men, and as many as he ain't working.
His brain runs back and forth up here in the whole block.
If it just went off and set right there, I would write it off as C and B.
Because they're probably always afraid to look for it.
They have buzzers on the lines up here that they can't line up.
They call me a little bit before you say a word.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
That office used to walk down there at about 4 o'clock.
And all of a sudden it went, bzzz, bzzz, bzzz.
What was that?
That baller cop.
What the hell was that?
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
They let me know where to stand by here, the little door.
And all I've done is, I've been finding, I've been trying to find the phone, and I've been calling C&P, and they came all the time.
They put a wire or something down there.
Yeah, they ripped the stuff out of that little hole.
Well, they're down in that rain area.
Rain area?
Can I get some more?
They're the same.
They're a bit cold, so I'll have to make a plan here.
I don't think that's it.
We've got to put that back in.
I think I'll put something out there.
I don't know.
What's going on?
Somebody else is going to take people out of this area.
Yes, yes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
What's going on?
Is he going to be like, what, bull?
Yeah.
Bull's going to take over security?
Yeah.
More than I know it would have.
But today, the first time, the change isn't going to be very good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He doesn't have a job.
Yeah, he doesn't.
He doesn't have a job at all.
He's been looking for a job since he's been in the security room.
Been in my office.
Yeah.
I was on a California campaign on Paris.
They got a call from California Supreme Court.
They were using money, some bond, for protection.
Campaign.
He had a beard on the back of it.
Don't be worried about it.
You don't hear any steps at all.
It's not even funny that it's here.
So it's not even here.
So it works.
I'm not sure if it's going to work.
Yeah, it's not going to work.
Well, I don't know.
I'm just trying to get all of it here.
Yeah, go over it.
I'm washing my hands.
I'm putting it in your arm for you.
I'm going to put it over there.
In fact, the way I hold it is second to none, but it's hard to tell.
It's a way to tell if there's an infection or not.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah, it is.
Oh, it's an awful place.
You can get all the wires and all the pipes and all the other things.
Yeah, I've worked in the basement.
This is all down now.
This is all from the beginning.
This is up to you.
You know what it is.
It's not the end of the world.
It's not the end of the world.
It's not the end of the world.
Oh, just, you know, we had a convoy or something.
We did a contract, you know.
We were going to make holes and things.
Oh, the pipe was burning.
We were shooting in the air.

— 1 min 3 s with no transcribed speech —

I like her a lot.
I always do.
She works good.
She's always there.
And what about Emily?
Oh, she's lovely.
Ashley, don't you see?
All right.
Yeah.
There's no way, you know, I'm too ridiculous.
There was a woman named Dr. Esther Goldwater, and Dr. Esther Goldwater was both Jesus' medical doctor, and Western, and she wrote a book called The Angel of the Damned.
It was about a woman, a female, she was a male,
without really unknowing and some of the social connections here.
Everybody has created harm by those information.
They'll be coming back.
Hopefully.
Hopefully.
I don't plan on having to sit here all night, but I want to talk to them.
Well, we're still all here.
We're still all here.
Yeah.
Up there.
Up there.
That's what bothers me.
I don't know.
I don't know where to block the shot.
I feel like I can stand on the road.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Yeah, it's hard to get in there, because then it's like nothing's wrong.
You have to go by the old wall doors and all that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's it, yeah.
That's it, yeah.
Uh-huh.
Oh, yeah.
I don't know.
I'm just gonna have to finish this up.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I heard about it the other day, when you said you had ADHD.
Is it still here?
No.
Well, that's when we started to tell this question.
But I haven't just graced it for a while.
I mean, there are a lot of stuff that's going on.
It's fine.
Yes, all right.
All good to see you.
Just keep, uh, getting your, uh, your responses up.
Okay.
Just, you know, keep that up.
Okay.
That's me.
That's me.
That's me.
That's me.
That's me.
That's me.
That's me.
That's me.
Was it, Dave, was it broken into some of their aspects of the other area?
Mm-hmm.
Do you know if anybody's been about to throw one at us?
No, not yet.
I'm not sure if we had that kind of a connection to those earlier.
No.
Hmm.
I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a look at it.
Okay, I'll take a

Also recorded on February 23, 1973

  • 862-021 2:30 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:30 pm and 2:36 pm.
  • 862-022 2:30 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:30 pm and 2:36 pm.
  • 413-001 2:36 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles B. ("Bud") Wilkinson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:36 pm to 2:48 pm.
  • 862-024 2:36 PM · 39 sec — Unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 2:36 pm on February 23, 1973 and 8:58 am on February 26, 1973.
  • 863-001 2:36 PM · 6 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 2:36 pm on February 23, 1973 and 9:50 pm on February 24, 1973.
  • 863-002 2:36 PM · 26 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 2:36 pm on February 23, 1973 and 9:50 pm on February 24, 1973.
  • 413-002 2:48 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:48 pm and 3:02 pm.
  • 413-003 2:48 PM · 56 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:48 pm and 3:02 pm.

All 94 conversations from February 23, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 863-003, February 23, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/863-003 (accessed November 15, 2026).