Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 867 › Conversation 867-031

Nixon, Silberman & Bull on Personnel changes and Career advice

Friday, March 2, 1973 · 4:08 PM–5:05 PM ET · Oval Office ·4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Bull, Stephen B.; Silberman, Laurence H.; Silberman, Laurence H. (Mrs.)Conversation867-031 onTape 867StartFriday, March 2, 1973 at 4:08 PMEndFriday, March 2, 1973 at 5:05 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 867-031 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Laurence H. Silberman and his wife to formally bid farewell to Silberman as he departed the administration. During the meeting, which included commemorative photography, Nixon expressed appreciation for Silberman’s service alongside George P. Shultz and James D. Hodgson. The President further offered career advice regarding Silberman’s transition into a private law firm partnership, emphasizing the value of his government experience.

Laurence H. Silberman
Personnel changes
Career advice
George P. Shultz
White House staff

Audio

Download MP3 · 1.6 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

This is Lawrence Silverman.

Hello.

How are you?

Nice to see you.

How are you?

Good to see you.

Good to see you, sir.

We thought we'd better get a formal picture here for you.

Would you stand on my right?

I'll stand on my left.

My only kind of family is split.

Well,

We'll send a couple.

I just want to wish you the best.

Thank you for all your work with George, Jim, and all the rest.

You've made a great contribution to us.

Mr. President, I want to thank you very much for the opportunity.

I should hold this.

Mr. George, this is a great privilege and an honor to meet with you again.

You're welcome.

Comments, friends, men of the building.

I quote George.

It's hard, but it's worth doing.

Yeah, well, the thing, too, is a kid told me, did you go as a partner?

Yes.

Good.

Don't ever let them give you the counsel business.

You know how it is.

They want to buy your reputation, but they don't want to pay anything.

And go as a partner and run a business.

I know.

I know those percentages.

Remember, lawyers are the first in marriage.

You know, it's the one thing.

Partner.

No, that's different.

You should be a partner.

You should be.

Because they're lucky to have you.

But with your experience, you do this.

But you like the law.

Well, you should be.

And you know what you should do?

I knew some law for about five years.

And then I knew government again.

And see, it's a cross-fertilization state.

People stayed in government for a long time.

I, you know, when I left, I thought, well, I'm just glad you're back.

But when you drop a case, are you Mark Peel or just a set of corporations?

Anything that makes money?

It's a marvelous place, marvelous country out there.

It's so beautiful in the spring, the cocoa and everything.

Thank you very much.

I wish you the best.

And remember, if you hear any legitimate things, come up to these columns around here.

Thank you.

NARA Description

On March 2, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Laurence H. Silberman, and Mrs. Laurence H. Silberman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:08 pm and 5:05 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 867-031 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 867-31

Date: March 2, 1973
Time: Unknown between 4:08 pm and 5:05 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence H. Silberman; Stephen B. Bull and the White
House photographers were present at the beginning of the meeting.

       Introductions

       Photographs
            -Copies

       Appreciations for Contributions
            -Work with George P. Shultz, James D. Hodgson
            -Shultz
                  -Work ethic

       New job
            -Law firm
                 -Hope Johnson [?]
                 -Experience
                                           -46-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                     (rev. June-2010)
                                                            Conversation No. 867-31 (cont’d)

                  -Partnership
                        -Value
                  -Appeal work
             -Location

Mr. and Mrs. Silberman left.

Also recorded on March 2, 1973

867-020 4:08 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 4:08 pm.
867-021 4:08 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Edwin S. Cohen, and Mrs. Cohen met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:08 pm and 5:05 pm.
867-022 4:08 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Harold Finger, and Mrs. Harold Finger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:08 pm and 5:05 pm.
867-023 4:08 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Robert C. Moot, and Mrs. Robert C. Moot met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:08 pm and 5:05 pm.
867-024 4:08 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Richard F. Schubert, and Mrs. Richard F. Schubert met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:08 pm and 5:05 pm.
867-025 4:08 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles L. Ill, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:08 pm and 5:05 pm.
867-026 4:08 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Samuel Jackson, and Mrs. Samuel Jackson met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:08 pm and 5:05 pm.
867-027 4:08 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and Spencer Schedler met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:08 pm and 5:05 pm.

All 58 conversations from March 2, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 867-031, March 2, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/867-031 (accessed September 18, 2026).