Conversation 925-004

TapeTape 925StartTuesday, May 22, 1973 at 9:06 AMEndTuesday, May 22, 1973 at 9:27 AMParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Bull, Stephen B.Recording deviceOval Office

On May 22, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:06 am and 9:27 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 925-004 of the White House Tapes.

Conversation No. 925-4 (cont’d)

                                                                      Conversation No. 925-4

Date: May 22, 1973
Time: Unknown between 9:06 am and 9:27 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

     President’s schedule
           -Telephone call from Warren E. Burger, May 21
                 -Chief Justice appointment
                        -Anniversary
           -Iceland trip
                 -Banquet
                 -Flight over volcano
           -Congressional leaders meetings
                 -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
                 -Republican leaders
                        -State whips reception
                              -Location
                                    -Rehearsal [Prisoners of War [POW] reception]
                                    -Cabinet room
                              -Timing
           -Memorial Day
           -Bipartisan Congressional leaders meeting
                 -Republican leadership meeting
           -[Democratic] Congressional discussion
           -Iceland trip
                 -Time difference
           -William R. Talbert’s state visit
                 -Liberia
                 -Reception
                 -Arrival ceremony
                 -Trip
           -Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
                 -Pakistan
                 -Bull’s conversation with Gen. Brent G. Scowcroft
                                        -5-

             NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                (rev. August-2011)

                                                         Conversation No. 925-4 (cont’d)

     -Reciprocal dinners
          -Leonid I. Brezhnev

Telephone calls to the President
     -Procedures
           -White House staff members
           -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
                  -Direct access
           -Spiro T. Agnew
           -Haig
           -Rose Mary Woods
           -Direct access
           -United States Secret Service [USSS]
           -Screened calls
                  -Bull

President’s schedule
      -Iceland trip
      -Key Biscayne and Camp David
      -Memorial Day radio message
            -Speech writers
            -Television [TV]
      -Events outside Washington, DC
            -Trip to Dirksen Research Center [Pekin Public Library]
                   -[Peoria], Illinois
      -Key Biscayne
      -Brezhnev summit
            -San Clemente
      -White House dinners
            -Bhutto
            -Mohammed Reza Pahlavi [Shah of Iran]
                   -Arrival of ceremony
      -Bhutto
            -Arrival ceremony
      -Kakuei Tanaka, Shah of Iran
            -Arrival ceremony
                   -Hawaii
                                  -6-

       NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                          (rev. August-2011)

                                                   Conversation No. 925-4 (cont’d)

             -National Security Council [NSC]
                   -White House
                         -South Lawn
-Arrival ceremonies
      -Compared to dinners
             -Informality
      -Tanaka
      -State Department
      -Shah of Iran
             -Precedent
             -Haile Selassie
      -Bhutto
      -Tanaka
             -Arrival
                   -Hawaii
             -Length
             -Preparation
-Iceland trip
-Key Biscayne
-Camp David
-Charles C. Edwards and Robert S. Stone
      -National Institutes of Health [NIH]
-Tom Moore
      -Small business
-Irving Berlin
      -Head manuscript author
             -“God Bless America”
      -Dinner
-Mary T. Brooks
      -Presidential Medal presentation to the President
             -Quality of medal
                   -Inaugural medal
             -Photograph
                   -Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins
                   -Distribution
      -Bull’s forthcoming conversation with Ronald L. Ziegler
      -Atkins
                                               -7-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                      (rev. August-2011)

                                                            Conversation No. 925-4 (cont’d)

                        -Executive Office Building [EOB]

The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 9:06 am and
9:27 am.

[Conversation No. 925-4A]

[Begin telephone conversation]

[See Conversation No. 46-137]

[End telephone conversation]

      President’s schedule
            -Location

      William P. Rogers’s schedule
            -Return from Latin American trip

      President’s schedule
            -POW dinner
                  -Armed Services Committee
                  -Congressional attendees
                       -Leadership
                       -Armed Services, Appropriations Committees
                       -Leaders, President pro-tempore
                       -Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield
                             -Regrets
                       -Milton R. Young
                             -Regrets
                       -Mansfield

Bull left at 9:27 am.
                                              -8-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                     (rev. August-2011)

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.

After you retired last night, Chief Justice called on his wife and wanted to remind you it was the fourth year, fourth anniversary.
Then he struck that blow from on our point of view, Chief Justice.
Just, you know, he was thinking of you and I thought it was a wise decision years ago.
He said, there's no assessment to that.
I said, alright.
Iceland is moving along very well, sir.
The appearance of the ceremony, I did it.
It was a very, it was a very interesting moment.
I decided, thanks, and things like that.
The only suggestion, recommendation, to me, which I think you probably want to do, is to increase flight by 15 minutes to fly over the volcano.
It's such a fun little trip.
Other than that, advance.
What is the situation on our earth?
You've got to ask me all the questions you need to about the leaders and so forth.
Let's see.
Today I knew one.
We think it's 530.
Is that right?
I don't know.
I don't know.
We don't need to.
Tomorrow we have a GOP leader with reception.
We have a meeting in the morning in this regional state with reception.
In view of a lot of the activities, I wasn't aware it was a rehearsal.
It's a rehearsal.
They still want to have it.
Okay.
They'd like to have it.
I was suggesting we move over to the cabin room because there's too much new lights over there.
There's going to be some fans out there.
And I think we ought to have the leadership meeting also at the whip reception.
Yes, sir.
Second day.
All right.
If we can move that to the cabin room, this whip reception.
All right.
Because, well, it won't be good without cranes.
I'm certain they're going to make it.
It must be more of a business session than make it 5 o'clock.
That's 5.30.
The only thing about this meeting is that we have a bipartisan meeting Tuesday.
If we do not have a bipartisan meeting, we are going to have a leadership meeting Tuesday morning.
Well, we have a discussion meeting.
Excuse me, actually.
Before you go to bed.
I see.
When is it?
When is it?
I see.
I need to take a departure time now.
From 1 to 9.55.
Oh.
I see.
I see.
I see.
I see.
I see.
Planning there, you should know, it's a four hour time difference.
Four hour hours.
It's all going to leave here in a few minutes, about 10, 15.
We arrived at the Halpert Library.
It's not a space visit.
Do we have to put all the crap on for dinner?
I think we're not there for dinner.
It's all for the dinner, I understand, but we don't need to have the arrival ceremony.
I have to check my notes.
I pray you best to see that this is not done.
In all these, in all these, avoid the rifle, sir.
In other words, I have it right on the side of your seat.
I passed a little sort of scope around here, sir.
The, uh, Pakistani president was in court about a reciprocal dinner when, uh, he came to have a summary and I, I told him the president's guidance is never don't have reciprocal... No, never, it's never, never, never, never.
It was a very unusual situation.
I just thought I was watching these sessions saying it's true and regretting it this year, but there are only eight seconds because of the facts that I have it there.
There you go.
They do not have some truth.
Excuse me.
Oh, pardon the minute.
I didn't hear you, pardon the minute.
That's what he's doing.
So the fire points are related to some procedures on telephones.
In the past, when people would call during the day or at night, we tried to put people
the callers to the appropriate staff person.
And this has been pretty effective along the lines that we've been following.
Do you still want to have direct access?
I know that's kind of a delicate question.
Sure.
Yes, sir.
All in the name of the people that have left.
The people we have on the direct access are Rose, Hay, and of course on emergency situations, the Secret Service, if they have to, and they have been on the list because I have been screening the calls and the information.
I said, I don't think your team is scanning for surgery.
I made the decision to make a campaign review, I said.
So, I figured out what I wanted to do.
I've asked the writers to see if they can come up with a 60-second message.
See if it's any good.
So we'll be able to take any type of tape.
If they come up with anything.
All right.
All right.
You need the tape for reading?
Yes, sir.
Oh, I don't want to.
You have nothing to call me?
No, no, sir.
The next week we'll start back.
Back to work.
I think I'm out of time.
Oh, it's okay.
I've got letters.
I've got letters.
I would probably want to go to Florida to see the back.
I think it's 20 seconds.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
It's going to be five seconds.
We'll go to California.
I want the last of them to be there.
Thank you, San Clemente.
So we'll be there in California soon.
We have to go right now.
This guy's working with the Russians.
I got in there and said, why not?
It's great.
And we have a series of dinners in July at Bucco.
Now, Bucco is not to be a...
There ain't gonna be any clients out there.
John and Ron, come on.
She had a little before, you know, uh, you know, blah, blah, blah.
Up the lawn.
At a rifle ceremony.
I don't want blue children at a rifle ceremony.
It would be avoidable.
But, you know, well...
Maybe we can't play it.
Maybe that all of us, I know this job is a problem, but we have arrival ceremonies.
Well, of course, one consideration tonight, we did give him an arrival ceremony in Hawaii last year.
He may not do it the same way.
NSC has already come back with a recommendation that we do it here, but that is have an arrival ceremony again for tonight on the South 1 because he didn't have one the other way.
But there is the fact that you get blamed for life.
Well, where are we going to avoid it?
Well, the other one.
Where are we going to avoid it?
Avoid the rival's ceremony.
See, it will make up for it.
It's always a big fault not to have the rival's ceremony.
It's just kind of outside here.
It's an informal visit.
That's what it is.
In other words, it's not a visit.
We're staying hard on that because they just don't have it that way.
Let's do it that way.
Actually, Shaw, he's been here for the other thing before.
He already had a 15th visit.
Yeah, I think we're okay.
We have him present now for a second visit.
No problems, all right?
All right.
Selassie, we've moved on.
He's been here.
Not a formal visit, but try to do this.
If we can't, if we go through there without a rival, sir, you're not going to lose a second visit.
Her sister's in Hawaii.
He had a rival, sir.
I know.
That's it.
We've done it.
This is summertime, too.
Maybe we can do your best to avoid the rival, sir.
They're the ones that take time to prepare for what's coming.
mid to later
Well, he was being open, but I might well decide that I want to stay, go to Camp David instead.
But I may need to be alone, I'm sure.
I don't know how we're all feeling.
What's Dr. Edwards' name?
Let's see.
And I each hope, sorry, Tom Moore.
Tom Moore, is that...
Two minute photographs of the small business.
I'm thirsty.
You mentioned a brief color of that around noon time, noon hour, even though we're leaving the day open.
Irving Berlin, I sent to you a man about two months ago who wrote a handwritten script of God Bless America.
I'm bringing Irving Berlin.
I'm thirsty.
Can he come in?
He's coming.
in the dinner he's coming to dinner all right is there anything that you'd like to do today is
I mean, it's a presidential event.
She's been asking.
We're watching her every day.
We're going to see how that goes out.
I'd say, look, there's probably outside.
Okay.
All right, so let's do that.
All right.
All right.
All right.
All right.
I just want you to feel the, uh, images of yourself, you know, because I think that it might, it might be nice if it works.
Because it's, you know, it's a, it's a good looking metal.
It's much better than the normal one.
Let me take a picture.
Let's do a, an Ollie photograph of this region.
I just don't know about this.
I mean, her availability.
I would like to maybe have a chat with the sailor.
See what he's addressing.
I mean, I was bothering to do the...
If you're going to be in the O.V.A., we'll just have to put Ollie into the right of the O.V.A.
works, which is anything that's lying there.
Sure, sure.
We'll do it over there.
I think it would work with the O.V.A.
back over here.
It doesn't work that way.
Chief, that's the burger place.
I think I told him at the sign that you were...
Are we getting a whole lot of searches from any of the people that did it?
Just the way you should have done it.
The House and Senate leader, he never came here in terms of spending leadership.
Is that right?
Yes, sir.
For a period of time.
Yes, sir.
And Big Five, West President, for example.
The man's field is already regretted.
I think young is regretted.
What are you doing?
He called, yeah, people over there and he called quite a few people who wanted to, but he said he expressed an extreme appreciation and a commitment.
He said he'd be back in about a year.
He was not purely monotonic.
He called people over there and he called quite a few people who couldn't do it.
But he expressed his extreme appreciation and commitment.
He hasn't done it in years.