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Stephen B. Bull Papers, White House Special Files, 1969-1973
6704755
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Title: Stephen B. Bull Papers, White House Special Files, 1969-1973
Dates: 1969-1973
Collection Number: 6704755
Creator/Collector:
Bull, Stephen B. (Stephen Beekman), 1941-
Extent: 2 linear feet, 7 linear inches; 6 boxes
Repository:
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Abstract: Stephen Bull served as a Special Assistant to the President and as Appointments Secretary. His files reflect the scheduling
and appointments procedures, public relations efforts, and off-year election campaign strategy of the Nixon White House during
the 1969-73 period.
Language of Material: English
Collection is open for research. Some materials may be unavailable based upon categories of materials exempt from public release
established in the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974.
Most government records are in the public domain, however, this series includes commercial materials, such as newspaper clippings,
that may be subject to copyright restrictions. Researchers should contact the copyright holder for information.
Stephen B. Bull Papers, White House Special Files, 1969-1973. Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
These materials are in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration under the provisions of Title I of
the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-526, 88 Stat. 1695) and implementing regulations.
Biography/Administrative History
Stephen Beekman Bull was born on November 12, 1941 in New York City. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Lawrence
University in 1963. After graduating, he served in the United States Marine Corps from 1963 to 1966. He also married Ann Townsend
during that time.
After leaving the military in 1966, Bull worked as a Special Projects Manager and then as Assistant to the President of the
Canada Dry Corporation in New York City. He left Canada Dry in 1968. During July through November of the same year, Bull worked
as an Advance Man on Richard Nixon’s presidential campaign and then, from November to January 1969, as a member of Nixon’s
transition staff in New York.
After Nixon’s 1969 Inauguration, Bull worked as a Staff Assistant to the President from 1969 to 1973. In 1972, Stephen Bull
was named one of the Outstanding Young Men of America. From 1973 until President Nixon resigned in August 1974, Bull was Special
Assistant to the President and Appointments Secretary. He continued to work with Nixon for a period of time after the President
left office in August 1974.
By October 1976, Bull had become a researcher and public relations person for the Commission for Review of the National Policy
toward Gambling, which was a congressionally-financed study group. He married Jeanne Quinlan, a staffer to both Presidents
Nixon and Ford, in August 1976.
In subsequent years, Mr. Bull went on to work for the Philip Morris Company, the United States Olympic Committee, and to be
a member of the Salvation Army’s Board of Advisors.
Scope and Content of Collection
The papers of Stephen B. Bull, Special Assistant to the President and Appointments Secretary, reflect the scheduling and appointment
procedures, public relations efforts, and off-year election campaign strategy of the Nixon White House during the 1969-73
period. The greater part of the papers is memoranda regarding the Presidential telephone and contact program and appointments
office procedures, and memoranda and reports concerning scheduling objectives. A major portion of the memoranda prior to
February 1973, concerning Presidential activities, scheduling, and telephone contact procedures, and image promoting events
and techniques were exchanged between Bull and Dwight L. Chapin, the President’s Appointments Secretary, or Bull and H.R.
Haldeman, routed through Chapin.
Recurring throughout the files are materials relating to enhancement of the President’s image through use of his routine activities,
such as greeting visitors and making telephone calls. Related and intermingled with the materials concerning Nixon’s public
image are the 1972 Presidential campaign strategies, which consisted of scheduling Presidential events and trips in a manner
that would enhance the President’s visibility without making it appear that he was actively campaigning.
The files were received in random order and were subsequently rearranged in six series reflecting the major functions of Stephen
Bull’s position. In addition to the materials in Special Files there are approximately eight feet of White House Central
Files: Staff Member and Office Files for Stephen B. Bull. Two portraits of President Nixon and a photograph of a plaque given
to Nelson Rockefeller have been removed to the audiovisual collection and replaced with photocopies.
Steve Bull
Stephen Bull