Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 504 › Conversation 504-003

Nixon & Butterfield on Oval Office furnishings and White House gifts

Thursday, May 27, 1971 · 10:01 AM–10:03 AM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Nixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan); Butterfield, Alexander P.; [Unknown person(s)]Conversation504-003 on Tape 504 (tape position 00:54:16–00:56:44)StartThursday, May 27, 1971 at 10:01 AMEndThursday, May 27, 1971 at 10:03 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 504-003 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon, First Lady Pat Nixon, and Alexander Butterfield met briefly in the Oval Office to coordinate the placement of a gift received from King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. The participants discussed whether the item should be displayed in the White House or transferred to the presidential library. They ultimately concluded the session by formalizing plans for the gift's handling and display.

  • Oval Office furnishings
  • White House gifts
  • King Faisal
  • Presidential library
  • Protocol

Audio

Download MP3 · 5.7 MB

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 40% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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I don't know if you're going to want to display it.
Well, I think you ought to put it here and get this started up.
Yeah, yeah.
I just wanted to receive it.
Right.
As he places by, we'll replace this right now.
That occurred to me, yeah.
Oh, is it?
There's something.
Hi.
No.
Yeah, of course, everything goes in the library.
So there's this courage in you.
You know, you get to be great on the wind, but you need to smell it.
That's the end of that.
I hate the end of life.
Don't you?
How does that happen, Dave?
Well, no, you can borrow.
No, you can borrow, but it really doesn't ever go on, do you?
You can keep after you keep them for a while.
I mean, one or two, but, uh, others in other countries, I mean, I can't believe it.
I know the next big president was so excited because I admired him for renaming him.
What did you say?
I didn't know.
I said, well, if you want to sign it.
Well, it belongs to the government, to any of the prisons.
That's only if it's worthy of it or anywhere.
I don't think you should be afraid of it.
I believe it's something to be accepted, but they don't have it.
The people have to say it.
Right.
I believe it's worth it.
I'm not having them share the decision with you.
In fact, I've heard that, and I'm about to look in front of you and spread everything over immediately.
We're going to flip this, and I'll tell you when we're here.
Okay, sir.
Did any of that just get it?
Yes, sir.
Okay.
Okay.

NARA Description

On May 27, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:01 am to 10:03 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 504-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 504-3

Date: May 27, 1971
Time: 10:01 am - 10:03 am
Location: Oval Office

Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     Lyndon B. Johnson Library

     Oval Office furnishings
          -Objet d'art
          -Library
          -Gifts

The President entered at an unknown time after 10:01 am.

     Placement of gift from Malik Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Saud Faisal [King of Saudi Arabia]

An unknown man entered at an unknown time after 10:01 am.

**********************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[National Security]
[Duration: 16s ]

     SAUDI ARABIA

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

**********************************************************************

The President, Butterfield, Mrs. Nixon, and the unknown man left at 10:03 am.

Also recorded on May 27, 1971

  • 504-001 8:25 AM · 1 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:25 am and 9:33 am.
  • 504-002 9:33 AM · 34 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Rose Mary Woods, Henry A. Kissinger, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:33 am to 10:01 am.
  • 504-021 10:03 AM · 1 min — Alexander P. Butterfield, unknown person(s), and United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:03 am and 10:36 am.
  • 504-004 10:36 AM · 1 hr 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, King Malik Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz Al Saud, Isa Sabbaugh, Camile Nowfels, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:36 am to 11:50 am.
  • 504-022 11:50 AM · 52 sec — Alexander P. Butterfield and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:50 am and 11:52 am.
  • 504-005 11:52 AM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:52 am and 11:54 am.
  • 504-006 11:52 AM · 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, R. C. ("Hugh") Robinson, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Jack T. ("Tom") Cole, Frederic V. Malek, Robert Martin, Frank P. Rocco, Carson M. Howell, Mrs. Carson M. Howell, Alexander P. Butterfield, Peter G. Peterson, and Catherine May Bedell met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:52 am and 12:05 pm.
  • 504-007 12:05 PM · 23 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:05 pm and 12:10 pm.

All 20 conversations from May 27, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 504-003, May 27, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/504-003 (accessed September 20, 2026).