Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 781 › Conversation 781-021

Nixon & Butterfield on Congressional Relations and General John Lavelle

Monday, September 18, 1972 · 12:52 PM–1:00 PM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation781-021 on Tape 781StartMonday, September 18, 1972 at 12:52 PMEndMonday, September 18, 1972 at 1:00 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 781-021 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield to coordinate a forthcoming luncheon with congressional leadership, including Hugh Scott, Robert Griffin, Leslie Arends, and Gerald Ford. The discussion centered on managing the political implications of the ongoing General John Lavelle hearings and determining which administration officials, such as Alexander Haig or Henry Kissinger, should attend to address them. Nixon directed staff to assess whether legislative leaders required additional administration presence to navigate the potential political fallout from the hearings.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Just on the thing, Mark?

No, it's not.

Who all will be there tomorrow?

Tomorrow's the four leaders.

Scott Griffin-Aaronson, Ford.

Weinberger Ehrlichman.

Timmons Cole.

Ford.

Ford, bless you.

earlier than I need.

I mean, you should have one, but you have ten.

I don't care who you ask.

See if they really want another.

They're not going to have anything in the Board of Ops hearing.

I wanted to get a hold of them and see if they think they ought to have somebody there because of the LaBelle hearings.

Then he could come.

I'd have him rather than Henry.

I used to bother him with this.

Or the other possibility of, you know, tricking him, of being too good.

see if they want to have a horrible situation.

So yeah, political connotation.

NARA Description

On September 18, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:52 pm and 1:00 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 781-021 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 781-21

Date: September 18, 1972
Time: Unknown between 12:52 pm and 1:00 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull.

             The President's forthcoming meeting
                 -Hugh Scott
                 -Robert P. Griffin
                 -Leslie C. Arends
                 -Gerald R. Ford
                 -Caspar W. (“Cap”) Weinberger
                 -John D. Ehrlichman
                 -William E. Timmons
                 -Kenneth W. Cole
                 -Luncheon
                     -Number of attendees

                 -Charles W. Colson
                 -Foreign policy
                 -Gen. John Lavelle hearings
                     -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
                     -Henry A. Kissinger
                 -Political connotation
                     -Bryce N. Harlow

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 1:00 pm.

Also recorded on September 18, 1972

781-018 12:51 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:51 pm.
781-019 12:51 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:51 pm.
781-020 12:51 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Capt. Surayute Nivasabute met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:51 pm to 12:52 pm.
781-022 1:00 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry M. ("Scoop") Jackson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:00 pm to 1:09 pm.
781-023 1:09 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 1:09 pm.
781-024 1:09 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at 1:09 pm.
781-025 1:10 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William E. Timmons met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:10 pm to 1:12 pm.
781-026 1:12 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:12 pm and 1:25 pm.

All 44 conversations from September 18, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 781-021, September 18, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/781-021 (accessed October 10, 2026).