Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 3 › Conversation 003-182

Nixon phone call with Butterfield on Presidential speech and Speechwriting

Friday, May 28, 1971 · 4:51 PM–4:52 PM ET · White House Telephone · 44 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation003-182 on Tape 3 (tape position 04:32:02–04:32:46)StartFriday, May 28, 1971 at 4:51 PMEndFriday, May 28, 1971 at 4:52 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 003-182 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417188601 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Butterfield coordinate the delivery and review of drafts for an upcoming presidential speech scheduled for May 29, 1971. Butterfield confirms the status of the speech materials, including recently arrived substitute pages for the document. Nixon concludes the call by instructing Butterfield to hold the drafts at his office so the President can review the full text in person.

Audio

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NARA Description

On May 28, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield talked on the telephone from 4:51 pm to 4:52 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 003-182 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 003-182

Date: May 28, 1971
Time: 4:51 pm - 4:52 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Alexander P. Butterfield.

[See Conversation No. 254-004D]

     President's speech, May 29, 1971
          -Alternative conclusions
          -Draft

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Yeah.
Yes, sir.
Do you have a copy?
Is that the last speech thing for tomorrow?
Is that over there yet?
I'll tell you what I just did get, sir, within the last five minutes, are three substitutes for page eight.
So was there to be more than that, or do you have... What about the... No, no, no, no, no.
I just wanted some stuff to look at.
There was three... Yeah, I told them to suggest three bits at the last.
Now, but...
In addition to that.
What about the rest of it?
It is over there, too.
The rest of the speech is not here, no, sir, but I'll track it down if you don't have it.
No, no, no.
Just keep it all there, and I'll be over and look at it.
All right, fine.
We'll do it.

Also recorded on May 28, 1971

  • 003-179 3:00 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:00 pm and 3:10 pm.
  • 003-180 3:10 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 3:10 pm to 3:11 pm.
  • 003-181 3:48 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:48 pm and 4:51 pm.
  • 506-011 5:05 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:05 pm to 5:08 pm.
  • 506-012 5:10 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:10 pm to 5:12 pm.
  • 506-013 5:27 PM · 1 hr 22 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), Rose Mary Woods, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John N. Mitchell, White House operator, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:27 pm to 6:50 pm.
  • 003-183 5:45 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:45 pm and 5:51 pm.
  • 003-184 5:51 PM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman talked on the telephone from 5:51 pm to 5:52 pm.

All 49 conversations from May 28, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 003-182, May 28, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417188601). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/003-182 (accessed November 11, 2026).