Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 4 › Conversation 004-084

Nixon phone call with Butterfield on Willy Brandt and Guest lists

Wednesday, June 9, 1971 · 9:23 AM–9:25 AM ET · White House Telephone · 57 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation004-084 on Tape 4 (tape position 03:17:05–03:18:00)StartWednesday, June 9, 1971 at 9:23 AMEndWednesday, June 9, 1971 at 9:25 AMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 004-084 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield discussed the guest list for an upcoming dinner with West German Chancellor Willy Brandt. Nixon expressed dissatisfaction with the overrepresentation of government officials, ordering that future events prioritize business supporters instead to ensure a more favorable atmosphere. Butterfield confirmed that Charles Colson’s suggestions had been integrated to rectify the current list and agreed to limit state personnel in future guest planning.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Yeah.
Did you get that Brant dinner list finished?
Brant dinner list, yes, sir.
It is finished.
Yeah.
Now, did you add business people, I mean, supporter types and so forth?
Yes, sir, we did.
Well, I filled it in with Colson's suggestions.
Oh, good.
And we will fill those seats.
Incidentally, there's 62 of those big chairs.
That's exactly what I want them done.
For any of those in the future, we'll use the big chairs and have 62 people.
Yeah.
And not so overloaded with state and...
and all that sort of people.
This time we've invited a lot of them.
Yeah, it already had a head start on the government people, which is too bad.
We had some poor guidelines, I guess, on that, but I think we've rectified the situation.
Yeah, I understand, I understand.
It was just perfectly right this time, but in the future, just have the usual few number of government people, because figuring that nothing, that it's pure therapy and nothing is going to be discussed.
Yes, sir, sure.
Yeah, all right, fine.
All right, sir.

NARA Description

On June 9, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield talked on the telephone from 9:23 am to 9:25 am. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 004-084 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 4-84

Date: June 9, 1971
Time: 9:23 am - 9:25 am
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Alexander P. Butterfield.

[See Conversation No. 255-30A]

     Willy Brandt dinner list
          -Composition
               -Charles W. Colson’s suggestions
          -Preparation

Also recorded on June 9, 1971

  • 004-081 8:24 AM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods talked on the telephone from 8:24 am to 8:25 am.
  • 004-082 8:25 AM · 25 sec — Rose Mary Woods and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:25 am and 8:35 am.
  • 255-028 8:25 AM · 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, Manolo Sanchez, White House operator, Marjorie P. Acker, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 8:25 am to 9:20 am.
  • 004-083 8:35 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:35 am and 9:23 am.
  • 255-029 9:20 AM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:20 am and 9:23 am.
  • 255-030 9:23 AM · 49 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 9:23 am to 10:29 am.
  • 004-085 9:25 AM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:25 am and 10:24 am.
  • 255-032 9:25 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 9:25 am and 10:34 am.

All 58 conversations from June 9, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 004-084, June 9, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/004-084 (accessed October 23, 2026).