Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 22 › Conversation 022-107

Nixon phone call with Butterfield on Congressional relations

Tuesday, April 11, 1972 · 1:12 PM–1:14 PM ET · White House Telephone · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation022-107 on Tape 22 (tape position 04:16:02–04:17:35)StartTuesday, April 11, 1972 at 1:12 PMEndTuesday, April 11, 1972 at 1:14 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 022-107 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Butterfield coordinated the agenda for an upcoming congressional leadership meeting, specifically narrowing the focus to a defense and China policy briefing led by Henry Kissinger. Nixon explicitly excluded Secretary of State William Rogers and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird from the presentation to ensure Kissinger could lead the session without bureaucratic interference. Additionally, the President requested the inclusion of select committee chairmen while directing that political liaisons be excluded to foster a more candid atmosphere regarding China policy discussions.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Mr. President?

Yeah.

Yeah, they want to know if they can go ahead on the leadership meeting with an agenda which is essentially defense briefing by Mel Laird and Henry Kissinger.

That would be...

But I don't think I want Rogers there.

Okay.

You know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah, I do.

I would prefer, frankly, even not to have Mel.

You see what I mean?

If you have him, you have to have Rogers.

Yeah, you do.

All right, and just let Henry carry the ball.

I think Henry should do it.

Let Henry do the briefing, because the purpose is a pep talk.

I see.

And let Henry do the briefing.

Okay, we'll set up that way.

Then wild cards, I'd like to ask some of the committee chairmen, John Tower, Frelinghuysen, and Bill Menchel and George Aiken.

Okay, one more question, sir.

Would it be all right if...

Cora Logos and McGregor attend this 5 p.m. meeting, or would you prefer they not?

No, I think the China thing has to be sort of separated from congressional relations there.

uh henry will be there and that means that he'll he can brief them on the damn thing all right i i wouldn't mind normally but i think since it's on china that they should feel they can talk very freely okay i'll make sure they understand that fine and you can tell them that henry will fill them in on the meeting but that yeah we want them to feel it's not it's a little separate from politics all right i understand but there will be pictures of course cameras are to be allowed and so forth okay all right good thank you

NARA Description

On April 11, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield talked on the telephone from 1:12 pm to 1:14 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 022-107 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 22-107

Date: April 11, 1972
Time: 1:12 pm - 1:14 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Alexander P. Butterfield.

[See Conversation No. 329-19]

     Congress
         -Leadership meeting
              -Agenda
                   -Defense briefing
                        -Melvin R. Laird
                        -Henry A. Kissinger
                        -William P. Rogers
                        -Laird
                        -Kissinger to give briefing
                        -Committee chairmen
                              -John G. Tower
                              -Peter H.B. Frelinghuysen
                              -William E. Minshall
                              -George D. Aiken
                        -Thomas C. Korologos and Clark MacGregor
                              -Attendance
                              -The People’s Republic of China [PRC] briefing
                                    -Kissinger’s attendance
                              -Briefing by Kissinger
              -Photographs

Also recorded on April 11, 1972

329-015 12:35 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:35 pm and 12:37 pm.
329-016 12:37 PM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 12:37 pm to 12:40 pm.
022-106 12:40 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:40 pm and 1:12 pm.
329-017 12:40 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:40 pm and 1:12 pm.
329-018 12:40 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:40 pm and 1:12 pm.
329-019 1:12 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:12 pm to 1:14 pm.
022-108 1:14 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:14 pm and 2:06 pm.
329-020 1:14 PM · 4 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 1:14 pm and 2:06 pm.

All 29 conversations from April 11, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 022-107, April 11, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/022-107 (accessed October 12, 2026).